A few months back Thought Space Athletics released their Pathfinder. Throwing this disc around was a lot of fun. I found that it was a pretty neutral disc, I could do a lot of different lines with it. Additionally, it was comfortable to throw, and it provided some consistent good flight paths. This reminded me a lot of the Discraft Buzzz. This got me thinking, how many other similar discs are there that throw like the Buzzz. There are many discs that throw quite similarly to the Buzzz, I’ve decided to look at these 4; Discraft’s Buzzz, Infinite Discs’ Chariot, TSA’s Pathfinder, Latitude 64’s Claymore, and Prodigy’s M3.
To test these discs and to compare them, I did similar throws for them all. I did an approach shot, aiming for a tree in the field. This was to test how the discs’ flight path when thrown flat. I then tried to lace two trees with an anhyzer line or flex shot, so that the disc would miss the first tree on the left side and miss the second tree on the right side. I then also threw the discs on a hyzer line working around a line of trees. And for the final shot, I just threw a hyzer flip.
Thoughts
The Buzzz
The Buzzz is loved by so many people, which is merited as the disc is a solid midrange. It comes in a large variety of plastics, whether those are obtainable or not is another story. The feel of the ESP plastic gives confidence that it will maintain its stability. This plastic also offers solid grip, probably the best of Discraft’s premium plastics. The rim shape on this disc offers a really solid all around grip on it. Whether I am using a power grip, or a fan grip, or a forehand grip (I use two fingers in the rim against the edge); the Buzzz fits nicely in my hand. Due to that, it allows for some pretty solid control over the disc.
I find that the Buzzz is a relatively straight disc, a little bit of turn with an equal amount of fade at the end. When it comes to shaping the flight path, it is pretty easy to do so. The Buzzz can easily hold any line that I give it, however, I found that throwing an ESP Buzzz it proves to be a little more difficult, than other plastics, to manipulate. Throwing this disc on a anhyzer line, I found it hard to get the exact line I wanted. It seemed to come out of it faster than the other discs that I threw, this ultimately didn’t lace the trees like I had wanted. It just missed both trees on the left side.
Throwing the Buzzz on Hyzer lines proved to be easy, much easier than the anhyzer line. It can easily hold the hyzer line, it is hard to overpower the buzzz unintentionally. Meaning it will generally hold the line that you intended. While hyzerflips are still possible, it flattens up for me and then fades out. For the most part I am able to get the flight path that I want out of this disc, except for certain anhyzer lines.
The Chariot
The Chariot is a newer mold that has come to market. It only comes in I-Blend at the moment. Which is one of my favorite blends from Infinite Discs. The plastic beats in and “plateaus” (stops losing stability) really quick, all the while offering a premium feel. The I-blend does offer a good grip to it. The rim on the chariot is slightly different than the other discs in this group. It is closer to a straighter edge rather than a winged one like the others. This actually makes the grip a little better than the other ones. As that straight edge fills up my hand nicely, giving very little sense of an edge. So for backhand throws, I really enjoy how the Chariot fits into my grips. The rim is a little taller too, which means that it is a little less comfortable with my forehand grip. This isn’t a problem for me, as I mainly throw backhand. Due to the comfortable grip I feel quite confident that how I intend to throw the disc is how the disc will fly, just maybe not on quite target. . .
The Chariot is really easy to throw flat and manipulate to the line that you want to get. I found that in the aiming department, this is another point and shoot, where the turn is equal to the fade. Throwing this on the anhyzer line, was really easy to do. The line resulted in swerving between the two trees perfectly; missed the first one on the left and cut in enough to miss the second tree on the right, fading well past it. This created a beautiful “S” curve between the trees.
Throwing this on the hyzer line was fairly easy. I could put a decent amount of power into the throw, and for the most part, it would not flatten out. When I did throw a hyzer flip, the disc flattened and exhibited no turn. But it also showed very little fade at the end. Overall, the Chariot was a great disc to throw. Easy to shape the lines, and pretty constant.
The Pathfinder
The Pathfinder comes in three different plastics, and to me, I don’t notice a difference between the three of them. I was throwing the Ethereal plastic, and it is durable! It has a similar feel to that of a Star, Neutron, or ESP plastic. But I think it is tougher than all of those, but it does seem a little slicker though. But it doesn’t compromise the grip significantly. The Pathfinder has a very similar feel to that of the Buzzz. Comparing the rim of the two, they are quite identical with very small differences. The in hand feel doesn’t pick up these differences. While I’m gripping the Pathfinder, it is like I’m gripping the Buzzz. As such, my comments on the Buzzz apply to the Pathfinder.
I’m impressed with TSA’s Pathfinder, I find it has a lot of glide to it. And, it is real easy to throw how you want it to throw. When throwing this flat, I found that it had a little bit more fade than the other discs in this group. It would still turn an equal amount as the others though. When I threw this one on my anhyzer line, I found that it did come out of the anhyzer line a little quicker than everything else. But it did make that good “S” curve.
Throwing this on a hyzer was on the easier side of things. As I had a hard time unintentionally overpowering the disc. It held all sort of hyzer lines with ease. The hyzer flip throw, showed something similar to the Chariot; it flattened out with no turn. However, this did fade more than the Chariot. I really enjoy the Pathfinder, it is another great disc, and one that I think gets overlooked.
The Claymore
Latitude 64’s Claymore has a great feel to it. It has a flatter edge similar to the Chariot, but it does have a little more “divot” to it. The backhand power grip on this disc is pretty comfortable. For a forehand grip, this disc fits well into mine. Overall, the feel of this disc is very nice. Additionally, there are a lot of plastic options available for the Claymore. Ensuring that you can find a plastic that fits your needs. Just at the moment, those options aren’t as plentiful, thanks COVID.
The Claymore is probably one of the easier ones to throw. When I threw this flat, I found that it would turn a lot more than all of the other discs. For me, this landed farther right than where I wanted to land (RHBH). Getting this to follow an anhyzer line was really easy to do. Trying to get a flex shot with this was really hard to to. As it would almost always hold the anyzher line, and land flat. I would have to give it a lot of height to get the “S” curve.
Throwing a hyzer line was real difficult, as it was easy to overpower the throw. Resulting in it going a little farther than I would want. When I intentionally threw a hyzer flip, it would flatten quickly and stay flat for longer than I would think. Then it would show a late turn and the fade out, cancelling the turn. I found that the Claymore was a little more on the understable than the stable side of things. Still an enjoyable disc to throw though.
The M3
Prodigy’s M3 is is another solid straight flying midrange. The feel of this disc is pretty awesome, it has the most pronounced “divot” of the 7 discs, and probably has one of the deeper feeling rims as well. This makes the grip a little more comfortable for me. Because of the more pronounced “divot” in the rim, the edge is quite noticeable. As there is more rim to be had, so my hand doesn’t feel all that cramped up when power gripping. This is real favorable for the M3. However, that deeper rim does affect my forehand grip. I like shallower rims for forehand grips, as the deeper ones start to feel a little awkward. The M3 is in on the verge of being too deep for me. I can’t decide if it is too deep and therefore uncomfortable, or it is alright. Maybe as I spend more time throwing, I’ll be able to make a decision.
The M3 I found is on the more overstable side among these discs. Throwing this disc flat, I saw a very straight flight path with little to no turn, and then a decent amount of fade. I didn’t ever feel that I had to throw this harder to get the distance that I wanted though. Trying to get a good flex shot around the trees proved to be hard. Ultimately, I found that you can get a good “S” curve with it, but also you can get a good long anhyzer line as well.
Throwing this disc on a hyzer was probably the easiest to do among these 5 discs. It always kept the hyzer line, and never flattened out accidentally. Throwing a hyzer flip, I saw that the disc ultimately kept the hyzer line. It never really did flatten out. This disc was on the border of being like a Roc3 or a Matrix type disc.
Results
Throwing all of these discs was a lot of fun. To see how they each differed from one another despite having very similar flight numbers. While aiming for a tree (the Chariot landed really close to it in the below picture) and throwing them back to back, really showed the difference among them all. Testing them like this proved to give me a good control over the test parameters. Ensuring, to the best of my ability, to throw each disc the same; same power, same target, same angle of release, and same weather conditions. Throwing them like this really showed the slight differences. For the most part, they all really flew very close to one another. The M3 was a little more overstable, and the Claymore was a little bit more undrerstable than the group. Where the Buzzz, Chariot, and Pathfinder were all super close to identical.
Conclusion
There are many other discs out there that throw like the Buzzz, or should throw like it. I tried a few others that I didn’t include for various reasons. But they do merit a mention; Discmania’s Origin (I’m pretty sure its a Claymore rebranded), and MVP’s Axis. Of all of these discs I really enjoyed the Pathfinder the most (beside the Buzzz). That thing was a pleasant surprise, allowed for a lot of control and an offered a good time throwing it.
What discs do you think are like the Buzzz if not better?
