Replacement disc shopping: When is the weight difference significant?

[IR8300]

Situation: You lost a favorite disc, the inclination is replace it with the exact model, plastic, and weight ... but probably an easier to see color.

Question: When the weight difference in weight significant? 1 gram? 2 grams? 5 grams?

Example: You are replacing the 165 gram disc that you lost. Will that same disc with a weight of 160 grams or 170 grams fly noticeably different?

Asking because I'm thinking being too picky about weight, when shopping for discs. Realistically, will I see a difference if a new disc is 2 grams lighter?

 

[BogeyNoMore]

From my experience:

2 grams: not enough to notice a difference
5 grams: a noticeable, but not huge difference
10 grams: significant difference

2 grams is 1.3% of 150g

1% makes a bigger difference in your head, than it does in your hand

 

[IR8300]

Thanks,

Suspected that because of the math. Then, +/- 2 grams is definitely worth trading for visibility. Little more than that, if disc availability is problematic.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Part of the question would also be how broken in was it? A fairly fresh 2yr old disc could easily be replaced with the 160 definately short term. Ifnit was MVP sometimes lighter is more stable. And was it a stable mold with like 10yrs of wear... because no matter which you buy you have some time to put in to get it where you want.

Buy two and get greasy with some sandpaper or a file on one of em, do horrible and unspeakable things to it and season the other naturally.

Short answer... Bogeys right.

 

[GripEnemy]

My general rule is 7 gram difference to really notice i.e. 175 vs 168 Destroyer.

Try to keep it within 3 grams of your former beloved but honestly it's more about the PLH and run "number". If it's not the same run and plastic/color the weight can screw with you.

Loosely speaking yes heavier = more overstable

 

[Hyzer Ale]

My general rule is 7 gram difference to really notice i.e. 175 vs 168 Destroyer.

Try to keep it within 3 grams of your former beloved but honestly it's more about the PLH and run "number". If it's not the same run and plastic/color the weight can screw with you.

Loosely speaking yes heavier = more overstable

I agree that PLH, dome, and stiffness play a larger roll until you get to 5+ grams difference. I throw Wraiths and have a couple 166g that are far more overstable than some of my max weight ones do to this.

If you have the chance, replace that favorite disc in person. There is a much better chance of getting one that will fly like you hope.

 

[IR8300]

In answer to ThrowaEnvy, all of my discs are < 15 months old. But the lost Mamba had a big gouge in it, that even sandpaper couldn't fix.

Almost stopped playing courses completely this year (until yesterday), and have been focusing on practice throws; distance & putting. Several discs consistantly go the furtherest, those are the ones that I want to replace exactly, because they are known quantities. (Stick with the devil that you know.)

GripEnemy, how do find the run number? Agree about the plastic, mostly: Certain plastics are identical, except for cosmetics (e.g. Innova Star vs. Halo Star). And thanks for the tip about +/- 3 grams (weight of 2 blueberries).

Hyzer Ale, don't have faith in making a few test throws, that I could tell a good disc from a bad disc. Still too new, and finding that lots of practice with all of my discs, not just ones in the cart, is giving me a better feel for what each does. Bottom Line: Don't have enough experience to easily find out if there are any better disc models than the ones that I own.

 

[ChrisinFL]

Situation: You lost a favorite disc, the inclination is replace it with the exact model, plastic, and weight ... but probably an easier to see color.

Question: When the weight difference in weight significant? 1 gram? 2 grams? 5 grams?

Example: You are replacing the 165 gram disc that you lost. Will that same disc with a weight of 160 grams or 170 grams fly noticeably different?

Asking because I'm thinking being too picky about weight, when shopping for discs. Realistically, will I see a difference if a new disc is 2 grams lighter?

Depends on many factors, true. Some discs are just weirdly different from their flight numbers than they should be. But, I use a decent amount of light weight drivers, especially 150g Terns and Katanas, and 5 grams makes a difference for me. At 155g, most of them start to be much more stable. I probably have ten Katanas and ten Terns, mostly 150-155g, and 5g makes a difference. Breaking them in, they also get less stable. As I keep improving, they fly a little less stable. Then, in mid ranges, I go more towards 160-170g, and 5g might make no noticeable difference at all. Putters I mostly prefer over 170g, as lighter ones can get too floaty, and effected too much by wind. But, hey, have fun experimenting - enjoy the journey - what a great sport!!!

 

[mostlynorwegian]

Situation: You lost a favorite disc, the inclination is replace it with the exact model, plastic, and weight ... but probably an easier to see color.

Question: When the weight difference in weight significant? 1 gram? 2 grams? 5 grams?

Example: You are replacing the 165 gram disc that you lost. Will that same disc with a weight of 160 grams or 170 grams fly noticeably different?

Asking because I'm thinking being too picky about weight, when shopping for discs. Realistically, will I see a difference if a new disc is 2 grams lighter?

I am about to deal with this situation for my 166 gram Star Eagle Rolling Knolls rough gobbled up. I already have the answer with 171 gram one I picked up last year that is beefier. Replace it with a like weight and color. 2 grams lighter might be noticeable as far as color. My g-star gazelles all have slightly less stability the lower weight they are between 168 and 175.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Well if we are arguing over blueberries I find 5 makes a difference. Haha. There is no run # on discs other than millenium but sometimes you can tell by the stamp or when it was restocked. Unfortunately there are a bunch of variables that you can't really spot. I swore I would never believe different colors flew different but now I am somewhat convinced there could be something to it, more about how it cools or sets. If you still have the disc you can line in up on a table top and check the PLH (parting line height) and see if they line up, that's the biggest factor to flight more than weight. If you don't have the disc just line up a couple and pick the lowest plh one.

I loaded up on rhythms from the first stock run, the SE hotstamp seemed to make the disc flatter, the standard stamp varied between flat and domey anyhow and basically some variance all between what was the same run. So don't obsess too much, grab a new one and start breaking it in, sometimes it may fill a slightly different role until you beat it up enough.

 

[dmoore1998]

For me a lot of times it has appeared to be based on the flight of the disc as well as the plastic (though primarily the flight of the disc, which just gets impacted by the plastic).

For example: Z Nuke...I could change it 5 grams easily, probably 10, and it would be fine (though for someone with a very high arm speed, they might notice this a lot).
Star Shryke...I notice pretty decent flight differences at even 5 grams (but less so if we're talking halo star shryke).

My general feeling has tended to be that the more understable the disc in question, the more I notice smaller changes in weight.

 

[Countchunkula]

I think the unsatisfying answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no.

While weight variations should definitely affect flight (to what degree is up for debate), I think the normal variation is more significant. I believe that each mfg/mold/plastic/weight/color/stamp/run/etc. combination has significant variation within it.

While you might pickup two discs that appear identical outside of weight and see a significant difference in flight; you could pull two other examples from the same populations and see no difference.

Also, I'd wager most of us have more variation in our throws than we are acknowledging. Can any of you throw 10 consecutive shots with the same release speed and angles? I sure can't and it makes it hard to separate archer from arrow when comparing disc flight.

 

[zontar]

2 grams won't matter. after that think about how cool the color is and whether you can ignore the weight

 

[thrembo]

 

[Hampstead]

When Prodigy first released discs, the max weight D1 was inked 175 but many of them scaled up to 178. I guess my point is, are we talking marked weight or actual weight? Something else to consider.

 

[IR8300]

When Prodigy first released discs, the max weight D1 was inked 175 but many of them scaled up to 178. I guess my point is, are we talking marked weight or actual weight? Something else to consider.

Good point. Ordered 3 Mambas (164g, 165g, 166g) just before I posted this question. Tossing them in the living room, there was noticiable difference in my hand when throwing the 164g & 166g.

Detecting a 2g weight difference is one thing, but the impact on flight is another. And I have to wonder if the player's skill level makes a difference. Speculating, suspect that a pro would see a larger flight difference compared to a newbie.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

When Prodigy first released discs, the max weight D1 was inked 175 but many of them scaled up to 178. I guess my point is, are we talking marked weight or actual weight? Something else to consider.

Valid point. Not uncommon for discs to scale a few grams off from their marked weight.


*wonders if he can alter flight characteristics by re-inking discs with desired weight*

 

[Casey 1988]

I have used 5 grams as a rule for all but putting puters and I do see why in some molds disc weight does matter more then 2--3 grams in either direction like 9 speed on up or in big flight plate discs. I have had most discs off from weight hey were measured at by up to 2.5--3 grams with only one exception most Discraft and DGA discs come in a 2--3 grams range and 99% of discs are in range as if modern Discraft brand knows from older discs do change from when weighed in a factory being super new no chance of changing due to shipping knocking off minor mold frays as Discraft has some of best disc with very minimal edge fray. Only really off discs I have used are an Innova Dragon as I had one in and a disc where was around 146 grams new in 2000's and was happy oops which was going on where a disc could be 155 grams and not floating as past 152--153 grams disc in mold using R-Pro like DX would not float.