Winter driver (grippy plastic, Teebird-like)

[Meillo]

Hoi,

I'm thinking about a suitable driver for the winter. My normal drivers are premium plastic, which are a hazzle when wet. As versatile drivers I usually bag:

- Echostar Teebird (straight-to-fade)
- Star Valkyrie (straight, with slight turn and slight fade)
- M OLF (something inbetween the others)

A single driver (speed 7-9) is enough for me. This is what I'm searching for.

The driver I am most familar and most versatile with is the Teebird. Hence, the obvious choice would be an orange DX Teebird, but unfortunately DX Teebirds lose their fade rather quickly. Gstar seems to be noticably more understable and probably also slick when wet.

An orange DX Eagle-X is the best allround winter driver I've got. But as I like Teebirds more than Eagles I'm still on the search ...

Do you think a DX Thunderbird could be that Teebird with longer lasting fade (through having more speed)? Or what other disc could satisfy my wishes:

- Most important: grippy plastic (DX is usually grippy but in some runs slick; Prodigy 300 seems to be great, or L64 Zero Medium, not sure if Jawbreaker is still grippy in the cold, ...)
- Color: orange or pink
- Speed: 7-9, Turn: close to 0, Fade: 2 -- or simply think Star Teebird
- Brand: doesn't matter as long as it is well available (in Germany), i.e. major brands, popular discs


Suggestions welcome!

[Jay Dub]

GStar in any of those molds work great in the winter. XT is not premium but has great grip. Those are the two plastics I use most in the winter.

[thirtydirtybirds]

Yeah, I would second gstar if those are the drivers you like. It’s surprisingly grippy in winter.

[Meillo]

Isn't XT a putter-only plastic? I haven't heard of XT Teebirds, yet.

I see that Gstar is grippy in dry and cold conditions, but when I play on snow and cannot and don't want to afford to wipe the inside rim completely dry after each throw, a more porous plastic ... or maybe Discraft with the rised disc names on the inner rim, seem to give more grip. But maybe my expectation is wrong and I should just give it a go ...

[Jay Dub]

More than the Aviar is made in XT but it seems the Roc might be the highest speed XT mold.

[Dingus]

My personal favorite plastic for winter drivers is the ESP FLX from Discraft. Some of the ESP FLX Predators come out pretty straight flying, especially if you get one below 170g, and could replace that Eagle/Teebird feel. If you are willing to go a touch faster the Avenger SS is pretty decent in that plastic. Surge is my favorite but way faster than you wanted.

[Meillo]

Let me emphasis on the important part: I'm less concerned with cold temperatures but more with WET CONDITIONS and especially playing in the SNOW. I search for a plastic type (for a driver) that I can play with even when the disc is still half-wet.

Does Gstar, ESP FLX and similar offer a grip comparable to DX, 300 or Zero Medium when the disc landed in the snow and you only have an already half-wet towel? Currently I doubt that.


... or alternatively a mold that flies in baseline plastic somewhat like a premium plastic Teebird, without changing flight characteristics less quickly than DX Teebirds. (Currently DX Eagle-X is my best candidate.)

[Dingus]

Originally Posted by Meillo

Let me emphasis on the important part: I'm less concerned with cold temperatures but more with WET CONDITIONS and especially playing in the SNOW.

To be honest the best wet grip is champion plastic wiped with Windex. But if you want naturally grippy I would say R-Pro, which unfortunately has no fairway mold, so you would need to go up to a Wahoo.

Bring two towels

[ray1970]

While I don’t have any experience with them, I’ve heard those friction gloves work wonders for holding onto slippery discs.

Rather than reinvent your bag for winter play it could be worth looking into.

I bag the same discs year round. When its cold and sloppy and wet I just power down a bit and deal with the wet grip. Probably adds a few strokes to my round but I don’t really play for money so it doesn’t disappoint me too much.

I do like your DX Thunderbird idea as I imagine it would fly fairly close to a premium Teebird. At least for a while.

[Jay Dub]

I heard keeping a disc cold will help it from not getting snow bunched up under the rim. Not sure if that works or not.