New manufacturer Westside Discs Northman initial impressions

[JR]

I threw their first driver Northman, Pohjan poika in Finnish, today in 163, 175 and 176. The disc that it resembles most is a Destroyer but these will be available from 161 in premium plastic. The great thing about it is the 2 cm wing that's way easier to grip than other fast drivers. This feels at least as fast as a Wraith but I'd say Destroyer is a closer match. The glide ain't the best but it's not shabby either. I know I've been spoiled by 145 Boss so the glide is in Wraith territory maybe even Destroyer. The four drives I got with them showed no signs of flipping whatsoever. Even running at full speed for several steps before Brinster hopping. I think this will handle headwinds easily. How hard remains to be seen. In normal conditions heavy ones should behave nicely. Presuming the plastic wears. It's great and stiff even in 163. Durability should not be an issue. for normal conditions I prefer 163 out of those.

I had thrown three rounds on the ski jumping hill course and 40 minutes field practice and was cold. I got 10' more with a 145 Boss on lowish golf s-curve than the 163 on anny distance line. Even that moved so little that it's just fine on open holes. I threw it a bit too high for max D. It flew 377'. Considering my fatigue and 37F weather it's great D especially for such a short winged easy to grip disc.

Forehands are not stressful with this disc. Avoiding flipping is a no brainer. Of fast drivers this has the most HSS compared to less than Champion Xcal/Max LSS meathooking. Not a squirrel when new by any means. Absolute HSS of speed 11 and over has only those two and Forces competing. Force in ESP when new seems fairly similar but Northman fades noticeably less although not a lot less. The Northman has a fairly high power requirement. Not a noob disc for anything else than curves and managing OAT and not learning from it.

It's supposed to be released for sale in March 2010. Westside Discs is run by Janne Penttilä a long time disc golf retailer and player from Helsinki, Finland. Based on just 4 throws I guesstimate the numbers per Innova to be speed 11.5 or 12, glide 4 or 4.5, turn 0 or low decimals on overstable side without wind, fade 3.5 to 4 probably on the lower side. I wish I would've been able to throw other discs side by side to get a more accurate picture. On the other hand I don't know if production versions are gonna be similar and it's probably March before I know.

[Flipflat]

Link:

http://www.westsidediscs.com/

[Jesse B 707]

WTF is that stamp supposed to be?

[discspeed]

:lol: WTF is that stamp supposed to be?

Looks like some kind of Nordic blacksmith...that's my best guess.

[Jesse B 707]

:lol: WTF is that stamp supposed to be?

Looks like some kind of Nordic blacksmith...that's my best guess.

ok....now i see the anvil, if you just glance at it it looks like he is jumping up in the air cheerleader style......still though

[Leopard]

Clown making a huuge tuning fork.

What's he gonna do with it?

DIAL IT IN!!

[Frank Delicious]

when you say released in 2010 is that only going to be in Finland or are they going to get some stateside?

[JackMontana]

:lol: WTF is that stamp supposed to be?

From the website:
"The graphics of the disc are from Finnish national epic Kalevala. The artist is a Finnish professional graphical designer."

Piecing it together from Wikipedia I think it is most likely Seppo Ilmarinen:

"Seppo Ilmarinen, the Eternal Hammerer, blacksmith and inventor in the Kalevala, is an archetypal artificer from Finnish mythology. ("Seppo" is a popular boy's name and the Finnish word for smith "seppä" is derived from it, or vice versa.) Immortal, he is capable of creating practically anything, but is portrayed as unlucky in love.[1] He is described as working the known metals of the time, including brass, copper, iron, gold and silver. The great works of Ilmarinen include the crafting of the dome of the sky and the forging of the Sampo."

He crafted the dome of the sky, or sky dome... get it?

J

[DPJ88]

produced by a Swedish company?

Looks like Opto plastic to me.

[discspeed]

produced by a Swedish company?

Looks like Opto plastic to me.

Not Swedish, Finnish.

[DPJ88]

on their website it (under Finish products tab, read about the Northman) says "in co-production with a Swedish company that has 4 years experience"

[edit]:
Westside Northman's mold and copyright are 100% owned by Westside Golf Discs. The Northman is also released by us. The production will take place in co-operation with a Swedish company due to their four year experience in operating frisbee machines.

[discspeed]

You're right then, it probably is OPTO plastic.

[DPJ88]

which means good things in terms of the plastic . Such resistant plastic will help a driver with a wing like that, it should fly like new for a long time and not be effected by the first hard hit it takes.

I love opto plastic.

[Parks]

produced by a Swedish company?

Looks like Opto plastic to me.

Not Swedish, Finnish.

Same thing.

[JR]

Parks: Boo!

I can't comment on the behind the scenes bit because it's supposed to be a trade secret but all you little Sherlocks figure it out. IMO a lot of you are on the right track

The graphic is indeed Ilmarinen from Kalevala forging a disc.

What really impressed me is the initial speed of the disc in relation to wing width. It seems to compete with wider winged discs initially. It was too dark to see the end of the flight of the longest throw. But it is so LSS that it eats away distance when new. I don't know what will happen once it breaks in if it will and how long it takes if it does.