Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Daredevil Timberwolf, My Newest Best Friend... Out On The Course At Least.

In the last post, I wrote about some new discs that I recently acquired. One of them was the Daredevil Timberwolf. Daredevil rates the Timberwolf as a 9,6,-1,0, and I agree with those ratings so far. Daredevil describes the disc with this statement,
"This disc is designed for the intermediate to advanced player and is made from our grippy flexible plastic. Softer in feel this disc is super durable and has a stable flight pattern. It is also an excellent maximum distance cold weather disc."

I am a huge fan of low speed discs and that can be seen throughout my posts. Low speed discs seem to fit my hand better when gripping them. The rim size is the perfect length for my fingers with a thickness of 1.8 cm.
The Timberwolf is a little domey on top but it is in my opinion the perfect size. I've thrown flat top discs like the Discraft Flick and many different domey discs. I really am not a fan of domey so I haven't had a disc with a dome in my bag for a really long time. It's been so long that I don't remember what they were. Oops!
This disc isn't insanely domey but there is a little bit of a dome that adds comfort for gripping the disc hard. Speaking of grip, lets talk about the plastic. The plastic on this disc is Daredevil's Flex Performance. 
The disc did not rebound to its normal
state after this picture. I had to work it back.
It is similar to their High Performance plastic except for it is what the name implies, more flexible. As far as the flexibility for the plastic goes, I can force it into a taco like what is seen with Discraft Cryztal FLX, but it is much more sturdy. I don't like the Cryztal FLX because it is so floppy. This plastic is extremely stiff for how much it can be bent.

I have noticed two main characteristic differences other than the flex when compared to Daredevils High Performance plastic. The plastic is softer, but don't be fooled into thinking that it isn't durable. I recently played in the Idaho State Doubles Championships and it would be an understatement for me to say that I didn't hit many trees. Some were, as Ken Climo would say, "Iron Leaf", but most were full power straight into the tree trunk. My disc has a couple of scuffs in it, but no visible damage whatsoever. The damage was so minor that I had to feel the scuffs to find them. This plastic also works well with cold weather situations as it stiffens up quite nicely. Another difference in the plastic is that it is more grippy. I find that extremely helpful since I suffer from sweaty hands. It gives me that added sense of security.

I have fallen completely in love with this disc for the short time that I have had it. It has instantly taken the place of my Dynamic Discs Thief, Innova Destroyer, and Latitude 64 River. All three of these discs have have been my go to discs for distance, but they all have their problems with instability (or maybe I have an inconsistency problem). Most of the time my Thief has a nice easy turn with a subtle fade. Some times, it doesn't flip as much as usual and I end up way left. Other times I pull it a little bit and it turns right never to come back. My Destroyer is less consistent then I want but when it works, it works. The River is really inconsistent for me so I really tend not to use it.

I was unfortunately only able to use the Daredevil Timberwolf in a couple of rounds before the Idaho State Doubles Championships began. The Timberwolf was the first disc that I threw and the constant disc that kept coming out of the bag. It's consistency for me was incredibly reliable. The only bad throw that I had with the Timberwolf was not even the discs fault, to which I might say, is it ever? Anyways, I gripped locked it and just threw it out of bounds to the right of me. All the blame on me for that one. The Timberwolf has great glide and minimal fade. When I started throwing it, the flight was completely straight with a nice fade. As the tournament went along, I started throwing with more power and the disc started to have minimal turn and still finished left. This disc has a really consistent flight path.

During the tournament, I threw the Timberwolf from no wind to a slight and little tailwind. The Flight path was the same either time. What I cannot say with certainty, is how this disc handles a head wind or a crosswind going either direction. I can only imagine that it would turn, a lot. I threw the Timberwolf's older brother, at least that's what I call it, the Wolverine. This disc is what I would call the overstable version of the Timberwolf. Daredevil gives
the Wolverine a rating of 9,5,-2,2. I have yet to meet the turn rating that they have given it but I probably don't throw hard enough. Anyways, the Wolverine is essentially the same disc as the Timberwolf, just beefier. I held the Wolverine and Timberwolf together but I can't tell the difference on the mold and according to the PDGA, it's not my fault that I can't. Here are the specs for the two discs.

MANUFACTURER / DISTRIBUTORDISC MODELMax. Weight (g)Diameter (cm)Height (cm)
Daredevil DiscsTimberwolf175.121.11.6
Daredevil DiscsWolverine176.021.21.8

Rim Depth (cm)Inside Rim Diameter (cm)Rim Thickness (cm)Rim Depth/ Diam. Ratio (%)Rim Config.Flexibility (kg) 
1.217.51.85.727.005.78  
1.217.51.85.727.5010.32  

They have nearly the same exact stats except for a millimeter or two for the diameter and the height. The main differences being the plastic. The Timberwolf only comes in the Flex Performance plastic and the Wolverine only comes in the High Performance plastic. It is much stiffer and my guess is that it doesn't shrink as much coming out of the mold which gives it less dome, less glide, and more stability.

Left: Wolverine                                                                         Right: Timberwolf

So what is the point of comparing these two discs? Well, the answer is simple. I have no idea what the Timberwolf does in the wind, but I do know what the "same" disc that is more stable does in the wind. I threw the Wolverine into a strong headwind which was probably around 25-35 mph. The Wolverine flipped and almost turned a full 90 degrees to the right (I throw RHBH). I lost the disc for over an hour because it flipped into someones backyard.

I know that these two discs are different, but the whole point of that was to show that if the Timberwolf's beefier brother will flip into the wind, I can only imagine what it will do in the wind. Don't hold me accountable for that though. I will update this post or write another short blog once there is a windy day that I can go test it out.

I got this disc because I want to try new companies and Daredevil Discs just sounded really cool. This has been such an amazing experience for me and I am so glad that I took the leap and bought a disc that I was uncertain on. I can really rely on the Timberwolf's long straight flight with minimal fade for tight fairways where I need total control. It is very easy for me to place this disc on the fairway to set up my next shot. 

Everyone should give the Timberwolf, or even just Daredevil in general, a chance. The plastic has a nice feel with lots of durability. Whatever you do, remember, Keep Throwing!

FD_DiscsJV