Lone Star Discs has been on my radar for a while since they produce almost all their discs in glow and the glow brightness/longevity is nearly on par with Kastaplast and MVP. Having the option of so many glow molds is a stark contrast to other brands where the production of glow discs is limited and releases often sell out quick. I will confirm that yes, the LSD glow is in the top tier, although this disc is slightly dimmer than my MVP. As for the Texas Ranger, this disc instantly clicked with me and I’ve decided to keep it in my glow bag as my straight-slightly-stable mid range. Compared to my main bag this disc slots in where the Axiom Hex or Discraft Buzzz would although the hand feel is different than both these discs.
The Plastic
LSD Glow is a softer flexible premium plastic that has a slightly gummy feel. It bends and springs back into shape although it’s not so soft that it can be bent into a “U” shape easily. The grip is good and not too slippery even when damp. In terms of glow brightness and longevity, this disc is not the quickest to charge but it does retain its glow characteristics longer than my RPM or Innova Champion Color Glow. These two discs start out brighter but fade much quicker. It does reflect light quite well too, so even if lost in the bush for some it should be visible under UV light.
After letting all the discs discharge for one throw each, about 8 minutes, the difference in brightness is more apparent. The phone photo does make them much brighter than they appear in person so this should be used as an illustration of relative brightness, not actual visible brightness.
The Disc Feel
The disc has a blunt rounded nose and a sharp inwards curve around to a bead at the bottom of the rim. The top is very flat. The disc feels comfortable for backhands in both fan-grip and power grip configurations, and thanks to its low profile, also feels comfortable for forehands with two fingers. On a forehand grip, the side of my hand leading up to the pointer finger sits right in the inwards curve to the rim. The feel is quite different to the Axiom Hex, my main mid in this slot. It’s a bit more sharp and that inward curve is noticeable making it much closer to a Buzzz, although the Buzzz doesn’t seem to have such a pronounced bead.
The Flight
I can throw mids up to 250 feet right hand backhand, and this disc instantly clicked with me. A flat backhand toss yielded a little bit of early turn, then a nearly lazer straight flight with a moderate end fade. On hard ground, the disc does skip a bit from the end stability. With the grip feeling confident, I threw the disc several dozen times in the field aiming for trees across the park and hit the exact line I was going for 85% of the time which is a good number for me. I did not feel like I slipped up or the disc did anything weird even as I tried different angles and put more power on it. I did over torque it a few times on purpose, but for the most part it followed the line I threw it on with a fade at the end, that became not so subtle when hyzer flipping. If I tried to cook it right on anhyzer I could turn it over, but it required more power than I have or some level of forcing the anhyzer to get it to go hard right. It would go right, but it almost always came back left.
The flight continually reminded me of the Axiom Hex and how well that disc clicked for me when I first started throwing it. It is by and large a flat flight with fade at the end, and the ability to take most lines it’s chucked on. From playing on a course, I’d say this disc throws more like a 5/5/-0.5/1.5 right now, with a little less turn and a little more fade than the numbers would suggest. However, when throwing it next to my Hex, the Hex is only slightly less stable at the end, and it is much more beat in, so my expectation is that this disc will ease up on the end stability a little bit with some wear and tear. This disc is also glow plastic, so higher stability is expected.
For forehand, the results are similar. I tend to chuck more stable discs than this for forehand and rely on some flex, but the TR put up with my tendency to overtorque my forehand and always came back to a flat flight even if there was a bit of right turn movement. Mind you my forehand with a mid maxes out around 225 feet, so more power means you will flip this disc, and it could be used for flip up flat shots with a subtle reliable fade.
I would like to test the disc again in the wind and get back here with an update when we have another windy day.
Conclusion
On a subjective note, I’m not super fond of the stock stamp from LSD. I think it would look better with the text smaller and let the simple design speak for itself. The disc is immediately recognizable as something from LSD, which hits well on the brand front, but I’ve criticized such large text on other brands like Daredevil before. I’m fond of cleaner, simpler designs with less logo text.
That’s about it for criticisms I have on this disc though, and it’s subjective. As I throw the TR more, I’ll come back and provide an update on how the plastic holds up long term and how the flight changes with time. But for now the LoneStar Discs Texas Ranger has found a place in my glow bag. I can’t wait to see what special edition art they put out for this disc too. I’m keen to try out more Lone Star discs long term, especially the Armadillo and Mockingbird, as these are two other underserved slots in my glow bag.
Buy the Lone Star Texas Ranger here!
