how do you decide how many discs to carry

[money 21]

how do you decide how many discs to carry? i currently carry 13 discs in 8 molds, because that is how many discs my bag holds. I have abag that carries 21 discs as well but don't feel i need that much.

[BLURR]

It depends on which course I play. I will mix and match depending if I am playing a tight wooded course vs. a wide open bomber course. Length of the course also comes into play.

[Steve]

I like to carry the least amount of discs that it takes to complete all the shots I can make. This comes out to 12-14. If there is a chance to lose discs in water or other hazards I will sometimes carry some extra backups I am familiar with.

[dgdave]

I found a bag that has all my shots covered comfortably and i don't swap out for the weather or course.

[Frank Delicious]

It depends on the course I play. When I'm playing the local pitch and putt I've got a small bag for carrying 5 discs. When I'm playing most tourneys I'm carrying my normal bag in a silverback which is usually 17 discs or so. When I'm playing a course I've never played before or a long/hard course like Winthrope Gold or Renny Gold I'm carrying up to 22 discs in a kong since those courses often require me to throw shots I don't normally carry discs for.

[Mike C]

Pitch n putt: Take out everything but mids and putters.

Full course: Fill my bag with what I consider to be the most useful discs in my collection that enables me to cover all my shots.

The molds always stay the same. Generally the discs from that mold do too but once in a while I'll switch it up, e.g. take out my overstable SOLF for an overstable QOLF, or carry my flatter and straighter glow Vector instead of my domey and more overstable FR Vector.

I use a Fade Crunch Box so I'm carrying 13 or 14 at a time when it's full.

[CatPredator]

Depends a lot on who I'm playing with. I have a regular full bag setup (16) for competition and serious rounds with hardcore DG buddies, but I'll just grab whatever discs I feel like when I play with my girlfriend, buddies who are casual disc golfers, or when I'm going out solo to work on specific skills.

[Dig It]

My philosophy has been to get my bag down to always carrying the same discs so that it doesn't matter what course I play I will always be practicing with the same molds. It's somewhat because I have some OCD and would hate having to have a giant pile of discs to pick through to fill a bag depending on the course, but it's mostly because of my mold minimalistic approach.

[Jaysus]

I like to carry the least amount of discs that it takes to complete all the shots I can make. This comes out to 12-14. If there is a chance to lose discs in water or other hazards I will sometimes carry some extra backups I am familiar with.

That is a nice summary. I like to do the same (even the extra discs for water).

I usually carry 10 to 13 discs. I like to try to stay closer to 10 in the winter so I have more room for extra clothing layers and such in the bag.

[Mark Ellis]

How many? As many discs as my cart (or bag) will comfortably carry, so about 30 in my Go Cart. If it had more room I would be happy to carry another dozen.

I like to play warm up games before a round and like to make up weird multi-shot games for the round. The more discs I carry the more shots I will take in practice. This comes down to pure laziness and convenience. Sure I theoretically could take one disc, throw it, sprint after it and throw it back, then again and again and again. I could also theoretically run 10 miles and do 100 pushups before morning coffee but this has never happened. Realistically, if there is no one to play catch with, I will pick an object and throw a bunch of discs at it and walk down and pick them up together. The more discs which work for that distance, the more warm up shots I take and the more practice I get.

Since I am Grand Master aged, I need a lot of warm up, so the half dozen putters all serve a purpose. So do the half dozen Buzzz's. The stack of drivers is more of a luxury but even in an 18-disc-limited-tournament-bag, I still would carry at minimum a half a dozen Nukes in various plastics and molds.

A disc sitting in your car trunk (or a box) does not get thrown. A disc in your bag might get thrown. The more discs you understand and the better you understand them, the better off you are when you need a replacement or a risk disc. The more you practice the better your capacity for understanding and controlling discs.

Before most rounds I repack the cart/bag, making sure I have the essentials. Then I add back ups and anything else I want to test or work with. Once I have packed up there are still another hundred or so in my throwing stock waiting in my trunk. This may seem excessive but if you travel with Al Schack to a tournament you will find he brings about twice as many discs as I do. So under the theory that you must be under control if any of your buddies is far more excessive than you, I am clearly under control.

I love to add a new disc to throwing stock. Unless it is a putter, I spray it down with stick-um and test it then make a mental note of how it flies compared to others in the same category. The ones which pass the test get signed. The ones which don't get sold or traded. The exceptional ones go straight to the bag but that is very rare. It ain't easy to crack the starting lineup.

[Steve]

Stick-um???

[himynameismatt]

It all depends on the course I'm playing. I carry discs across the stability spectrum in all ranges. So it essentially my bad breaks into...New overstable, seasoned and stable, and beat and understable.

For a short course with no holes over 350' I'll have 8 molds for approx 12 discs.

For a course with holes over 400' I'll add 1 more mold and two more discs.

I'll add a disc here or there depending on the weather and if the course has water.

[JR]

If you have a good and versatile enough bag you could take the same discs out each time at least as long as you have daylight. Night golf discs could vary. But if glow discs work for you in the night some of them could be used in the day without trouble and give you a good setup in the night too. Good way to test your setup is to get favorable responses to many questions such as these: Does the setup work on all kinds of courses? In all kinds of winds? Wet and dry hot and cold sea level and at altitude. Can you reliably throw to each distance left, straight and right in calm and windy weather including stiff headwinds. etc. Can you make all normal shots and trick shots understable to hog overstable?

Glow discs aren't great for finding in snow so a winter bag should be different.

If one excluded the ability to be easily found in the snow an example bag for day/night and all weather and grass to rocky courses could look like this:
Glo Wizard with Eclipse Ion as an alternative for dry weather and a little better visibility in snow or both together. With quite a bit of overlap i know. Ions don't work in the rain.
Glo Roc with Glo Z Buzzz or both together. Buzzz for winds, left finishing shots, longer shots and rocky courses. Rocs for better sideways placement, shorter distance control and wet weather.
Either a hog stable mid or a short slow hard fading FW driver. Dunno if those come in glow. I like Gators. The purpose of these is spike hyzer placement control in distance limitation with better sideways control than drivers. The difference gets magnified in the winds when a crosswind is gonna push most discs like sails. Wide diameter cancels out low glide in these conditions which is why i prefer Gators over Zones. I probably should check out the most overstable Gateway mids and Whippets for comparison.
Glow TB
Glow Beast
Glo Z Nuke
If a Glo Z Nuke ain't overstable enough a Z Force is good in headwinds. I haven't checked out if Forces come in Glo.

If you don't want to rotate TBs a Leo would be fine and pro and some Stars have good enough grip in the rain for above 40F. No glo with those i'm afraid.

Not too many discs IMO.

The real deal: The benefit of a non rotating bag is that you are safe even when the winds pick up and you get rain showers. You're always set to go you save time. Grab your bag and go. Day or night. Few molds make starting a rotation possible. You should know those discs through and through and gain a ton of confidence. That allows you to attack harder thus learn more and faster. Wins all round not just win win.

[Dbuntu]

I take the crowd into account. If the course is empty, I'll take a bunch of stuff I normally don't use and just see how it goes against the regular bag. Throw one bag against another and end up carrying something like 15-20 discs. If it's more crowded and there's not really a chance for that, I will carry less than 10 and use the extra space for a beer or two.

[Mark Ellis]

Stick-um???

Stick-um indeed! Below I have copied a prior post of mine:

Re: legal grip enhancer?

Postby Mark Ellis » Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:58 am
When I contemplated switching to candy plastic drivers (years ago) the problem was grip in wet/cold conditions. I talked to a few veterans including Dave Dunipace, who was most helpful. Dave turned me on to pine tar and the chalk used by mountain climbers. So I got on the internet and ordered a bunch of different products and tested them out. Once I found something that worked I petitioned the PDGA Rules Committee for a ruling on their legality which was approved.

Pine tar works good but it is dirty and disgusting. Some of you might like that. It makes your fingers black and gets under your fingernails and only comes off well with solvent. Pow'r Tac is a synthetic version of pine tar which you spray directly on the disc. Since this is the particular product I liked best I included it in my petition and described how it is used and the approval from the Rules Committee mentions Pow'r Tac by name.

Even with stick-um you still need a dry disc to get a good grip. Pow'r Tac claims to work even when wet. Nah, not if you ask me. But as with everything, it takes practice to get used to it and know how to use it best for your needs. I spray it only on one spot, under the rim, at the junction of the rim and slight plate (so I can use it or not depending on the conditions). I let it sit for a least an hour before using it because it rubs off easily before it sets. When it is fresh it is too sticky and too much stickiness is as bad as too little, so I only touch the edge of the sticky spot. As you throw the disc the sticky stuff attracts dust and becomes just the way I want it, and stays that way (so long as it is warm and dry) for weeks. It comes off with hot water and lots of effort or instantly with Goof Off (commercially available product in hardware stores).

When it gets too cold, the tackiness is diminished or lost (below 0 degrees F). So In really frigid conditions I hold a hand warmer on the stick um to active it before a throw.