With the Nomad Dagger, Roto Grip has added a third ball to their Sword line which consists of the Nomad Solid and Nomad Pearl. The Dagger shares the same Rotary core shape and core numbers as the previous Nomads. The difference in the Dagger is the new Ultra Vision Hybrid cover. This cover is a half pearl, half solid blend of resin and is Roto Grip’s first hybrid release since the Rogue Cell.

The Dagger performed at its best for all three testers on our medium test pattern. All three were able to play the part of the lane where they are most comfortable and all three kept the ball at its box finish. The Dagger cleared the front of the lane easily, revved up in the midlane, and had a strong, continuous move on the back end. Usually during testing, the testers will find one pattern the ball works very well on, one where it is slightly less effective, and one that needs massive surface changes to find a line to the pocket.

Although the Dagger preferred the medium pattern, it worked almost equally well on both the dry and oily test pattern with the factory finish. The drier test pattern forced all three testers much deeper than they were playing on the medium test pattern. Stroker’s lower rev rate allowed the Dagger to perform better for him on this pattern than it did for the other two testers.

Those who are comfortable playing a more direct line to the pocket will have some success on oily patterns as the strength at the back end is sufficient to carry the corners. We tweaked the cover to 2000 Abralon for the oily test pattern, which allowed each tester to move a touch deeper. This cover change gave the Dagger a stronger read of the midlane making it less sensitive to the track area breaking down.

Those bowling on medium-dry to dry patterns who wish to use the Dagger for a longer period of time may want to look into longer pin-to-PAP layouts, which will allow the Dagger to push further down the lane.

The Dagger showed plenty of potential on our sport pattern. With the right layout, this ball should shine on medium sport patterns.

Strengths: The versatility of hybrid shelled bowling balls is the largest asset of the Nomad Dagger. The ability of the ball to respond to surface and layout changes will make it a top choice for league and tournament bowlers.

Weaknesses: Only patterns on the extreme ends of the spectrum will have players leaving the Dagger in the bag. Altering the cover will allow it to handle larger volumes of oil but we would suggest something different for the heavy stuff due to how well the Dagger performs on medium patterns.

Overall Summary: The Nomad Dagger is the latest addition into the Sword line of Roto Grip bowling balls. The overall hook potential is similar to its predecessors while going about it in a different way. This one will be best suited for anything from medium-dry to medium-oily.