Innova KATANA

[seedlings]

Please forgive me, but is Innova the leader in mold variability? Because it always sounds like any disc is a crap shoot if it will perform as advertised. Every other post I’m considering buying a Katana. The off posts I’m considering not buying Innova.

(I’m only kinda being sarcastic. I’m sure other companies have inconsistencies, but not as well advertised as Innova)

[Twmccoy]

Originally Posted by seedlings

Please forgive me, but is Innova the leader in mold variability? Because it always sounds like any disc is a crap shoot if it will perform as advertised. Every other post I’m considering buying a Katana. The off posts I’m considering not buying Innova.

(I’m only kinda being sarcastic. I’m sure other companies have inconsistencies, but not as well advertised as Innova)

There's definitely some variances in the Katana. It has a shallow, wide rim. Any other driver of that ilk is going to have the same inconsistencies.

IMO the Katana is a great mold, and will fly as far as any disc on the market. That said, not every Katana you throw will yield good results. You may have to throw 3 or 4 of them to find a really good one.

[aphilso1]

Originally Posted by seedlings

Please forgive me, but is Innova the leader in mold variability? Because it always sounds like any disc is a crap shoot if it will perform as advertised. Every other post I’m considering buying a Katana. The off posts I’m considering not buying Innova.

(I’m only kinda being sarcastic. I’m sure other companies have inconsistencies, but not as well advertised as Innova)

In my experience, anything above a Speed 11 in Innova plastic becomes somewhat of a crapshoot. But I'm looking for a specific type of flight, haven't tried out any new molds in quite a while, and the other molds I've also considered are tough to find right now in my preferred weight range. So it seemed worth giving the Katana a shot, but I agree that ideally I'd be testing out a non-Innova disc instead.

[Twmccoy]

Originally Posted by aphilso1

In my experience, anything above a Speed 11 in Innova plastic becomes somewhat of a crapshoot. But I'm looking for a specific type of flight, haven't tried out any new molds in quite a while, and the other molds I've also considered are tough to find right now in my preferred weight range. So it seemed worth giving the Katana a shot, but I agree that ideally I'd be testing out a non-Innova disc instead.

For what the Katana does, no other manufacturer makes a disc that really matches it. The Katana is so fast and shallow. The closest thing I can think of is the Cannon.

A perfect Katana for me flies something like 14, 5, -2, 3. These are perfect numbers for an absolute masher disc. You get the high speed turn, but you also get enough late fade to bring the disc back toward center after a long S curve flight.

IDK what you'll end up thinking of the blizzard Katana. Those things can be really erratic. I find that Katanas 167g and up tend to be the best ones.

[tirepizza]

I have a 170 katana that is probably my longest disc, but I've never been able to get a consistent release with it. I guess it's a small hands wide rim thing. Wraiths are the fastest disc I've bagged regularly for a couple years.

[aphilso1]

Originally Posted by aphilso1

Will do. I ordered a 162 Blizzard, 162 Pro, and 166 Champ. I'm pretty excited to test them out.

They arrived!

The 162 Pro is nearly board flat and I'm guessing will be a clunker.
The 162 Blizzard has a nice, moderate dome. Pretty standard distance driver shape.
The 166 Champ is really domey with a nice heartbeat. Also a noticeably higher PLH. This is the one I am most looking forward to throwing.

[twistedraven]

That champ is probably going to be a meathook unless you have 400 feet of power.

[Twmccoy]

Originally Posted by aphilso1

They arrived!

The 162 Pro is nearly board flat and I'm guessing will be a clunker.
The 162 Blizzard has a nice, moderate dome. Pretty standard distance driver shape.
The 166 Champ is really domey with a nice heartbeat. Also a noticeably higher PLH. This is the one I am most looking forward to throwing.

Give them all some throws and do a quick write up. I'd be interested to see your thoughts.

Of those 3, the 166 champ would appeal most to me as well.

[aphilso1]

Originally Posted by Twmccoy

Give them all some throws and do a quick write up. I'd be interested to see your thoughts.

Of those 3, the 166 champ would appeal most to me as well.

I didn't have a chance to get out until 15 minutes prior to sunset last night. So I pretty much just got 3 throws per Katana, plus 1 throw with the new King. Also didn't have time to measure throws, so my first impressions aren't real accurate. That being said, here's my initial thoughts --

Thrown with hyzer:
King - easy max distance line (flipped to flat then kept turning, then had a healthy fade and finished straight overall). It clearly was the most unwieldy of the fresh discs, so although I was impressed by the first throw's flight I didn't want to risk losing it in the dark. Hence why I only threw it once.
162 Pro Katana - Started fading early. It did seem to fade forward much more than other Speed 13+ drivers, which was encouraging and made the distance loss less pronounced.
162 Blizz Katana - Flipped to flat. Ate up some good distance (closer to the King than the flat Pro Katana).
166 Champ - Faded early, similar distance to the flat Pro. But seemed to glide out better, which meant it actually ended further left than the Pro.

Thrown flat:
162 Pro - Really no noticeable turn, even thrown flat. Did chew up some decent distance despite that.
162 Blizzard - Healthy, but controllable, turn. Significant forward penetrating fade. Seemed like it went pretty far but again I wasn't measuring. Finished about 30'-40' left of target so clearly more fade than I gave it credit for.
166 Champ - A glidey hog. Thrown flat I could tell the 166 Champ clearly starts fading earlier than even the 162 Pro. But it's not a "seek the ground quickly" kind of overstable, rather it's a "fade for 50% of its flight" overstable. Not sure what I think about that.

I threw each disc flat a second time and found pretty similar results.

Surprisingly, I most enjoyed the Blizzard Katana. It flies out-of-the-box like I expected Shrykes to. I've got a pretty full plate this week, but hopefully I can find time to sneak outside and do some measurements. Also interested in seeing how these discs fly when forced over a bit, and when getting enough repetitions to develop consistency with them.

For reference, I'm typically a 320' straight-to hyzer and 340' full flight kind of arm. Most of my measured throws (meaning the disc went far enough for me to warrant the effort of measuring) are in the 375' range, but that is a full send plus luck for me.

[Twmccoy]

Kings are just wild. I like the distance they give, but I can't control them at all. Once they turn, they almost never come back. At least with a Katana you'll get a good late fade to bring the disc back toward center. I'd say the same about the Destiny as I do the King. Easy to turn and not enough late fade to bring it back.

Blizz Katanas are definitely long. I seldom throw them because they're so erratic. Any sort of wind plays havoc with them. I can do nearly 500' with blizz Katanas, but its seldom straight. If you miss your hyzer angle the disc will flip wildly and go out of the zip code to the right.

IMO blizzard discs aren't a viable on-course option. They're more fun for open field throwing when you want absolute max distance with zero regard for accuracy.