Product Review: Chuckit! Zipflight Flying Disc

The Chuckit! Zipflight is a flying disc dog toy. It floats and is brightly colored and highly visible in the water. The Zipflight is also soft and easy on grab.

Photo by Erin Koski

I bought the Zipflight for a trip to visit relatives who have a swimming pool, and it works extremely well for that purpose. Brisbane has no trouble locating the flourescent orange disc in the water. It's much easier to spot in the surf than a ball. The Zipflight does not soak up water, and dries quickly so I don't have to worry about putting a soggy disc in my car.

Photo by Erin Koski

I'm not a particularly skilled Frisbee thrower, but I can't get the Zipflight to fly particularly far. I think it's because the disc is so soft and squishy, it can't cut through the air like a hard plastic disc. It's disctinctly possible that I'm just really bad at this and the Zipflight is actually on par with the best regulartion Frisbees, tough to tell. At any rate the Zipflight is soft enough to be thrown with great force and caught by an enthusiastic dog without anyone getting hurt.

Most epic Briz photo ever by Erin Koski

Pros: Highly visible, soft and and gentle on doggy mouths. Does not pick up sand or dirt, dries quickly and does not absorb water. Unlike a regulation plastic Frisbee, the ring shape is easy for dogs to pick up. Brisbane likes to run around with it on his nose. The Zipflight is a short-range toy for us, good for smaller spaces and times when I don't want Brisbane sprinting down the beach at top speed.

Cons: The soft and squishy qualities of the Zipflight make it less durable than it could be. Left to his own devices, Brisbane will pull chunks of foam off the disc. This is not a long-range fetch toy for us, and I can't get it to fly high or straight. Exhausting Brisbane with the Zipflight requires a lot of effort on my part.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: I love the Zipflight for swimming pool and lake adventures when I can toss it into the water for Briz, but for beach and land-based fetch I much prefer the Chuckit! launcher and Ultra Ball. The Zipflight is highly visible but doesn't have nearly as much range.