Darts consist of four parts, including the point, barrel, shaft and flight.
Each element performs its own specific role; knowing their function can help you find the appropriate setup.
This comprehensive guide details all of the parts that comprise a set of darts as well as any optional accessories that might be added.
Steel Tip Points Dart points, also referred to as tips, connect the dartboard to keep darts within. In the image above is shown a steel-tip dart. These darts are often found at pubs.
When playing steel tip darts, maintaining sharp darts is essential to avoid bounce outs from darts being thrown off of the board and potentially shortening its lifespan. Check out our How to Sharpen Your Darts article or browse through our wide range of sharpeners available here for darts.
Repointing tools are designed to effectively and quickly eliminate and replace points by employing various shades. Discover our Dart Reporters here.
Beginners or those just getting started may start off by trying darts with smooth edges before realizing they require something with more grip to boost their confidence in making darts. Mission Sniper Lunar Dart Points are one of the premier options available and provide more grip, which reduces chances of darts being thrown off of boards altogether. Check out this video for more information.
Soft Tip Points
These points differ from steel points by being composed entirely of plastic rather than the usual steel material, and designed specifically as electronic dart boards with soft tips (soft tips).
Darts with soft tips are particularly suited to children due to being made of plastic for increased security. Some soft-tip dartboards even come equipped with an electronic scoreboard that can automatically keep score. You could even take on someone from another country online!
Take a look at our guide of soft tip darts here.
Dart barrels are an integral component of darts and come in various sizes and shapes with various materials and grip options to meet different player preferences. Some players might like a heavier dart than one that’s less powerful while others might favor something with greater grip than an easier to use dart.
The weights of barrels typically fall within 16g to 30g, although lighter or heavier darts can also be found. Brass or Tungsten Nickel Silver (Tungsten is more expensive, yet more durable) are typically the materials chosen for barrels.
Darts Corner offers thousands of steel tip darts for you to select. Use our filters to narrow down your search to your ideal dimensions, weight grip size, color and shape preferences.
Darts are typically held by placing one’s finger on the barrel. Different grip options such as rings, smooth and knurled are available according to personal preference; for an enhanced throwing experience take a look at our collection of grip-help and wax products here.
Check out the darts barrel reference for more details on all of the various barrel options and their materials.
Take a look at this video featuring PDC Pro Alan Soutar for tips on selecting an ideal dart weight to meet your individual requirements.
Shafts for darts, commonly referred to as stems, connect to the barrel at one end while at the other they hold your dart in place. Shafts come in many different types of materials and lengths – these will affect how your dart flies through the air.
Nylon, plastic and aluminum are among the most frequently utilized materials when crafting shafts. Mission’s shaft sizes typically fall into three categories: small/tweenie (tweenie small and short), medium (tweenie medium short), and short. However, each manufacturer offers differing lengths as well as options.
Cosmo offers the largest selection of shafts available with eight length options to choose from. Visit their blog on How to Select Stems for a comprehensive guide on selecting suitable shafts.
As it’s essential to find the optimal shaft solution, testing different lengths and types is key to meeting your specific needs. What better way than with Mission Stems Research Pack to try different shaft options?
Flights on Darts
Dart flights are an integral component of their dart’s flight through the sky, helping it maintain stability as it travels. Their flight slot fits snugly into its stem apex to keep them on their feet as it moves along its path.
Molded flights come in various shapes and styles to fit your personal taste; you can adjust thickness and material according to your personal tastes. They tend to be more costly but also more durable with their 90deg pitch which may improve consistency when throwing.
Conventional flights (No. 2) are most often used, although other sizes such as pear, kite and slim are available as well. Larger flights tend to work best with heavier darts while smaller darts perform best on smaller flights.
Discover various kinds of flight with this Mission Flights Search Pack.
Learn about the various sizes and shapes of flight with this helpful guide on selecting the Best Darts Fly video tutorial right here.
Once you understand the four components that compose darts, you can add additional elements to make your darts more personalized and reflect your individuality.
Additional Darts and Accessories
Dart devices such as flightsetters, springs, and add-agrams serve a specific function to help improve your configuration.
Flight Protectors are handy pieces of equipment installed prior to every departure. When darts enter a plane, these protectors could protect passengers from harm.
Springs are an essential product for nylon shafts to help ensure an enjoyable flight experience. Once placed atop each shaft, they can pull on its four prongs for increased security, helping keep planes on course.
Similar spring products include slot lock rings that require using a dart hole and provide better control between the spring and its shaft.
O-rings are used to secure shafts made from metal to barrels during play. Our selection includes springs, darts and rings.
Watch this video to gain more knowledge about the Mission F-Lock Pro Flight Punch. This tool is compact enough to fit easily in pockets, making an opening in a flight so an insert ring or spring can bind stem and flight for optimal gripping power.
Add-a-grams, as their name suggests, are small weights used to increase dart dimensions. They screw onto the rear barrel while their shaft connects directly with their interior in an add-agram.
With all these options at their disposal, players should use whatever suits them best when it comes to darts flight and airborne darts. Check out the darts accessory guides at this site.