Talking bout stalking (stalkers post here)

[jubuttib]

Yellow champystar? Oh yeah, those are the business. Hard to believe how durable those things are, and how straight. I've been trying to hunt them down since I first saw one, but the stores don't have them and no-one is willing to part with theirs.

We showed Jussi one of those and he was surprised. Said that they were a mistake and shouldn't really exist.

 

[booter]

I eant some of those hook it up mike!

 

[discspeed]

I eant some of those hook it up mike!

I'll see if we have any left at the store that I haven't hoarded...

 

[himynameismatt]

Love/Hate relationship with the Stalkers continue. I recently added my seasoned FR Z Stalker and a New Glo Z back to the bag. This winter I haven't been trying to push my Buzzz's past 340', I think 339' is the longest hole I throw a Buzzz on in the Winter.

Anyways been pushing the Stalker out to 340'-350' pretty small range. After some serious Stalker ownage today in the woods I'm incredibly pumped to be adding one back to my bag fulltime. 350' Lazer beams ALL DAY, and if I needed some fade at that range I'd throw the Glo.

I misunderstood the Stalker when I first started using it, It's not the workhorse on the same level as a Teebird or Eagle but I think it's the straighter flying fairway at 340'-350' and can fly lower at those distances as well. However, It does take some arm to get it there, but "finessing" a Stalker out to 350' is noticeably easier than getting a Buzzz out that far, especially in the Winter. If you're trying to work a more overstable/understable line I'd reach for a more overstable/understable compliment, respectively. Stalker wants nothing but dead-straight.

Anyways nothing new or groundbreaking here just never thought that revisiting an old mold I had overlooked awhile back would fly this well for me.

 

[JR]

Love/Hate relationship with the Stalkers continue. I recently added my seasoned FR Z Stalker and a New Glo Z back to the bag. This winter I haven't been trying to push my Buzzz's past 340', I think 339' is the longest hole I throw a Buzzz on in the Winter.

Anyways been pushing the Stalker out to 340'-350' pretty small range. After some serious Stalker ownage today in the woods I'm incredibly pumped to be adding one back to my bag fulltime. 350' Lazer beams ALL DAY, and if I needed some fade at that range I'd throw the Glo.

I misunderstood the Stalker when I first started using it, It's not the workhorse on the same level as a Teebird or Eagle but I think it's the straighter flying fairway at 340'-350' and can fly lower at those distances as well. However, It does take some arm to get it there, but "finessing" a Stalker out to 350' is noticeably easier than getting a Buzzz out that far, especially in the Winter. If you're trying to work a more overstable/understable line I'd reach for a more overstable/understable compliment, respectively. Stalker wants nothing but dead-straight.

Anyways nothing new or groundbreaking here just never thought that revisiting an old mold I had overlooked awhile back would fly this well for me.

The Stalker is like the Buzzz in sideways placement in that it wants to go either straight or far to the side. Anything in between has very little margin of error. So i'd use the Stalkers for wide left and wide right shots with added height too.

 

[JHern]

The Stalker represents a quandary for bag minimalism, and we've discussed this a lot here in the past. For me, it began when I discovered the ESP Cyclone, which is basically like a Stalker except that it is low speed over-stable. The question was always whether I really needed both the Cyclone and Stalker in my bag. The Cyclone is the better work horse, it does a lot of great things. The Stalker does one thing: it is a purely stable fairway driver that also finishes straight.

I have the same problem with my mid-ranges: I like the Z Buzzz and I also like the Sparkle Aftershock. These are basically the same type of pair as the Stalker-Cyclone: the Aftershock is high speed stable but low speed over-stable, while the Buzzz is purely stable and finishes straight.

The Stalker is always going in and out of my bag. When it is in my bag, there are times when I don't throw it very often, so I take it out if my bag is getting heavy or crowded. I probably should throw it more than I do, but I tend to reach for distance drivers too often for long straight shots (e.g. a beat Pro Wraith instead of a Stalker for a 350' tunnel shot). My Buzzz is my favorite upshot disc because I know that if I just get it on a line at the basket, it will not veer off that path left or right (unless I stall it, which is rarely used on upshots), and I only have to think about short/long which is easy for me since the Buzzz has such nice touch.

I picked up a perfectly clear CryZtal Stalker yesterday with only a gold foil "Discraft" stamp. This was a players pack disc from the 2010 Memorial (I think). It's an absolutely gorgeous disc (slobber!), with a flat top like the 1st runs, and ultra-gummy tacky feel. The trouble is visibility, I put it on the grass in my yard and it almost disappeared. I'm torn between my desire to throw it (which means I will have to dye it, at least partly) and my desire to preserve it unblemished as an example of what the perfect Stalker should be like. I bet it flies absolutely incredibly.

 

[steven1]

just bought 2 to try. both blue 167 Z. one has a little more dome than the other. i need a disc with a rim i can powergrip comfortably, but be shorter than a pd. I get a more consistent release with a wider-rimmed disc than with the roc when i need to use a 4 finger grip to get it the distance. I throw my rocs much better with a fan grip at about 75%, which is only good out to 300 tops. I have a feeling the stalker may not be stable enough, but maybe. my other options have been a champ or star leopard, or just power down a less stable pd. what is more stable, a z-cyclone or a z-xl? I like mid 160's for this spot.

 

[discspeed]

just bought 2 to try. both blue 167 Z. one has a little more dome than the other. i need a disc with a rim i can powergrip comfortably, but be shorter than a pd. I get a more consistent release with a wider-rimmed disc than with the roc when i need to use a 4 finger grip to get it the distance. I throw my rocs much better with a fan grip at about 75%, which is only good out to 300 tops. I have a feeling the stalker may not be stable enough, but maybe. my other options have been a champ or star leopard, or just power down a less stable pd. what is more stable, a z-cyclone or a z-xl? I like mid 160's for this spot.

Keep the FD on your radar...I'm pretty sure Discmania designed it to pair with the PD.

 

[kern97871]

what is more stable, a z-cyclone or a z-xl? I like mid 160's for this spot.

I've heard awful awful things about the z cyclone (aka glideless POS) although I have little experience with it first hand. Seems like the premium plactic cyclone of choice would be the esp, fwiw.

 

[money 21]

the z cyclone just doesn't fly like a x or esp cyclone so most cyclone guys hate it. The z cyclone is a longer wasp. Think faster wasp and not cyclone when you are throwing it and you will be fine.

 

[steven1]

what is the rim width of the FD? how fast and stable is it compared to stalker and leopard? z cyclone sounds more stable than z-xl?
thanks guys

 

[jubuttib]

FD is about speed 8 and depending on what sort you get is either not far from a premium Leo or between a premium Leo and a TB. Or something like that.

 

[niuvalleycane]

I'm hearing Cryztal Z Stalkers are beefy almost pred beefy, can anyone corroborate?

 

[JR]

Steven I would bump up the weight of the Stalker to 175 because i have not come across a mid type fade in a lower power requirement/longer disc that is as HSS as the Z Stalker 175 is. Just make sure that you get a flatter one. Glo Z Stalker is so much more HSS that it can take winds nicely but it fades like a fairway driver. A Leopard C 175 is way less HSS than a 175 Z Stalker. Fade on both is mild and comparable. I also have a 167 Z Stalker and it sure loses in consistency and ain't good in front half winds vs the 175. The difference is very significant.

I have a beefy kind of ESP Cyclone that is about as short and meathook kind as an FLX XL. Both are mutants compared to normal kinds. Some ESP Cyclones aren't as beefy. If the FD is speed 8 and it glides great from hearsay i think it is going to be a much longer disc than Steven is looking for.

 

[discspeed]

If the FD is speed 8 and it glides great from hearsay i think it is going to be a much longer disc than Steven is looking for.

The FD is a fairway range driver...It does have some decent distance potential if thrown hard, but it powers down really well. Considering he already has a pretty minimalistic setup I'm going to assume that he has good speed control on his throw and can lay on or back off his discs. He carries really versatile molds as well, which is why I think he would like the FD compared to a specialty disc like the Stalker. Powered down PDs also lock onto a straight line with minimal fade like the Stalker, where the FD flies on curving lines better than either.

 

[JHern]

just bought 2 to try...one has a little more dome than the other. i need a disc with a rim i can powergrip comfortably...I have a feeling the stalker may not be stable enough, but maybe...

As with almost every fairway driver and mid-range disc from Discraft, the flatter the top, the more forgiving it is to OAT. The flat top Stalkers are money, the domey ones are OK for finesse and have good glide but are somewhat difficult to grip and rip with a 4 finger power grip. This doesn't mean they are high speed under-stable. In fact, they are very high speed stable, but the tiniest bit of OAT/wobble will cause them to flip hard. Anyways, I tend to throw all my fairway drivers with a fork grip, since control is usually more important than raw distance.

If you want a good 4 finger power grip fairway driver, I'd recommend the flattest top ESP Cyclone you can find. On the other hand...good luck finding one, since all the recent runs I've seen had grotesque domes and also ultra-sensitive to OAT.

...I think he would like the FD compared to a specialty disc like the Stalker.

I still need to try on these FD molds...sounds like a nice disc. I was not impressed by the TD, but very impressed by the PD.

...Powered down PDs also lock onto a straight line with minimal fade like the Stalker...

This is what I've found, also...a seasoned PD and a Stalker have a great deal in common, which is why I never put both in my bag at the same time. They exhibit a similar distance range (although the PD is a tad longer). But the Stalker is easier to range than a PD, so if you go with a PD you will have more distance potential, but you need better touch to get it to stop where you want it to stop.

 

[jubuttib]

I still need to try on these FD molds...sounds like a nice disc. I was not impressed by the TD, but very impressed by the PD.

I was hardly impressed with them myself, they've been quite badly misnamed. Great glidey straight drivers that beat in very nicely (but take quite a long time to do that).

EDIT: I of course mean "at first"! I love them these days, ever since I figured out what they're for. =)

 

[JR]

I've only seen one PD that faded as little as Z Stalkers do. Most PDs when new fade like a driver and the Stalker fades like a mid newish Rancho Roc amount i'd say.

 

[discspeed]

I'm not really talking new PDs unless they are the stiff/flat variety of PPDs. I have a reddish-orange and fairly flat SPD (6/10) that flies on low flat lines with almost no fade from 300'-350'...Any flattish PD with some wear will do this...And you don't have to nut on them to get them flying. I had so many frozen rope shots with Stalkers that impressed me until I realized how short they were...The Stalker fades like a mid because it basically is one.

 

[JHern]

...The Stalker fades like a mid because it basically is one.

PD (long range driver) is longer than a Stalker (fairway driver) which is longer than a Buzzz (mid-range). All 3 of these molds have no fade after sufficient beating in.