The disc beeper is just what the name says, something you put on your disc that beeps. When I initially got my disc beeper, I was a little bit disappointed. It was taller than I thought it would be, and weighing 6 grams has some potential to impact a discs flight characteristics. What I really wanted was a GPS device.
Applying the beeper to the disc was also a lot more tedious than I had anticipated. You actually glue the thing on with a special adhesive (provided in the package), let it bond for 72 hours, then it’s a permanent fixture on your chosen disc. I was hoping that the beeper would be easily transferable between different discs, but that’s not the case. It’s pretty much one per disc.
While the Disc Beeper isn’t my dream solution for never losing discs, the way it works is pretty slick. You push the tiny button to turn it on, then 45 seconds later it lets out an obnoxious sounding screech. The beep isn’t overly loud, but the sound frequency carries very well. You can literally hear it from hundreds of feet away. Every 5 seconds it beeps again. It’s super easy to find your disc just by listening to how far away the sound is.
For as tiny as this thing is, the amount of sound it lets out is pretty impressive. It’s got to use up some significant battery power – but you never have to worry about replacing a tiny battery because this thing is actually rechargeable via a tiny USB cable. That’s pretty impressive.
I took my bright pink Discraft Flick to a wide open grassy course to test it out. The Beeper seemed to make my disc slightly more overstable than normal, but didn’t have a noticeable adverse effect on flight. My problem testing here was that it was too easy to find the disc, so I left the course and headed for a wooded park. To really test how effective this disc finder works I turned the beeper on, threw the disc into the heavily wooded area with my eyes closed, then walked away about 100 feet in the wrong direction before trying to find the disc. By following the sound, I was able to go right to my disc every time.
Now the sound the beeper makes is really obnoxious, so as I got close to the disc, all I wanted to do was turn it off. Unfortunately, my disc was often lodged deep into thick woods were it was hard to get to. But finding it was never a problem, especially being that I attached it to a bright pink disc. I almost wish I attached it to one of my dark green camouflaged discs to test the true effectiveness of finding discs by sound. Following the sound is so effective that you could literally play a night round with it.
When talking about the price of the disc beeper one of my friends said, “I’d rather just buy a new disc.” And while the price tag of the beeper is more than a typical disc, the value to me comes in time saved rather than disc insurance. I regularly play a thickly wooded course where it’s not uncommon to spend 45 minutes looking for your disc on normal throws. Spending time looking for discs rather than playing is so frustrating — especially when you’re playing with a big group. Having a disc beeper would save so much time, and make playing that course much more enjoyable. This device makes it so that I could actually consider playing the disc golf course in Soda Springs Idaho without needing spotters.
Now the Disc Beeper isn’t going to make you a better disc golfer. It’s not going to keep your disc out of trees or water hazards. But, if you like recreational disc golf, and want to save time (and potentially money) by not losing discs on those thick vegetation holes — you’ll want to invest in a disc beeper or two.
The best price for the Disc Beeper can be found at Infinite Discs.
