What is your favorite basket?

[john theiss]

Stocksdale Park in Liberty will likely be installing Discatcher Pros.  Looking to have some extra baskets out there as well for some longer gold pins and they will not move from those gold settings.  Short pads on longer holes as well.

 Course work has continued.  They went in and carpet bombed the ivy.  Put a guy in a haz mat suit to go into some areas and dropped a ton of Tordon.  More work occurring this week-building mounds for a couple baskets.  Dozer will be on site shortly.

I do agree with Jack about the rust issues in the past, however, they did respond promptly to Eric Eastwood's complaint by sending new chains for Legacy.  I guess only time will tell if they have resolved their rust issues. 

As far as pollution, i think each park department is likely to have different opinions.  some departments like to showcase their course/courses since they invest significant portions of their limited budgets and are proud to offer another lifetime fitness activity.  plus many departments have discussed disc golf and it takes years to get the course installed and they want to public to know about the course by displaying brightly colored baskets.  Also, the brightly colored baskets do help  make other park users in multi-use parks  aware that they are getting near something if they are just out casually walking.  I think cooper brings up great points about brightly colored playground equipment, shelters, park signs etc.   Some equipment is largely earth tone colors but most of the equipment stands out.

[ian]

I personally have a Titan 24. They're super cool. However the chains are very rough, and almost feel "cheap"

One point about the Discatchers is, they rust. None of us want to putt on that. None of us want to replace hundreds of feet of chain in X amount of years. The Chastity Belt.. It's unproportional to the rest of the basket. It's like the basket has a bad case of Muffin Top. it''s my opinion but yes, but they are distracting

I don't buy all that visual pollution malarkey. That just seems like folks that don't want baskets of any kind there in the first place

The word on the street is that they had a run of DISCatcher Pro's that did not have galvanized chains or not enough coating. That has been fixed as far as anyone knows and have replaced any chains that were rusted when contacted.

[coops]

Discourse! Huzzah!

Who thought this was possible?

So, it seems as if the most consistent complaint is on the rusting issue with the DISCatchers. I think there are a few things which should be clarified.

1. Tom, how long have the baskets at PC been in and do you know how long it took them to show any signs of rust?
2. Ian, is this rumor substantiated in any way or purely speculation?
3. How old are the baskets are Water Works? (Reason here: if they are near the same age as when the baskets at PC first started rusting then the rust argument is non-unique.)
4. I don't know a lot about metal protection. What can be done to prevent rusting?
5. There are a lot of Mach IIIs here in Lawrence which are aging poorly as well. I don't think it is just a problem with the Innova baskets. I think it is just a problem of age and weather and maybe care. It may not be a differentiating factor.

Utz's points on the dis-proportionality of the DISCatcher: I would rather have a disproportional basket than a basket that tears up my putter and creates an unequal catching area. At least when you hit the band you only get a clank and not a chunk (our of your putter).

And I will still contend that the DISCatchers look more professional. Many times I've found the Mach IIIs to look a little like someone with some scrap metal and a lot of time threw them together. I know that this isn't the case but it is still the appearance I see. And, while I'd rather see them than no baskets, I think it is a point worth considering. And if we get them in that beautiful green! Think how picturesque the Works could be!

On Keizer's point about the putting machine: If only it could be that scientific. Unfortunately the catching ability is likely to be anecdotal at this point. All I can say is that from my experience and from talking to a lot of players both locally and away from KC they have said consistently that the Innova baskets catch better than anything else they've played on.

Are there any courses anywhere near with Titans? I'd like to give them a try if it is feasible.

[jhinck2]

Are there any courses anywhere near with Titans? I'd like to give them a try if it is feasible.

I'm pretty sure the underground course in STL has them

[eeastwood]

The word on the street is that they had a run of DISCatcher Pro's that did not have galvanized chains or not enough coating. That has been fixed as far as anyone knows and have replaced any chains that were rusted when contacted.

Yep, I have all of the replacement chains for Legacy due to this issue.  We will be replacing them shortly. 

[jack]

these are all opinions.  They are just that.  You folks that haven't gone to meetings (some have....I do realize that there are many in here and not in here that do work with their partners to the 100th level that I feel I do, so please note I realize this....)about these things don't understand what all is discussed.  Yes colored baskets are not wanted by many a P&R, bullarky you say, start attending meetings.....there are plenty of statements that none of you have a frame of reference on to stand up with any true cynicism about this conversation.

As for your club, my club our club, it boils down to the person that is creating the course to make the selection on this matter, it isn't the KCFDC board buying the baskets, it is the P&R in conjunction with the designer of the land.  The KCFDC MAINTAINS and IMPROVES parks, the KCFDC doesn't (hasn't to date, when it purchases it's 40 acres for the private course then the BoD can decide what it wants to do) buy baskets unless it is a special need to replace or show approval, and then they don't decide the baskets, the entity does.

Surveying the top 500 players...can we herd cats now?   And whom are you going to believe for the top 100 players, let alone the top 500.

This is really all subjective arguments that unless you have scientific results can't be quantified.

Scrap metal made this game, scrap metal got you started on this game then cooper, and the notion of DGA baskets being that much worst, well all I can say is practice your putting on all basket types, it is the indian not the arrow, and many times things fall that they shouldn't.  We could go back to object golf and the hole (box)  in the ground design and just remove this altogether.

[Ken Franks]

There's a course in Blair Nebraska that has had Titans for many years...Only course I've seen them on.

  They do catch well, but they do make a weird sound when catching, like Jack does....

[Mike Hyzer]

The Chastity Belt.. It's unproportional to the rest of the basket. It's like the basket has a bad case of Muffin Top. it''s my opinion but yes, but they are distracting

I don't buy all that visual pollution malarkey. That just seems like folks that don't want baskets of any kind there in the first place

That's my stance as well-- I don't much care about the park aesthetics argument. Legacy and PC are both fine looking parks even if they have Discatchers, and those baskets aren't taking anything away from that.
The sheetmetal band makes the Discatcher not look like every other basket out there, or unlike how a disc golf basket is supposed to look, IMO. That's why I find it distracting. Even if they catch a little better, it isn't such a drastic improvement to warrant having that ugly sheetmetal band on there. Hell, Cubby's basket catches better than any of the options listed in this poll, but we're not about to start using those either.

[jack]

There's a course in Blair Nebraska that has had Titans ...  They do catch well, but they do make a weird sound when catching, like Jack does....

I don't make that same sound, but I know what you are talking about, they are a dead sounding chain versus our choir on the others.  As far as my making sounds while catching....hmmmm how do you know that sound?

[ian]

That's my stance as well-- I don't much care about the park aesthetics argument. Legacy and PC are both fine looking parks even if they have Discatchers, and those baskets aren't taking anything away from that.
The sheetmetal band makes the Discatcher not look like every other basket out there, or unlike how a disc golf basket is supposed to look, IMO. That's why I find it distracting. Even if they catch a little better, it isn't such a drastic improvement to warrant having that ugly sheetmetal band on there. Hell, Cubby's basket catches better than any of the options listed in this poll, but we're not about to start using those either.

More info?

[jack]

Hell, Cubby's basket catches better than any of the options listed in this poll, but we're not about to start using those either.

More info?

http://Cubby's 422nd Disc Golf Hole In One Video

I digress, with the above video, maybe Innuva should be it so we can all be like Cubby?

[coops]

these are all opinions.  They are just that.  You folks that haven't gone to meetings (some have....I do realize that there are many in here and not in here that do work with their partners to the 100th level that I feel I do, so please note I realize this....)about these things don't understand what all is discussed.  Yes colored baskets are not wanted by many a P&R, bullarky you say, start attending meetings.....there are plenty of statements that none of you have a frame of reference on to stand up with any true cynicism about this conversation.

1. Yes, some of these points are opinion. They should be. Some of them, however, are not opinion.
2. Who says you can't debate opinion? Anyone suggesting you can't debate opinion is doing a disservice to their listeners.
3. Attending meetings with P&R people doesn't give you any special insight into which basket is best. Maybe the least 'intrusive' if we choose to believe it. But Tracy is correct. If they are worried about the look of the baskets they probably don't want us and just want some free labor. The yellow linings around baseball fields are a great counterpoint and can and should be raised at these meetings.
4. "there are plenty of statements that none of you have a frame of reference on to stand up with any true cynicism about this conversation." We're gonna need a translator for that one. I don't understand what you're trying to say in the least. If you are trying to say that none of us have done as much work as you have and therefore can't have an opinion can we please just drop that argument. It doesn't make any sense and, if we did want to go with it, then we would only be able to do what you want. Time spent working on courses and getting courses put in doesn't beget knowledge. It can be a consideration but it shouldn't be the end of the conversation. If we use this criterion it sets up a world where your opinion is the only thing that can happen and that should be prima facie rejected.

[Mike Hyzer]

This is Cubby's basket:

Cubby's original "Cubby Trap" Disc Golf Target Video

[ian]

Oh Cubby.   

[jhinck2]

I'm not really sure what the purpose of this thread is anymore.  I don't think there is one basket that is the "best."  We all have our own favorite basket.  It IS all a matter of opinion.  There are pros and cons to each and every basket.  Mach III's don't catch well (according to some), DISCatchers are eye sores (according to some), ya de ya de ya.  I don't think there are any courses in the metro that are "outdated" so I'm content.  Replacing an entire course worth of baskets is a waste of money.  There are a ton of other things we could be doing to our courses rather than replacing baskets just because.  If a basket gets hit by a tree and needs to be replaced, that's a different story.

With regards to new courses, the decision on baskets is up to the person putting the course in and parks and rec department; end of story there.  If you want a course with the new Innova baskets - find some acreage, get it approved, and put it in.  I just don't really understand the point of this argument here.  It's the song that never ends.  It's pointless to argue equipment because there will NEVER be a time when everyone agrees.