Stickum and such: anyone use grip powder?

[Doofenshmirtz]

You can find all three readily available at most places where discs are sold. Taking some time to play with each and determining what works best is important. I am a guy that has little to no grip issues. I tend to use a grip bag. I don't care for the grip of rosin or the mess of chalk.

"All three" seems to leave out a fourth category, waxes. The problem that I have in the summer is that I sweat a lot. My hands get wet and it might as well be raining if I do not dry off my hads. The approaches that seem to work are towels, a wide sweat band and a birdie bag that dries my hand.

When it is cold, the problem is the opposite. My hands are too dry. They are so dry that they have no traction on the plastic and even dipping in water and drying with a towel will return my grip, if only briefly.

Two products that I just bought are made of wax. One is a wax powder that apparently a lot of strippers and stripper wannabes use. You can find packages with no stripper on the bottle aimed at other sports. The wax adds grip for a little while. The other product is a mini marker also made of wax. It does the same thing without having to open up the bottle and attempt to sprinkle it on my hands. I just have to grip the wax disc, rub my fingertips a little and put it back into my mini holder.

The waxes are also supposed to work in the summer. I may try this but worry that the wax will just melt in the upper 90 degree temps we get in my part of the world (along with some occasional directly sunlight). I suspect the wax would work by keeping the hand dry from sweat, not by drying it up, but by not allowing the water to soak into or stay on the skin. I'll have to use it to try and figure it out though.

 

[ru4por]

"All three" seems to leave out a fourth category, waxes. The problem that I have in the summer is that I sweat a lot. My hands get wet and it might as well be raining if I do not dry off my hads. The approaches that seem to work are towels, a wide sweat band and a birdie bag that dries my hand.

When it is cold, the problem is the opposite. My hands are too dry. They are so dry that they have no traction on the plastic and even dipping in water and drying with a towel will return my grip, if only briefly.

Two products that I just bought are made of wax. One is a wax powder that apparently a lot of strippers and stripper wannabes use. You can find packages with no stripper on the bottle aimed at other sports. The wax adds grip for a little while. The other product is a mini marker also made of wax. It does the same thing without having to open up the bottle and attempt to sprinkle it on my hands. I just have to grip the wax disc, rub my fingertips a little and put it back into my mini holder.

The waxes are also supposed to work in the summer. I may try this but worry that the wax will just melt in the upper 90 degree temps we get in my part of the world (along with some occasional directly sunlight). I suspect the wax would work by keeping the hand dry from sweat, not by drying it up, but by not allowing the water to soak into or stay on the skin. I'll have to use it to try and figure it out though.

Right on.

I only provided info on the three primary bags available. I often hear and see people think they are all the same. I was at a tournament this weekend and they had a small, local, shirt guy there. He had a table with a few discs and a mitten bag (chalk) and a dry bag (silica). He did a great job of differentiating the two. Most players were surprised and did not know there was a difference. I don't dabble in the waxes....OR STRIPPERS (again, in case my wife might wander in here....shhhhh). I have seen them used.

I played Charlotte this summer. Over a week of 95+ degrees and a heat index of 98+. It was so hot, you would have to sit and mop off with a towel between holes and then hold your hands up, to prevent sweat from running down your arms to your hands. It was brutal. But, again, I don't really struggle with wet hands. I seem to get a decent purchase on the disc regardless.

 

[ru4por]

Right on.

I only provided info on the three primary bags available. I often hear and see people think they are all the same. I was at a tournament this weekend and they had a small, local, shirt guy there. He had a table with a few discs and a mitten bag (chalk) and a dry bag (silica). He did a great job of differentiating the two. Most players were surprised and did not know there was a difference. I don't dabble in the waxes....OR STRIPPERS (again, in case my wife might wander in here....shhhhh). I have seen them used.

I played Charlotte this summer. Over a week of 95+ degrees and a heat index of 98+. It was so hot, you would have to sit and mop off with a towel between holes and then hold your hands up, to prevent sweat from running down your arms to your hands. It was brutal. But, again, I don't really struggle with wet hands. I seem to get a decent purchase on the disc regardless.

Missed the edit.

There are even additional option outside of the bags and wax. I often play with a guy that has an actual chalk climbing bag on his cart and dips his hand into it to add traction.

 

[texasissouth]

Sorry, I can't comment on the product you mentioned.
I do have chronically dry hands and have found winter disc golf especially tough.
I use O'keefe's Working Hands.
It's a hand cream that cures dry cracked skin and I find it makes my skin slightly tacky. It soaks into your hands not greasy at all.

I second Working Hands, definitely leaves some tack AND helps prevent cracking. I've even seen McBeth use it in the middle of summer once when following his card (oh pre-covid DG I miss you)

 

[Puckstopper]

This is the item you need https://dgmaxwax.com/products/snap-stick-winter-blend

I'd agree with this. My wife and I are experimenting with making our own wax blends and I'm finding that it really helps with consistency. I like that this company offers two different blends, as I'm finding that there is not a one size fits all solution.

As an example, I've been having quite a bit of success with a specific formula here in Ohio in temps between 20 and 50 degrees, as long as I keep it in a pocket. Same formula doesn't work well if stored in a pouch on my bag (too hard), and it was just a little softer than I'd have preferred on a recent trip to Florida when stored in my pocket, but storing it on the bag it was just about right.

So, wax takes some experimenting to get right. I'd recommend buying both of their sticks and seeing which works for you. I now use it before every throw to maintain consistency, but don't notice a huge improvement in warm, dry weather. Cold, wet, or both, the stuff is amazing, and way better than friction gloves. Oddly, it's made the biggest difference for me when putting. Having confidence in your grip goes a long way.

There is some buildup on the disc (which actually improves grip over time) but it comes right off with a rinse of hot water in the sink and a light wipedown if you don't like leaving anything on your discs.

 

[texasissouth]

This bar is crazy sticky. Works in the rain.
I love their regular powder bags too.

https://dryvbagz.com/products/the-marker

Just ordered some of this. I'm a chronic finger-licker, even in the heat of a Virginia summer, and them saying it can replace that has me interested.

 

[Mocheez]

Sortkwik works really well. It's a common office product used for sorting paper/money but I always used it for basketball and now disc golf.

 

[Wayne Mags]

I usually just rub my hand in the dirt. But if the ground is frozen, O'Keefes Working Hands Creme works well.

 

[Brockness Monster]

Sortkwik works really well. It's a common office product used for sorting paper/money but I always used it for basketball and now disc golf.

I was wondering about this. I work in an office that uses this stuff and it helps a lot when sorting paper. Might have to snag a container and try it.