New manufacturer Westside Discs Northman initial impressions

[Booter]

glad u like em frankie. i definitely didnt see them as workhorses either but they had their roles and performed fairly well. theyre a fun disc to watch fly

[Jeronimo]

Curious, why do you say they're not workhorses? Too fast?

[Frank Delicious]

For me, they do a few shots really really well and that's about it. Like I couldn't throw it as my main driver because I found it hard to work it out of a S-curve (it wanted to hold the anny), and it didn't do straight very well. If I wanted a sweeping anny or hyzer or a very late turn anhyzer, the northman was awesome at it.

Also for the life of me I couldn't make one hold a straight line for very long. It really wanted to S curve.

[JR]

My super domey Northmen 155 and 164 don't flip from a flat release at full power usually. The 155 does some times without as good a snap as i can produce. The 155 isn't good at flexing back but the 164 will fade late in the flight if given more than 10' of height and less than 5 degrees anny. If i release flat they fly straight for a long time and always fade more than my Beasts. Only a little but still. Close to Surge SS fade.

[jubuttib]

I wish I'd gotten Nortmen like the ones you guys have. I bough two when they came out and both definitely turn quite a bit, but are very reliable and terrific fun on hyzerflips and S-curve lines.

[JR]

I had the luck to be in a store right after they were released so i could pick each of the discs available and compare them. And to pick the ones i presumed would fly best. Glad my hunch was right. I have thought of getting a flat one to compare to too. Would they fade less in this mold and be faster and longer?

[money 21]

My purple northman has beaten into the smoothest most predictable turnover disc I have owned. The teal one i got at the same time has not fully beaten in yet and is stable with almost no fade. I would put the glide of the northman up against the river anyday. I hope that the tourney one coming out in may have the great dome as well.

[JR]

Dunno what your definition of a great dome is but mine are gigantically tall. On purpose but i plan to get a flatter one to compare to. I want to see the flight difference. If it were less LSS and longer i'd probably replace something with it in my regular bag.

[money 21]

Dunno what your definition of a great dome is but mine are gigantically tall. On purpose but i plan to get a flatter one to compare to. I want to see the flight difference. If it were less LSS and longer i'd probably replace something with it in my regular bag.

mine are the domiest discs I own. I was told the purple and teal are the second run don't know if that is true or not. a friend has a flatter red one that flie the same as mine with less glide. I love watching these disc just glide down the fairway. I throw my northman on a line that one of my friend throws a star katana and it is funny that his disc gets to the same spot as mine in half the time.

[mshelton]

Anyone still throwing these or have thrown the GL versions?

Curious how the GLs compare to the Optos, been throwing a 168 Opto (2nd stamp) for a while and for me it's my longest disc, squeaking out about 20' past my Rivers.

Turns over for me if thrown flat but on a goo hyzer at full power it'll flatten out for a good portion of the flight then walk slowly to the right (RHBH) while gliding out.
Not quite as predictable as my Rivers but on open longer holes it's what I reach for.

[jubuttib]

I really need to try some newer Northmen, my old ones clearly were totally different from the ones y'all been throwing.

[money 21]

My purple vip 169 is on of the few disc i can put out above 380 on 3/5 drives. I have to have alot of room thought because I through it from a slight hyzer flip and it mak a huge s curve.

[mshelton]

Pretty much the same for me Money, except that since the flashing has worn off mine it doesn't fade back, just kinda walks slowly right to the ground.

[JR]

I was busy doing other stuff, so i only got one throw with a prototype midrange disc and a driver from Westside Discs yesterday. The discs were released for testers yesterday and they may change based on the feedback from the testers before release next year. The release is probably before summer. And summer in Finland starts late. You can see more on http://www.westside.fi The discs seemed to differ a bit from the simulated images. The Warship was slightly domier than the image and i did not notice the outer edge drooping on the Giant.

Feel wise my first impression of the Warship was, that the plastic is as good in gripping as any VIP or Opto plastic has ever been or mildly tackier. The height and the feel was in my first impression like a Wasp without the bead, but slightly taller up top than flat top Z Buzzzes and not as domey as X Buzzzes. I liked the grip and my hands aren't large so that alone piqued my interest. And i had just thrown S Warrior and E Scout for the first time in my life before throwing the Warship. Shape feels great and i would not wonder if it lends itself to sidearming almost as well as the thin Warrior. I compared an Opto Pain side by side to the Warship and the dome is 1 mm taller on the Warship and the underside is around 2 millimeters thinner with the Warship.

The flight of the Warship is slightly understable at high speeds and it has an unusual fade portion of the flight in a nice way. The disc is obviously fast and gliding, thus long, for a mid. I gave it three-four degrees of initial hyzer and it flipped to one degree hyzer. It flew left before the fade for about 7-10' at around 250' finishing in the net of the indoor hall at 310' at ground level 30' left of the initial line. The disc hit the net at ground level with 3 degree hyzer so it moved forward in the fade very well and the addition of the fade angle was very slow and the movement to the left was very gradual. The disc penetrated well forward despite flying hyzer all the way despite having been thrown at 80 % power. Apex was at 9-10'. I don't throw mids much farther than that. Most mids top at that distance for me and this was with pulled power. So i think the closest competitors are the longest and fastest low fade mids. Such as an Axis (needs spin and a clean release) and the Warrior (seems to fade a little more). Buzzz can't compete in distance, because it is slower and fades and drops earlier for effective height holding.

The Giant had a thinner wing and a taller profile than my GL Bolt. The dome seemed a little taller, than the simulation picture. The Giant flies understable in this prototype and it flipped to flat from a three degree hyzer. It had just started to fade, when it hit the wall at 320' so the high speed portion of the flight seems a lot like the GL Bolt, but at a slower speed. The Giant held the height well and it was almost as good at holding the altitude as the Bolt. Considering that the Bolt flies faster, it has more lift at 320' so speed for speed the Giant may hold height as well. As long as both fall under their respective cruise speeds as much. This means, that the Giant has a very good glide. And the fade does not kick in too early or too hard for good distance vs the speed, probably. I have no idea about the fade, skip and absolute distance. I would think, that a Pro Destroyer broken in a bit, but not to the flipping and long gliding then hard fading phase has a competitor. No vulcanized top here. I wonder, how the Giant differs from a Sword other than in high speed stability. I can't tell, because the hall was too short to see the fade and distance properly and there was frost on the ground outside and no room to throw in, because of soccer players. And the tester, who had the discs was leaving and it was late at night.