disc retrieval tool

[uncle pennybags]

OTHER THAN A LARGE POND RAKE....

You pretty much need to see the disc for any retriever to be reasonably successful.

I'm not saying you can't recover a disc by randomly throwing a retriever into a pond, or randomly reaching out with a claw/holding attachment on a pole, but....

If you don't have a visual on your disc, good luck getting it back. :|

Lake rakes have drawbacks too. I've busted 3 of my homebuilt ones on the "natural fill" in my ponds. (busted up cinderblocks :wall That said they are about the only reliable way to pull out discs unseen. Golden retriever types have some angle dependency to actually get the disc.

 

[TheOtherBill]

https://infinitediscs.com/Products/Retrievers/18589/Max-Stick-Attachment-Only

Love this retriever, and yes you can just poke around under murky water with it. I always seem to come up with more than my own disc - once got 3 but didn't find mine.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

It's so funny when you look up and see water bottles stuck in trees....

I used to do that until I started realizing that golf balls are far more practical, and accurate.

 

[txmxer]

Lake rakes have drawbacks too. I've busted 3 of my homebuilt ones on the "natural fill" in my ponds. (busted up cinderblocks :wall That said they are about the only reliable way to pull out discs unseen. Golden retriever types have some angle dependency to actually get the disc.

Do those lake rakes have an aluminum head?

I took a garden rake with the steel head and looped a rope through the head and handle. It's been pretty solid.

 

[HyooMac]

I used to do that until I started realizing that golf balls are far more practical, and accurate.

Best thing I've found for throwing is a hockey puck. It has more heft than a golf ball, takes up less space than a baseball, and sits nicely in the bottom of the water bottle pocket of a bag.

 

[zontar]

Best thing I've found for throwing is a hockey puck. It has more heft than a golf ball, takes up less space than a baseball, and sits nicely in the bottom of the water bottle pocket of a bag.

this! hockey pucks or a baseball, whatever is easiest to steal in your part of the country. hockey pucks don't roll away after you've thrown them a zillion times up into that fricking oak tree.

 

[ray1970]

Best thing I've found for throwing is a hockey puck. It has more heft than a golf ball, takes up less space than a baseball, and sits nicely in the bottom of the water bottle pocket of a bag.

Also, I think you can use a hockey puck for a marker as well.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

this! hockey pucks or a baseball, whatever is easiest to steal in your part of the country. hockey pucks don't roll away after you've thrown them a zillion times up into that fricking oak tree.

This does make the Minnesotan I used to be quite pleased.
Thank you.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Best thing I've found for throwing is a hockey puck. It has more heft than a golf ball, takes up less space than a baseball, and sits nicely in the bottom of the water bottle pocket of a bag.

Also, I think you can use a hockey puck for a marker as well.

Plus you can whip 'em at @$$hats.
Gotta love something that can serve 3 different uses during a single round.

 

[HyooMac]

This does make the Minnesotan I used to be quite pleased.
Thank you.

Also a former Minnesotan here. 13 fun years, raised kids, discovered disc golf for the first time, around 1998 (still wishing I had known/joined PDGA back then for the low number....)

 

[uncle pennybags]

Do those lake rakes have an aluminum head?

I took a garden rake with the steel head and looped a rope through the head and handle. It's been pretty solid.

I built my own. PVC frame, carriage bolts, long rope (tied around my waist). Threw it out like a ring life preserver...drag back dredging the bottom. When it grabs a disc it doesn't let go easily.

The big problem is the "habitat" of blocks and x-mas trees. Sometimes the PVC breaks. If I ever build it again I'm using schedule 80.

 

[txmxer]

Ok, so a buddy got an end for his retriever that is a ball with suction cups all over it. I figured 'no way that thing works.' And I am so wrong. He touches a disc underwater in the creek and it sticks 1st try every try and pulls it up without even falling off the suction cup! I don't think a pet octopus could work much better.

He's had that sucker at least a month and still works perfectly.

Saw a guy with the suction cup thing today. Said it works awesome.

 

[The Mickstar]

I lost a disc at one of our local courses, went right home & ordered a Golden Retriever. Pulled 13 discs, including my own, in its maiden voyage. Paid for itself many times over in its first use.

 

[ru4por]

I lost a disc at one of our local courses, went right home & ordered a Golden Retriever. Pulled 13 discs, including my own, in its maiden voyage. Paid for itself many times over in its first use.

Too much work. :gross:

Getting discs back to others, always seems to turn into a hassle. My life is too short to set up a meet, only to find they don't show, or end up having to mail it back. Likewise, I don't expect my wayward flyers to come home either.

 

[The Mickstar]

Too much work. :gross:

Getting discs back to others, always seems to turn into a hassle. My life is too short to set up a meet, only to find they don't show, or end up having to mail it back. Likewise, I don't expect my wayward flyers to come home either.

Meh... It's only as hard as you make it.

I've had my retriever out to three different local courses now, and have drug somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-35 discs. Of those, a little less than half had legible ink. All I do is take a pic and text it to the number saying, if they want it back, it's at my house. The vast majority never reply. Almost everyone that does reply is amazed that I found it, tells me a story about how they lost it xx years ago and to just keep it. I've had a grand total of two people come get their discs back.

About half my bag is discs that I've drug out of lakes. I've found some great flyers!

 

[The Shide]

Way too often the discs I pick up & find a number on it, the person is not even in the same state as me. Or they never even played the course on which I found the disc. Which means someone else found the disc & was using it (THIEF!).

I've lost hundreds of discs over the years & only gotten back about 10%. They are plastic toys. Sure some are more special to us than others, but they are still just toys. (some Toy Story reference could go here about how even though Andy put his name on his toys, some evil bastard is still going to cover up your name & sell it for a huge profit)

As ru4por already stated, it's just too much of a hassle.

 

[ray1970]

I like to see how far away my lost discs get before someone contacts me.

I had one that was lost for about a year when someone found it on a course in Iowa and called me.

I also had one that got lost three or four years ago and got a text from a guy that found it in Houston. He sent a picture and it appears someone had loved and used that disc plenty based on the looks of it. It was pretty much new when I lost it.

 

[txmxer]

I don't know. I've had pretty solid response when I've found a disc with a number on it. I text the number with a picture, stash it on the course where found. I don't go out of my way to return a disc, but if they respond to my text, I don't mind stashing it for them to pick up.

 

[The Shide]

I don't know. I've had pretty solid response when I've found a disc with a number on it. I text the number with a picture, stash it on the course where found. I don't go out of my way to return a disc, but if they respond to my text, I don't mind stashing it for them to pick up.

Lately. This has been the exception, not the rule, for me. That is why I cringe when I see a disc on the course that doesn't belong to me or someone with me.

I had a text last year from someone in Colorado with a disc of mine that I lost here in Michigan. Told him to use it in good health.

 

[robdeforge]

Too much work. :gross:

Getting discs back to others, always seems to turn into a hassle. My life is too short to set up a meet, only to find they don't show, or end up having to mail it back. Likewise, I don't expect my wayward flyers to come home either.

Way too often the discs I pick up & find a number on it, the person is not even in the same state as me. Or they never even played the course on which I found the disc. Which means someone else found the disc & was using it (THIEF!).

I've lost hundreds of discs over the years & only gotten back about 10%. They are plastic toys. Sure some are more special to us than others, but they are still just toys. (some Toy Story reference could go here about how even though Andy put his name on his toys, some evil bastard is still going to cover up your name & sell it for a huge profit)

As ru4por already stated, it's just too much of a hassle.

out of returning like 50+ discs, I've had maybe 2 or 3 that I would describe as a hassle. and as soon as it became a hassle I just said "ok I'm leaving it at the course here". you guys must be doing something wrong