Westside Kalevan Miekka (sword)

[turso]

I'm thinking he might've gotten one, the one I threw had nothing flippy about it. The Sword on the other hand felt excellent with few throws of experience, gonna test it properly tomorrow, or later today rather seeing it's 6am already...

[JR]

I'm thinking he might've gotten one, the one I threw had nothing flippy about it. The Sword on the other hand felt excellent with few throws of experience, gonna test it properly tomorrow, or later today rather seeing it's 6am already...

Twelve minutes before that i hit the local soccer field The initial observations held.

[jubuttib]

So yeah, been throwing it some more and I've made a decision: DD2 is out, Sword of Kaleva is in. It's just so much easier to grip, throw and control, much straighter and more reliable, holds LONG anhyzer lines beautifully, can be thrown hard, flat and low and also likes hyzer lines (talking about the VIP, Tournament is nice also, especially downwind). I've yet to try a max D disc that better fits my style than the Sword.

[Smyith]

i really like the sword but im hesitant to make it apart of my bag. first, its not readily available around here, so i cant pick through a stack. second, the TP is super grip, so much so that it causes me to grip-lock alot when it gets above 75 (really bad above 85). Opto, therefore VIP, is better in the heat but ive seen such wide variances in Opto that id want to see the disc before buying one. third, i love Pro style plastic! i would drool over a 'rougher' or 'griitier' grip line plastic.
BUT...i love the smaller feel of the rim over a destroyer! i like that its fade is not as much as a destroyer and it holds lines for longer before its fade. once you spend a lil field time with it the sword is actually really consistent in head winds.
i have a TP Sword btw

[discspeed]

We finally got these in along with the Boatman in our latest transatlantic shipment. It felt great in the hand, so I grabbed a cobalt blue VIP 175 (I'll be getting some more different ones soon). Throwing this disc was very intuitive for me...perhaps it's my familiarity with the Flow or something, but the Sword did exactly what I wanted just about every time...In fact, it outdid my Flows on every hole I threw them both on. I found this Sword to be a little more HSS and a little less LSS than my Flows. I was throwing it flat and getting dead straight flights with very little fade, going 400'+. It seemed to work a little better on lower lines than my Flows, and just felt a little faster all around. The glide reminded me of a Northman or Flow. Anyway, I'm super impressed. I haven't been this impressed with a new distance driver since I started using Flows. I'm going to be testing them extensively, and my Flows could be in trouble.

[Jeronimo]

I'm going to be testing (insert new disc here) extensively, and my (insert old favorite here) could be in trouble.

The discspeed cycle...

[turso]

We finally got these in along with the Boatman in our latest transatlantic shipment. It felt great in the hand, so I grabbed a cobalt blue VIP 175 (I'll be getting some more different ones soon). Throwing this disc was very intuitive for me...perhaps it's my familiarity with the Flow or something, but the Sword did exactly what I wanted just about every time...In fact, it outdid my Flows on every hole I threw them both on. I found this Sword to be a little more HSS and a little less LSS than my Flows. I was throwing it flat and getting dead straight flights with very little fade, going 400'+. It seemed to work a little better on lower lines than my Flows, and just felt a little faster all around. The glide reminded me of a Northman or Flow. Anyway, I'm super impressed. I haven't been this impressed with a new distance driver since I started using Flows. I'm going to be testing them extensively, and my Flows could be in trouble.

Seems to match up pretty perfectly to my opinion on the disc, dead straight on 400+ with very little fade, but I wouldn't say the glide is flow-like, but better than average at the least.

[discspeed]

I'm going to be testing (insert new disc here) extensively, and my (insert old favorite here) could be in trouble.

The discspeed cycle...

You've got to admit I've been slow to switch molds these days...I've throw at least a dozen new discs this year that didn't impress me enough for a stay in the bottom of my cart, let alone make it up into the bag. I'm also just getting to test some really good new discs for the first time, even though they've been out for a bit.


BTW...put yourself in my shoes. I walk into the CDGC on any given day and can take anything I want to test...any whim can be fulfilled, and at no expense (they actually somewhat encourage me these days ). This is not an easy scenario when it comes to keeping molds in your bag.

[discspeed]

I'm testing a cobalt blue VIP that is straight, but seems to have at least the HSS of my good Flows. What colors have you guys found to be most/least stable?

[jubuttib]

Just got a cobalt blue 170 (marked weight, it's actually a bit heavier but can't remember the exact figure). A bit more domey than my red one, but as far as I can see it's the exact same stability. Terrific disc.

[discspeed]

I just couldn't believe the straight ahead glide I was getting out of this disc, even with a tailwind, and I'm a total sucker for long straightness. I throw Flows because I need long and controlled shots 400'+ that don't fade or skip much...Even Destroyers fade too much (along with Bosses, Katanas, Nukes, etc) and get me in trouble on hole #1 at Cliff Stephens, where a fade hits a paved pathway and potentially skips into a wooded ditch that's currently filled with water, snakes, and large spiders (not that I mind these things). Anyway, on my two shots on this hole with the Sword I had a perfect one that went dead nuts straight, barely faded, and parked the basket. My other was the type of shot that usually fades and skips across the walk, only the Sword faded so little it hit the ground, one hopped, and rested on the walk. By the time the Sword was fading for me it had very little energy left. On low ceiling shots the Sword was just holding flat where my Flows would flip a tiny bit and fade, but they would end up in the same place.

My Flows are so versatile for me that I will be carrying both these drivers for a while, despite the obvious overlap, for direct comparison. I'm guessing the TP version is going to be even more Flow like. The real question I need to answer is if the Sword is any better in headwind than my Flows. I almost always choose to throw my distance disc with hyzer for headwind D unless things are ridiculous, so I'm pretty good at throwing hyzer and getting good flights out of my discs. Even so, the Flow moves more than I'd like, and there is now quite a gap in my bag between the Flow and Nuke OS.

[bill]

I'm a total sucker for long straightness

i hear ya brother

[discspeed]

After I tested the blue VIP Sword I felt a need to test some other plastics/colors for comparison. I grabbed an orange colorshift VIP 172, a blue TP 173, a black TP 175, and a blue VIP 172.

The first and most obvious thing I must say is that the flash makes a HUGE difference on this mold. All discs with flash were overstable, showing no turn on shots of 400'+. Deflashing was particularly tough on the VIP plastic...even after quite a bit of work there was still a remnant. The TP plastic smoothed out much easier, hinting to the true durability of the two plastics. Once deflashed all discs were either straight or showed a touch of high speed turn on a 400' shot. Stability varied quite a bit with these new discs, but the fast/glidey/straight flight characteristics were present in all.

175 "cobalt" blue VIP--This was my first one and is probably my favorite. These are the straightest without having any high speed turn under 430', and with pretty mellow LSS at distances of 400'+.
172 orange colorshift VIP--I really like this one as well...It was the least stable VIP, showing about -1 HSS over a 400' shot. It also had decent LSS, so it is definitely a hyzer flip straight or S curve disc rather than a flat thrower like the blue is for me. Great glide...a bit more than the blue, but it might just be the understability.
175 black TP--This disc was the least stable I tried. It is domey and is probably the longest of the bunch, but unfortunately I've yet to hit this disc right for a huge flight because it's quite a bit different than the others. It reminds me of a broken in GL Flow (domey heavy one that started out stable).
173 blue TP--I need to throw this one some more, but it is probably the most stable of the bunch. Even after it had been deflashed it was kind of flying like the others had with flash still on, with no turn and and earlier fade. I need to check it and make sure I got all the flash off.

Overall I'm still liking this disc, despite the obvious inconsistency. I find that straighter the character of the distance driver, the more inconsistent the stability is bound to be. Since the ideal is close to neutral, it's easy for examples to be obviously more or less stable. They remind me of a faster version of a good Z/ESP Flash, pushing the cruising speed and gliding straight without turning over and fading very late. I still have only really been crushing straight ahead line drives, so I need to test these on some hyzers and annys to see how it performs all around.

[Redisculous]

Discspeed, how do you think this disc would fly for someone with a more humble range than yourself, say 360' with speed 9 discs.

[Smyith]

Discspeed, how do you think this disc would fly for someone with a more humble range than yourself, say 360' with speed 9 discs.

im not discspeed but i get similar distances as you and for me it was exactly as he describes it. HSS it either flips flat or pulls just a lil right, not much at all. LSS its got descent fade (less than a destroyer) but it makes alot of forward progress during it. headwind its a bit touchy until you find the sweet spot. L>R crosswwind its awesome, super straight. the early domey opto flows are a good comparison for its flight but its def got some more speed and D.

are you going to be at the Skyline Classic in Silver Lake 2mrw? I have a TP Sword you can try if youd like.