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Darts these days are mostly made of tungsten, a very dense metal Indeed the common 80 % tungsten darts are roughly twice as dense as the old brass darts. So the tungsten darts can be made with half the diameter of the equivalent weight brass darts. This means the darts can fit closer together on the board, increasing the chance of large scores if you are good enough to get tight clusters. (Mind you the first time I scored a 180 it was with big bulky brass darts, so it could be done)
Tungsten, which means heavy stone in Swedish apparently, is a remarkable metal with the highest melting point of any metal at 3000 degrees C or so. The reason you don't get 100% tungsten darts is because pure tungsten is a very brittle metal and is commonly mixed with nickel to make the dart less brittle and easier to manufacture. The highest percentage achieved so far is 90% tungsten darts, which are very expensive. The 80% darts should be good enough for anyone, even the pros.
The barrel of the dart has the all-important grip, which can be just grooves along the barrel or grooves and a knurled pattern to give extra grip, or even the new "edge grip" Choose a grip to suit you, and remember to grip each dart the same way each time you throw, to get good consistency of dart throwing.
The tip of the dart can be a fixed steel point, in which case it can only be used on bristle boards or the new Bristletech dart boards from Halex, or it can be a soft tip which is a plastic screw in tip that can be replaced. More and more darts are coming out with 2BA screw threads on both ends of the barrel so you can put soft tip or steel tip or even the steel tip retractable on the end of the barrel. One point to note here is that usually the maximum weight of dart allowed on electronic dart boards is 20 gram, so if you want your darts to be used on all type of boards, do not go over 20 gms for your dart barrel.
Next comes the shaft to hold the flights, it should be light to keep the weight of the dart forward and are made from plastic, aluminium, steel wire or even titanium! The only thing to worry about with the shafts is that they are straight and undamaged so the flights are held in place properly. The latest innovation is spinning shafts, which are designed to rotate out of the way to minimise the deflection of the dart when it hits a flight. This seems a great idea to me, it helps to protect the flight as well.
That just leaves the flights, which come in loads of amazing designs and materials. The shapes include the classic "kite" design, which are relatively large to the pear drop and all stages in between. Ensure you use the same style of flight on all 3 darts and keep them spread so that there is a 90 degree angle between the four flight pieces to aid in consistency of your throw. Also use flight protectors, not only do they protect your flight; they help keep the shape of the flight as well.
So to sum up, get yourself some tungsten darts, the average weight is 18 20 grams. If you want to go heavier, remember the heaviest weight allowed on most electronic dart boards is 20 grams. (You can have up to 50-gram darts on Bristle boards) Nylon shafts are ok to use, spinner shafts are a good idea as well and use the kite style flight if a beginner and always use flight protectors. If you have steel tip darts keep the point sharp for easy entry into the dart board. A simple strip of grinding paper will do. For soft tip darts take along plenty of spares and your dart tool.
