Losing a disc sucks.
Losing a disc to a tree is even worse, though.
The reason?
Half the time, you can still see it …
It taunts you.
If you’re at all like me, your inner Tarzan rarely kicks in. Climbing the great oxygen-giver is simply out of the question. Because of this, you’re forced to resort to more primitive means:
- Nearby rocks.
- Oversized sticks.
- Your water bottle.
Some guys even pack a softball, slingshot, hockey puck or lacrosse ball for this exact purpose. And when desperate times call for desperate measures, though I’d advise against it, another disc from the bag gets the call-up as a last-ditch resort to dislodge a precious, wayward flier …
Because why lose one disc when you can lose two?
Ouch.
Obviously, the go-to method is an extendible disc retriever. If you’ve got one, click away from this article – it’s not for you. Heck, if you’ve got a friend with one, this might not be necessary.
Speaking of friends, it’s a close buddy who shared this with me during a round last week. He’d thrown his Lucid E-Mac Truth straight into the Randy Moss-esque branches of an evergreen. Positioned directly underneath it, I started looking for baseball-sized stones for him to toss.
It was at this point, he pulled out one of these:
And then, one of these:
The paracord bracelet was busted, so he didn’t cut into it or anything. Instead, he unraveled it all the way and tied it to the looped-end of his padlock. Then, à la David and Goliath, he proceeded to swing it violently in circles, eventually releasing the padlock, sending it up towards his disc.
It took a few tries, but boom …
Down she came.
Good to go.
This thing’s awesome for a few reasons.
First, it’s dirt-cheap. There’s a good chance these items are already sitting somewhere in your house in a junk drawer just waiting for some action. Second, your lock runs no risk of getting stuck in a tree alongside your disc, because it’s attached to a string in your off-hand …
Remember?
And lastly, the true beauty of this setup is the paracord. It’s small, inexpensive and takes up zero space in a disc golf bag. It’s also versatile. For example, should your padlock prove incapable of hitting your tree-trapped frisbee, ditch it for a stick with some girth. Tie the paracord to the stick, throw the disc atop a branch near your disc and start pulling. Done correctly, the problematic part of the tree will start moving with each pull. And with it, your disc will start to move, as well.
“Down goes Frazier!”
Problem solved.
Again.
* Note: Your paracord needn’t come in bracelet form – Walmart has you covered.
Not bad, eh?
This jury-rigged disc retriever won’t save your frisbee from every sticky, shrub-centric situation. But mark my words: It’s FAR more effective than you’re thinking while reading this post.
Give it a go.
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This is a pretty good idea, but I do want to caution people using this method.
First and foremost – POWERLINES! If using this method make sure to pay attention to any power lines near the tree your disc is stuck in. If you pull a branch into a hot line or accidently throw over a powerline….you WILL become the fuse. If this is a concern look into non conductive rope like that used by tree climbers to set there climbing ropes.
Second – It’s very easy to have whatever is tied to end of paracord get wrapped around branches. When this happens there is only one way of getting it back….pull till the rope breaks or the branch breaks. If this happens to a tree in a public park this may well be considered vandalism or destruction of property.
VERY good points, Andy!
If there’s a powerline that close to a tree, my hope would be that the parks department would do something about it …
Or that they would have done something about it WAY before it became any kind of threat.
But again, couldn’t agree more – thanks for the insights!
I am gonna stick to throwing random debris like a man, and taunting anybody who has a dork stick. But this made me think of something that would be fun to bust out…..a fox tail. Remember those toys? They might have gotten banned cuz they are epic sibling-whoopers. But if i saw one of those come out to retrieve a disc I would be all nostalgia smiles.
Hey, that would work!
It’s probably not NEARLY long enough for this, though …
So there’s your hiccup.
I do remember them, though …
Pretty cool 🙂
“I am gonna stick to throwing random debris like a man, and taunting anybody who has a dork stick.”
LMAO!!!!!
To each his own, right?
Used to carry a baseball for this very reason. Then they came out with retrievers. Kind of seemed like a no-brainer. If you’ve ever used a rope saw for cutting limbs from trees you throw the rope up with something very similar to your paracord and lock idea. Works well for that purpose
Great stuff, Joe!
Appreciate it, man!
I have 4 kids and frequently have a disc in a tree beyond reach of my disc retriever. I carry a roll of string and a plastic water bottle. I tie the string around the neck of the bottle and use it as you described. This has saved me hours.
Hey, that’s a great idea!
And you’re drinking out of this water bottle, as well, right?
So, kind of a two-birds-with-one-stone sort of thing?