[Latitude] Saint-likes and dislikes and notable comparisons

[Dr.Smooth]

Well my frost line Saints have been a great straight glidey fairway driver for the colder months. I imagine the frost line is a bit more stable than the goldline so I'm doing some research.

My normal warmish weather bag has the Saint Pros in it. The saint in frost line was the next best option for my winter bag. So now that summer is approaching I thinking about replacing some of my less stable worn in Saint Pros with the normal Saint.

I was using the Frost line Saints in a recent round and was craving for a very similar disc but in a goldline plastic. So before I take the plunge what do you saint throwers think? This would be geared towards a higher arm speed player as the saint will be hyzer flipped for holes 400 plus.

Opinions on this one. And is the saint similar to the tbird? I haven't thrown the bird in nearly ten years but would imagine that the molds are similar.

 

[mattc]

Saints are my bread and butter.
My frost saints are less stable than both my gl and opto.
The thing I notice about my Saints is you will beat the fade out of them before they get super flippy, and my Frost Saints had almost no food to begin with.

 

[SD86]

My Saint is Gold Line. It started out overstable and seasoned in to a stable/overstable disc for me. I really like it in headwinds, but it's not as OS as a Thunderbird and such, IMHO.

 

[slowplastic]

I found Saints to have a hyzer flip to drift, with a mild drift back while gliding type of flight. Go forever on a slight downhill shot, but can still be turned over on slight uphill. Closest I've had another disc fly to that was a fresh and then slightly used champ Sidewinder...although I'm not sure where those eventually end up stability wise (lost it too soon). I don't see any point going to that if you're after Goldline/star type plastic, if you like the Saint stay with it.

Teebird is different, more HSS and slower. More trustworthy in a breeze (or a wind if you use an OS one...but then not as much comparison to a Saint). I prefer the Teebird on the course, it gets me in far less trouble. If you use a low PLH star Teebird it will give you the slightest drift then hold that the whole way (or pop up from a slight hyzer), then have a tiny fade at the end. I find them easier to range than the Saint because they can be powered down if need be while acting the same, and the slight fade keeps the distance in check. The Saint will drift more as you keep powering it up, but the really delayed or non-existent fade if you crush them means they will keep going.

To me the Saint is a more "hit the gap then let it keep going" type of fairway driver (or anny bombs), while the Teebird can be controlled on any mellow line from sweep hyzer to dead straight to sweep anhyzer. Mellow Teebirds do go very far and very straight if you are throwing fairways 375'+.

 

[Snaques]

I've tried to bag Saint probably on three or four different occasions, but without success. I do bag the pro and have very beat ones even for turnovers.

To me the Saint changes its' stability a lot over the lifetime. It starts out mildly OS, depending on the individual, and beats really fast into roller territory. All of my experiments have ended at the point where the Saint was at the same slot with the Hatchet, but are less consistent in flight.

The second issue I had with it is the glide and resulting unpredictable flight. I think the pro is in the sweet spot for glide, where it is easy to throw far but wont do anything crazy in milder winds. Saint would glide past on one hole and mysteriously just drop out of the air on another one.

That being said, a lot of people love it so it cannot be all that bad. It could be something to do with nose angles which I do struggle with every now and then.

 

[7ontheline]

Are the Saint and Escape the same disc?

 

[JC17393]

Are the Saint and Escape the same disc?

No. They have similar flight characteristics, but they are distinctly different discs. The Escape is ever so slightly more overstable, as in it takes a bit more seasoning to soften the fade at the end of its flight.

 

[93EXCivic]

Both the Gold Lines I have thrown flew just like my Star Valkyrie.

 

[IllustratorVir]

Both the Gold Lines I have thrown flew just like my Star Valkyrie.

This is why I haven't tried the Saint yet. My Valks are my bread and butter in the woods, why change a good thing?

 

[Dr.Smooth]

From the responses I seem to be supported on my original thoughts of the saint based off of my frost saints 171g. and 163g respectively. But I did hear that the frosts are a bit less stable which is inconsistent with rest of the triology winter grade plastics.

I also heard the saint is a better hit the gap kind of fairway driver. Which is exactly the slot I'm trying to fill. Those long fairly tight, way beyond midrange fairways that really need both finesse and power. For this shot (sorry guys) but the big rimmed discs have a serious disadvantage in my book. You loose a bit of the small rim "accuracy grip."

Lastly, I might still buy some tbirds just to compare raw distances-for ****s and giggles. It is bound to give some nostalgia can't believe I had some early run champ plastic purple slight see threw in the upper 160's that was my bomber discs back in the day. These things seemed incredible back then.

 

[slowplastic]

I also heard the saint is a better hit the gap kind of fairway driver. Which is exactly the slot I'm trying to fill. Those long fairly tight, way beyond midrange fairways that really need both finesse and power. For this shot (sorry guys) but the big rimmed discs have a serious disadvantage in my book. You loose a bit of the small rim "accuracy grip."

Until I lost my Saint, this is exactly what I used it for. I have a beat enough Destroyer that it'll get that low ceiling tunnel shot for me that the Saint used to do, and it's controllable enough for me because it's so beat in. My problem with the Saint is that if it was thrown with less than ~325' of power it would act stable/OS, with a bit more than that it was stable, and more than that it was understable. It was hard for me to power down and range, and it had a minimum arm speed I had to throw it with to trust I would get the flight I wanted.

Teebirds I can't get as far down a low ceiling tunnel as a Saint or mellow faster disc, but they go so straight. If a shot was pretty open and fairway distance, I'd basically never throw the Saint at it, but I will always choose a Teebird when I can because I can get the distance right much more easily. As similar as the two can be, they have different uses for how I play. I'm sure you'll enjoy Teebirds too. I have only thrown a Saint Pro a couple of times if you want that stable flight look at champ plastic...if you want a long and straight Teebird go with lower PLH star. I throw both and it really isn't too hard for me to choose which to throw for most shots.

 

[BrotherDave]

I found Saints to have a hyzer flip to drift, with a mild drift back while gliding type of flight. Go forever on a slight downhill shot, but can still be turned over on slight uphill. Closest I've had another disc fly to that was a fresh and then slightly used champ Sidewinder...although I'm not sure where those eventually end up stability wise (lost it too soon). I don't see any point going to that if you're after Goldline/star type plastic, if you like the Saint stay with it.

Teebird is different, more HSS and slower. More trustworthy in a breeze (or a wind if you use an OS one...but then not as much comparison to a Saint). I prefer the Teebird on the course, it gets me in far less trouble. If you use a low PLH star Teebird it will give you the slightest drift then hold that the whole way (or pop up from a slight hyzer), then have a tiny fade at the end. I find them easier to range than the Saint because they can be powered down if need be while acting the same, and the slight fade keeps the distance in check. The Saint will drift more as you keep powering it up, but the really delayed or non-existent fade if you crush them means they will keep going.

To me the Saint is a more "hit the gap then let it keep going" type of fairway driver (or anny bombs), while the Teebird can be controlled on any mellow line from sweep hyzer to dead straight to sweep anhyzer. Mellow Teebirds do go very far and very straight if you are throwing fairways 375'+.

I 2nd this. Hit the gap with a hyzer flip and after that you just watch it dance around the fairway and drift somewhere.

Both the Gold Lines I have thrown flew just like my Star Valkyrie.

That's what my Opto broke into, a wonderful Swedish Valk. Great small-rimmed distance driver.

 

[Dr.Smooth]

what does low plh mean?

 

[Hoss22]

It's in reference to the Parting Line Height on the disc. Generally, lower means more understable

 

[World Eater]

Somehow I've managed to play a lot of disc golf without a stable fairway driver, probably bcz I'd leaned on the old Truths so heavily. I've had a Stag in the bag, but they act like drivers more than control / fairway drivers. Thanks to the recent Truth shakeup I've realized I've been doing it wrong...

I just put two saints in my bag - 160g Opto F2 and a 176g Frost.

They are very fresh, but so far more hss than my old Teebirds with less fade. In fact I'm not sure the Frost Saint has any fade.. I've never seen anything that high speed stable with no fade on it.

They also bomb!

 

[KDFrosty]

I've thrown Saints since they were released in 2012, and tested the mold in numerous plastic types. I've settled on the Recycled Saints for the bag bc they are slightly less stable than GL but still have that GL plastic feel. The recycled Saints are getting harder and harder to find, but if you have a chance give em a shot.

 

[dekdo]

Escape.

 

[bhadella]

Saints are more like the TL and FD that they can get pushed around by a little headwind as they show some turn.

 

[World Eater]

I hated Escapes so much when I tried them last year. After two rounds I left a pair of them at Seatac in disgust, uninked on 13's teebox. It's the only disc I have animosity towards.

Probably entirely user error, but I could not get them to behave consistently and I did not have that problem with other stable fairways like Stags, Saints, Stalker or Teebirds (or any other fairway for that matter..)

Fortunately Teebirds and Saints are so good I'll never have to touch another Escape!

edit : I have a seasoned Felon for wind. I expect the recycled Saint I put back in the bag will eventually season to replace my Seers and I'll cycle Felons and Saints for fairways.

 

[mike.sepulveda.73]

I must have gotten a weird saint. Opto line misprint and that thing flips so easy it's kinda scary sometimes. Still has a reliable fade at the end but wow.

Thumb smashed on my Galaxy Note 4