What’s the Best Place to Buy a Disc?

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about where they can buy a disc from for ultimate frisbee. Now, since all of the people live in different cities, I have a few suggestions. First I’ll talk about what I think is best in a disc and then where you can buy them from.

First of all, I would recommend buying white discs. I find colored discs become softer in the sun and don’t throw as well. As for the brand, either Discraft or Daredevil discs are a good choice. There are a lot of people who complain about Daredevils, but I find that the new mold is very close to Discrafts and I don’t really have a preference now. The Innova ultimate disc (which the MLU uses) is supposed to be good; however, it’s meant for more advanced throwers as the discs handle better with more spin. I would recommend not using Wham-O ultimate Frisbees. The disc is deeper I find and there are too many ridges on the top rim. It’s more brittle and I’ve been told it’s because they don’t let the plastic cure long enough. That being said, Wham-O does make some other great Frisbees including the Guts, DDC (Double Disc Court) and the Fastback, which are all great discs and are meant for throwing and catching. Finally, I wouldn’t pay more than $15 for a disc. Sports stores and outdoor stores sell them for as much as $20 so you can definitely get them cheaper elsewhere.

As for where to buy them, there are a few options:

1. Go to your local league website. National associations like Ultimate Canada (https://canadianultimate.com/where-to-play) and USA Ultimate (https://usaultimate.org/local/) will have the websites listed for your local league. For example, the Calgary Ultimate Association sells discs for $10-$12 each.

2. When you’re at a tournament, buy discs from the main tent. Not only will most tournaments sell discs for around $12 but some will offer previous tournament discs for a reduced rate (I’ve some as low as $5).

3. Get a group of people and order 100 discs from either Discraft (http://www.discraft.com) or Daredevil (http://www.daredevildiscs.com) or Innova (http://www.innovadiscs.com). The benefits of doing this is that you can have your own custom design, you will get the discs for around $8/disc and you can sell them to make some money for your team. Also, you can buy misprinted discs for a lower price – so the disc flies the same; there’s just something missing/added to whatever was printed on top.

4. Check out the custom discs on Discovering the World (http://www.dtworld.com). They sell Wham-O discs such as the Guts, DDC (Double Disc Court) and Fastback Frisbee. You can get custom discs for $3.50/frisbee and cheaper and they are great for throwing and catching. They are also much better for kids less than 10 years old although people of all ages will have fun throwing and catching them!

Here is a great guide to buying ultimate discs from Scott Viers from Seattle Ultimate: http://www.youthultimate.net/2014/11/15/best-ways-to-buy-discs-for-youth-ultimate.

Let me know if you have suggestions for other places you can buy discs!