Gateway Plastics Explained

When looking through a wide selection of discs, it can be hard to keep up with what plastics are best for what types of discs and circumstances. This article aims to break down all of Gateway’s plastics so that you can be confident that you are buying the exact style of the disc that you are looking for. Gateway especially can be overwhelming as some of the plastic names do not mean exactly what you would think.

Firm

The Firm plastic is a baseline plastic that offers a stiff feel with a good amount of grip that makes it a great choice for putters and mids that you want to break in and cycle through your bag. If you like firm plastic, in my opinion it is some of the best feeling stiff plastic on the market and is most comparable to 350g from Prodigy or Prime from Dynamic Discs.

Super Soft (SS)

The Super Soft plastic is where things start to confuse people usually. It sounds like it should be soft, but it is not. This is a small step down from the Firm plastic in stiffness, but offers a noticeable increase of the grip. The plastic I think this most closely resembles is Classic Blend from Dynamic.

Super Stupid Soft (SSS)

The Super Stupid Soft plastic is the next step down in flexibility in their baseline plastics. It is still not as soft as you may think by the name, but it is starting to get a little more soft. You can flex it a bit more and it has a really nice feeling grip in your hand. Personally I really like this plastic for throwing more than putting, but keep in mind that my putting preference leans towards a bit stiffer plastics.

Super Stupid Silly Soft (SSSS)

The Super Stupid Silly Soft plastic is finally actually soft. It isn’t the craziest soft plastic on the market but it is a lot softer than a lot of plastics on the market. This baseline plastic offers a great grip and enough flexibility to hit and sit wherever it lands. It reminds me a lot of Classic Soft plastic from DD or Putter Blend Soft from Discraft.

Pure White

Pure White plastic is probably the firmest in the Gateway baseline lineup. It resembles a KC Pro plastic from Innova or Crazy Tough from Discraft. It offers a decent bit of grip for the amount of stiffness in the plastic. It is a great choice for putting putters if you like a firm feel in the hand, but I would be worried about choosing this for a throwing putter as it might crack upon hitting a tree or hard ground in colder weather. 

Lunar

The Lunar plastic is a higher end baseline plastic. Gateway added grippy, black rubber into their popular SSS plastic to make this slightly more durable and grippy blend. This plastic is a great choice for putting and approach shots as it will beat in like a baseline disc, but be able to hold that stage of wear for longer than your average baseline plastics.

Nylon

The Nylon plastic is something unique to Gateway. They took Nylon and blended it into their plastic to create this high-end baseline plastic. It offers you a stiff feel with a decent amount of grip that makes it a great choice for putting and approach shots. I would say it is like a slightly grippier feeling KC Pro plastic or similar to the Classic plastic from DD.

Sure Grip

Sure Grip does exactly what you would think. It is a baseline plastic with superior grip making it a great choice for all conditions out on the course. Personally, this is one of my favorite baseline plastics in the gateway lineup. It has a similar grip to XT plastic from Innova but has a stiffer feel in the hand. It is a great choice for players who like the have confidence in their grip but some people might find it to have too much grip for their liking. 

Evolution

The Evolution plastic is a hybrid between baseline and premium plastic. It offers some of the grip and feel qualities of baseline with the durability of a premium plastic. It is a great choice for discs that you want to be able to slowly beat in while keeping that comfortable feel of a baseline plastic. I would say it is a plastic that almost fits in the Pro slot from Innova with a slight increase in durability. 

Platinum

Platinum offers players a very high end premium plastic feel with a slight gumminess and a good amount of grip. The Platinum plastic does not seem to be widely available which is confusing with how good it feels in the hand. It seems to be the closest comparison to a Star or ESP plastic in the Gateway lineup. 

Diamond

The Diamond Plastic is a premium line of plastic meant for durability. It offers a good amount of grip with some stiffness that is very comfortable in the hand. This plastic is great for driving putters, midranges, and fairway drivers. It compares well to Champion, Z, or Lucid in other brands. Expect molds in this plastic to be a little bit more overstable than some of the baseline plastics.

Hyper Diamond

The Hyper Diamond plastic is a more opaque and slightly more grippy version of the Diamond plastic. It offers the durability of the champion style plastic with a grip that is closer associated with baseline plastics. This makes it a great choice for drivers and mid ranges as it provides the player with confidence in their grip and flight when standing on the tee.

Eraser

The Eraser plastic is named for what it feels like. An eraser. It has a chalky hand feel and are on the more stiff side of baseline plastics. It has a little bit of give, but is not soft by any means. Players will love the feel of this plastic for their putting putters but might find that it beats in a little too quickly for their throwing putters. I do not have a good comparison other than your typical pink eraser that you used in school.

Money ($$$)

The Money blend is exactly that. Money. It is a blend of their Sure Grip plastic with the stiffness of their SSS plastic. This is one of the best feeling baseline plastics on the market. It is hard to go wrong when you pickup one of Gateway’s putters in the Money ($$$) plastic!

Organic

The Organic Plastic is a very Eco-Conscious plastic blend. It combines renewable resources with recycled rubber to create this blend. It has a similar stiffness to their SS plastic with a more chalky feel. It almost just melts into your hand when you are holding it and becomes very comfortable as you line up your shot!

Superglow

Superglow is essentially what Gateway calls their glow plastic. They mix it in with a wide variety of other plastics so be sure to pay attention to what the key plastic is to know what stiffness, durability, and grip to expect. The plastic with Superglow added in should act a little bit more stable than your normal disc in that plastic blend.