Talking bout stalking (stalkers post here)

[topcide]

Picked up a a Z-stalker at my local pro shop yesterday. The shop has an elctronic scale and I weighed out a bunch of stalkers marked 170, out of 10 or so, all but one of them were weighing in at 172 or more, the odd man out came in at 168. The one that came in at 168 was orange with a white stripe, the ones coming in heavy were all orange without a stripe.


with that said, great disc, flies like they say, a long buzz maybe tiny bit more low speed stable, but I think that lessen wilh break in. It has likely gotten itself a spot in my bag.

 

[Scoot_er]

Just ot mine today and it looks like a Modified XL with a more sloped nose piece.


I will be back with test results.

 

[Marmoset]

Just ot mine today and it looks like a Modified XL with a more sloped nose piece.

And a bead.

 

[Steezo]

I would be very interested in hearing someone's experience between the z xl and the z stalker...... hint-hint.

 

[discspeed]

I may be setting myself up, but after 10+ rounds of having the Stalker and Teebird in the bag I find myself reaching for the Stalker more. The Teebird is out for the time, but my stash isn't going anywhere. I've had disc infatuation before and we will have to wait and see what happens in the long run....

Man, the Stalker is a neat disc. To cover a couple of questions in this thread...It cannot be a retooled XL because it is much larger in diameter, but the nose shape is similar and the rim feels similar in the hand to me. To compare...The Stalker is MUCH more HSS than an XL. The more I play with the Stalker, the more I'm impressed by its HSS. It is roughly the same as your average TB in this regard. The Stalker does not flip up out of a hyzer release. In this respect I have to say that it is honestly more like a longer Roc than a longer Buzzz (did I just say that?). The bead makes its presence known. It holds truer hyzers than just about any disc I've ever thrown. Perfect parabolas. The Teebird has a more abrupt fade whether flying hyzer or flat than the Stalker. The Stalker fades very predictably, but it is softer and more forward dominated, as well as being less abrupt. This difference is due to its slower speed, larger diameter, and the bead. For me, the Stalker is kicking the TBs butt in the 300-340' range. It takes less speed to make it cruise straight, and the fade is less pronounced at these distances. The TB is better for shots 340'+, but at those distances I'm almost as comfortable smoothing an Orc, so this is one of the reasons the Stalker is getting more action than the TB. I would say that the Stalker and Teebird both glide well with the TB being faster and longer. IMO, the Stalker is way more stable than a TL and more predictable as well. I imagine its going to take a LONG time to get the Stalker beat to flip like a TL will after a deflashing and a couple good whacks.

The Stalker is just about the perfect stability to start with so that if you throw it hard on any angle it will hold and fade predictably at the very end. It is more sensitive/versatile/controllable in this respect than a TB. It will hold any degree of hyzer without stalling out. If thrown with the slightest bit of anny, it will fly dead straight with almost no fade (at 300+ feet), and if thrown turned over enough it will hold the slow turn to the ground. The combo of large diameter and the bead just work out so well for glide and turning characteristics. It really feels like a driver with midrange control. As much as I love the stability of a new Stalker, I can't wait to get one broken in so that it flips a tiny bit and just holds. It will be a thing of true beauty.

My favorite Stalker is an orange marked 174 that actually weighs 176 on the nose. I have a blue marked 175 that weighs 177, and a yellow marked 173 that weighs true. Both the yellow and the blue are slightly more overstable than my orange one.

Do you need to try a Stalker? Maybe if you...
Find yourself trying to underthrow Teebirds.
Overthrow holes with Teebirds.
Like throwing Buzzzes/Rocs a lot, and stretching them out.
Want a stable disc between a Teebird/Roc or Buzzz.
Are sponsered by Discraft...every one of their guys WILL be throwing this, mark my words. It is the perfect compliment to the Z Pred.

PS: I put off this ranting review as long as I could, looking for a killer flaw or another reason to hail the Teebird, but man I'm loving this disc. Will I always throw it over the TB? I can't make any promises...Will I always hold this disc in high regard as a solid performer? Absolutely.

 

[black udder]

hey discspeed, great review/comments.

Question though. I'm throwing between 330'-375' I'd guess and believe that I can hit 350' if I have to. I love my star TL and would like to find a disc that's less overstable than the teebird but more than the TL. I know you said that this disc is pretty flat/straight at the 340' range, but I'm guessing that's with your 400' form. Have you seen folks with less power get similar throws?

Thanks.

 

[discspeed]

hey discspeed, great review/comments.

Question though. I'm throwing between 330'-375' I'd guess and believe that I can hit 350' if I have to. I love my star TL and would like to find a disc that's less overstable than the teebird but more than the TL. I know you said that this disc is pretty flat/straight at the 340' range, but I'm guessing that's with your 400' form. Have you seen folks with less power get similar throws?

Thanks.

I haven't seen anyone with less power throw it, but I'd say its still pretty straight at 300'. It does not possess the same range as the TB or TL though.

 

[JimW]

For what it's worth, throwing it at around 240' of power (with fairway drivers) I couldn't get the Stalker to stay flat on a flat throw but it didn't hyzer all that severely either.

 

[topcide]

so I did some serious work with mine today, and i would say that discspeed is pretty spot on.

The most suprising thing to me aobut this disc is how high speed stable I found it to be after some hard thorws, it just holds a line. To be simple, it's dead nuts stright. I blew a drive expecting it to flip over a bit and i ended up hitting the tree on the left side of the gap i was trying to hit.

The thing that i am most excited about this disc for, is after it get beat, i think this thing will be the ultimate slow fade turnover disc.

With all that said, I dont find that it really can replace a TB, it fills another nitch..

 

[Beetard]

It's sounding quite gazelle-like to me. The rim width is 1.6 cm, so it's a speed 6 driver. I am really starting to value discs with small rims that are stable, I can get some killer rips with them.

Probably gonna spring for one. In that bright orange too.

Teebirds are cool, but they're just too stable for some throws.

I wanna try another eagle too. Love the oldschool.

 

[inthedrift]

I think I need to try one of these. I wish they made X or ESP.

 

[discspeed]

It's sounding quite gazelle-like to me. The rim width is 1.6 cm, so it's a speed 6 driver. I am really starting to value discs with small rims that are stable, I can get some killer rips with them.

Probably gonna spring for one. In that bright orange too.

Teebirds are cool, but they're just too stable for some throws.

I wanna try another eagle too. Love the oldschool.

This disc definitely has a retro-feel to it. Anyway, to compare to a Gazelle...I would say that the Stalker is slightly slower, like the Leopard, but every bit as stable as a beefy new Gazelle. It also does its action a little slower and more gradually than the Gazelle. For example, I had this 340' shot with the Stalker yesterday that I threw hard and the slightest bit turned. It held the minute turn and went almost straight with maybe a 5 degree turn off my line before it faded at the very end (exactly at the basket, hit the pole). With a Gazelle this shot would have had more S to it (this shot with the Teebird had more S to it as well).

 

[discspeed]

The thing that i am most excited about this disc for, is after it get beat, i think this thing will be the ultimate slow fade turnover disc.

With all that said, I dont find that it really can replace a TB, it fills another nitch..

I can't wait to beat one in as well. I've been imagining the evil things in the back of my mind that it would take to get one beat in "early". However I do get a good preview of how this disc will fly when beat when I throw it hard into a decent headwind. It flips up like a beat Roc and LOCKS onto straight and holds it to the ground.

I also agree with you that there is room for this in most people's bags beside their Teebird. I took my Teebirds out just to experiment. I want to see if I run into some situations where I was dying for a Teebird (when I threw all Discraft years ago their were MANY situations like this, but I was using Tsunamis). I know my Stalker can easily handle the short stuff, and I'm pretty sure my Orcs can handle my Teebird's longer duties. Time will tell.

 

[Lloyba]

would you say that there'd be much overlap with the stalker and esp cyclones, or would that be a good fw driver combo to handle a wide range of shots? I'll receive a few esp cyclones in a week or so but now all this stalker stuff has got me interested as well. Older molds always make me a bit worried.

 

[discspeed]

would you say that there'd be much overlap with the stalker and esp cyclones, or would that be a good fw driver combo to handle a wide range of shots? I'll receive a few esp cyclones in a week or so but now all this stalker stuff has got me interested as well. Older molds always make me a bit worried.

Stalker is going to be and stay much more HSS. Probably a good combo since it will probably be a year at least before anyone knows what a beat Stalker is like. The Z plastic is incredibly durable. My Stalker hit some sidewalk and there are a couple of tiny plastic "burrs" on the wing. The plastic is so tough that I cannot sand it down.

 

[some call me...tim?]

Any idea how this compares to a Storm?

 

[discspeed]

Any idea how this compares to a Storm?

It is a driver. The Storm always looked identical to a Cobra to me, and imo it is a long mid. It has a blunt nose and a short rim (1.3cm). As pointed out earlier, the Stalker rim is 1.6, the same as the Gazelle. So the Stalker is faster, more stable, and flies on more of a driver flightpath. It is also much less affected by the wind.

 

[Scoot_er]

I still think I can throw a Storm Farther..........................

I used to love the old X Storms and just for fun threw in a Z-Storm, Z-MRV, and Z-Hawk in the bag. Gotta say the MRV is superior to the Buzzz on many lines and I kinda wish they still made them to fill a niche for certain players who would prefer its feel.

Anyway I am going to work with the Stalker more but as of now it is a more HSS than mas XLs and is almost identical to the flight of my ESP XL. This disc will make it into the bag for this weekend to see if it makes it in for worlds but room is limited if I want to add the ESP Clone,

 

[SkaBob]

I still think I can throw a Storm Farther..........................

I used to love the old X Storms and just for fun threw in a Z-Storm, Z-MRV, and Z-Hawk in the bag. Gotta say the MRV is superior to the Buzzz on many lines and I kinda wish they still made them to fill a niche for certain players who would prefer its feel.

Anyway I am going to work with the Stalker more but as of now it is a more HSS than mas XLs and is almost identical to the flight of my ESP XL. This disc will make it into the bag for this weekend to see if it makes it in for worlds but room is limited if I want to add the ESP Clone,

heh I said the same thing about the MRV when they killed it...I've got just a silly number of those things!


How MUCH like an ESP XL does the stalker fly at the same weight and power level?

Also, what grip do you throw yours with?

 

[discspeed]

How MUCH like an ESP XL does the stalker fly at the same weight and power level?

First of all, I've got three different colors/weights of Stalkers and they fly very similar. ESP XLs are all over the place imo. I had a couple of proto whites that were quite stable when new. I also had a flat red that was even kind of overstable, but I also got domey reds that were REALLY flippy out of the box. My favorites were just some normal white ones that were pretty straight when new.

I find the ESP XL/Z XL to be fundamentally different discs than the Stalker. An XL is an understable mold. It can fly stable, but at some speed not too far from the cruising speed the mold wants to flip. That's how the XL gets its D. The XL also prefers height to fly. You cannot count on XLs to hold a hyzer or fade predictably out of a straight or turned shot. Because of its nature, the XL always favors a hyzer release, no matter what line you're going for.

This Stalker is a fundamentally stable disc. You can throw it with anny and it will fight back. It will also hold a hyzer and fly stable on low line drives. I don't think any Stalkers are going to be flippy out of the box. A good analogy for the XL/Stalker comparison is the Meteor and Buzzz. The XL is like a Meteor, a straight disc designed to flip up and have minimal to zero fade. The Stalker is like a Buzzz, designed to hold its line when thrown hard. I would even add that the Stalker is a bit more HSS than a Buzzz.

Matt-I think you're going to dig the Stalker once you throw it a little more. You can really pinpoint the line and angle of flight in a way I've not been able to do with any of Discraft's other drivers (only Teebirds 8) ).