Darts

Dart types: Steel-tip Darts, Soft-tip Darts, and Convertible tip Darts

Darts are made up of four parts: the point, the barrel, the shaft, and the flight. Some of the really inexpensive darts do not come apart, but all of the better ones do. This is advantageous since it allows you to easily experiment with different parts, mainly flights and shafts, until you find your ideal combination.

Changing parts is also beneficial because if a part happens to break (from being struck by another dart or bouncing out), you can easily replace the broken piece. In steel-tip darts, the point is usually fused to the barrel, but it is removable in soft-tip darts since they will bend and break over time and need to be replaced.

The barrel is where you grip the dart when you are throwing; they come in a wide assortment of shapes and sizes and make all sorts of different materials such as wood, copper, chrome, nickel, aluminum, brass, and tungsten.

The shaft screws into the barrel and is usually made out of plastic, nylon, or a lightweight metal such as aluminum. Shafts are available in different styles, colors, and lengths. There are also spinning shafts that turn freely and help reduce deflections when another dart lands close by. On contact, the darts rotate on their shafts, allowing more room for darts in a small area.

The final part of the dart is the flight. The flight material can be anything from plastic, nylon, fabric, metal, or actual feathers. The flight provides drag to keep the dart on track toward the target. Generally speaking, the heavier the dart, the larger the flight; smaller flights have the advantage of allowing you to group your darts tighter since you are less likely to hit them and altering the course of your dart.

Darts can be broken up into three categories: steel-tip, soft-tip, and convertible tip. Steel-tip darts are for use on bristle dartboards; soft-tip darts are for use on electronic dartboards, and convertible darts have a removable tip that allows you to switch the tip depending on whether you are playing on a bristle board or an electronic board. Some steel-tip darts offer retractable tips. This helps avoid bounce-outs if you should happen to hit the spider on a throw.

The dart’s point retracts slightly into the barrel of the dart, allowing the back end of the dart to move with the momentum of the throw and then allowing the dart to stick to the board. Steel-tip darts generally are a bit heavier than soft-tip darts. Steel-tip darts tend to be between 18 and 26 grams, where soft-tip darts fall between 14 and 20 grams.