While brass is still used for inexpensive darts, such darts are large in diameter and the grip wears down quickly.

Tungsten is a very dense metal, also very durable.  Using tungsten to make a dart barrel results in a smaller dart for the same weight.  For anyone who plays darts often, the durability is important, as that helps retain the dart's precision-machined shape, grooves, and knurling.

Size is usually the first factor considered when choosing tungsten darts.  At about half the diameter of a similar weight brass dart, it is a lot easier to fit two or more tungsten darts into a double or triple area.

Think about the end of a cricket games, where you need to hit several bulls to finish.  An old-fashioned fat brass dart, the area is nearly covered by the first dart.  Switching to a slim tungsten dart barrel easily allows two or three darts to fit in the same area.  (Of course, you still have to be able to hit that bull!)

As with most products, tungsten darts are not all the same.  Raw tungsten does not melt easily, and is not readily made into machinable shapes.  Tungsten is generally ground into a fine powder, which is then blended with a variety of other metals that act as binding agents.  In the case of darts, the most common blends contain nickel, with smaller amounts of copper and ferrous compounds.  The mixture is heated and compressed to make a solid billet or bar, which can then be machined into darts barrels.

Very high percentages of tungsten, such as 98% tungsten darts, have a wonderful dense feel and a surface that resists wear for a long time.  However, the high concentration of tungsten powder also makes them brittle, and more prone to break if dropped on hard surface such as a concrete garage floor.  Very high density darts also are difficult to make, requiring special and expensive tooling to machine the barrels.

To get around those problems, most tungsten darts are now made of mixtures ranging from 70% to 95% tungsten.  Lower density barrels are much cheaper, as they are easier to manufacture with automated machinery  Low density darts also wear faster, from skin acid, friction, hitting other darts, falling on floors, etc.

The majority of steel-point darts used by competitive players in league and tournament play are now made of 90% Tungsten.  Soft-tip darts are commonly made of 80% tungsten, which is cheaper, less dense, and less brittle.  Soft-tip darts are prone to bounce out a lot, and electronic machines are often found in places with hard floors.  The softer 80% tungsten darts are less likely to break when constantly falling such hard floors.  As steel-point darts are more often played over carpeted areas, breakage is a little less of a problem.

Bristle dartboards for steel-point darts have a scoring are that is roughly 20% smaller than most soft-tip boards.  With smaller scoring areas on a bristle board, the thinner diameter of 90% or 95% tungsten darts makes sense for competitive steel-point darters.

Budget priced darts are generally made of 80% or 70% Tungsten.  Below 70%, most of the benefits of a tungsten dart are lost.  Darts made of 60% tungsten or less are very bulky, and have poor wear resistance.  The reason for making darts of 70% or less is to get the price down.. which generally means taking other shortcuts in the machining process that also result in a lesser quality dart.

Within each percentage range of tungsten darts, there is a wide range of quality.  Every company has its own special blend of metals that are combined to make the raw billets.  The best darts for competition are also the most expensive to make and the most difficult to machine.  Cheaper darts can be made by adjusting the blend by adding softer metals.  For instance, a bit more copper or iron may be added.  A "softer" blend means that cheaper cutting tools can be used, the tooling won't dull as quickly,  and the machinery can produce more darts in a given amount of time.

Different blends may also slightly change the appearance of the finished darts.  Some darts look shinier, others have a more grainy appearance.  Surface treatments during the manufacturing process can also make a great difference in the appearance of a new set of darts.  A wide variey of coatings are often applied to darts barrels, ranging from simple paint or powder-coating to high-tech vapor-deposit coatings such as Titanium Nitride.

What about the really cheap tungsten darts at the local "big-box" store?  Some darts advertised as "Tungsten" actually have very little tungsten content, even though at first glance they may look similar to a good quality dart.  The main giveaway is that these cheap imitation darts will be much larger in diameter & length, for the same weight as a high-quality dart.  And the price may be substantially cheaper than most other Tungsten darts.  Think in terms of buying gold jewelry at a flea market.. there would probably be little or no actual gold in that pretty bauble that sold for a super "bargain" price!

Some common sense rules are universal, no matter what the product. If a price looks too low to be real, then the darts are probably not any sort of a bargain.

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FLIGHT

Flights are key in the dart's aerodynamics! Different shapes and sizes are used depending on the dart's weight and the player's personal preference.

SHAFT
Shafts are connected to the dart barrel and hold the flight in place. Available in nylon and aluminum, and many sizes, styles and colors!

BARREL
Determining most of the dart's weight, Bottelsen's dart barrels are made from Tungsten, Super Alloy™ or Brass, available in many different styles and weights.

POINT
Points are available in Hammer Head® No Bounce Darts™ Movable steel tip, Fixed Point Steel Tip, and Soft Tip points!

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Dartboards are to be hung where the center of the board is 5ft 8in (173 cm) high.  strongly recommending that you hang it on a backboard, or any other type of backing, to help protect your walls. Four holes in the wall is better than hundreds of little holes. The line, or oche, should be 7ft 9.25in (2.37 meters) from the face of the board measured horizontally (if you want to measure it from the bullseye down to the floor, it is 9ft 7 3/8in).

The only thing you need to do to the dartboard after it is hung, is to rotate it. This will only work if your dartboard has the removable metal ring with the numbers on it. If the numbers are painted on the board, you will not be able to rotate it. Rotating the board will make it last longer. There has been a rumor going around for years that you should spray water on your board. DO NOT, DO NOT spray any types of liquids on a bristle board. It will ruin your board. The surface of the board begins to 'bubble' and fall apart.

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Other than the proverbial "How high do I hang my dartboard?" question, the ones that come in tied for second are "What dart should I buy?" and "What is the difference between dart 'A' and dart 'B'?" Considering I'm still getting question number one and I've had that information posted at this site for a very long time, I know this will not eliminate the second question altogether, but should cut down on the amount of them. I was going to split this page up into two parts, soft & steel, until this little light went off and I realized the only difference between the two are the points and weights. So one page it is and it has been divided into the following sections:

What Darts are Constructed of

With the exception of wooden darts, both soft and steel-tip darts are made of the same materials. The major differences that will be discussed between them are weight and cost.

Wooden Darts

You don't see these around very often but they are a lot of fun to throw with. They are made of lightweight wood shaft with turkey feather flights (no parts to replace). I have four sets I ordered from Al's American Darts for use with their wooden dartboard. They weigh around 12 grams so they really aren't that much lighter than electronic darts. They work just fine with any bristle board.
 
Brass Darts
 
Brass is the lightest of the three metallic darts listed here. It is a soft alloy (copper & zinc) which makes it easy to for manufacturers to shape and work with.
 
Nickel-Silver Darts

Nickel-silver is yet another light dart that is an alloy consisting of nickel, copper and zinc. Like brass, it is easy for manufacturers to shape and work with.

Tungsten Darts

Tungsten, unlike brass and nickel-silver, is a very heavy and dense metal. It is usually mixed with nickel so you will see on a package something like 80-20 (80% tungsten/20% nickel). It is harder to work with but will last longer than the other two (especially the knurling). On average, a 20 gram tungsten dart will be ½ the size of a 20 gram brass dart which will allow for tighter groupings on the board. This is the reason most of the really good throwers use tungsten darts but if you're just starting out, you won't be throwing tight groupings anyway, regardless of the dart you're using.

Weights

First let's look at the legal weights for darts.

Steel-tip darts can weigh up to 50 grams, though you will have a very difficult time locating very many varieties above 30 grams. Most people throw darts that weigh between 20-25 grams.

Soft-tip darts are a different story, you will need to check with your local leagues for the weight requirements. At the time of this posting, 16 grams darts seem to be a safe bet no matter where you are throwing. You can get a heavier soft-tip dart, but some leagues and tournaments may ban them due to the construction or restraints of the machines that are being used. An opponent can challenge the weight of your dart if they feel it is too heavy.

Recommendation: If you're throwing soft-tip darts, go to the 14-16 gram varieties to play it safe. If you're just starting in steel-tip darts and do not have the ability to try out different weights to see what you like, I would start off with a 21-22 gram dart.

Points

Steel-tip: You have two options, fixed-point or moveable-point.

    Fixed-point: This is where the point is solidly fixed into the dart, it does not move. This is the most common type of dart you will see.
    Moveable-point: Guess what, these point's move! There are a number of different varieties on the market, but the theme behind them all is the same, "Help decrease the chance for a bounce-out". When you throw the dart, you want the point to be fully extended. The hope is that if you hit a wire, the back-end (or barrel) will then move forward and force the point into the boards as opposed to letting the dart bounce off the wire and fall to the floor.

Recommendation: When I first started throwing back in the mid to late 80s, the boards were made differently. They had big round wires and lots of staples, especially those big ugly ones holding in the double-bull. Moveable-point darts were definitely the way to go. Now, things have changed a lot, board manufacturers have redesigned the boards themselves. Now you have staple-less boards (including staple-less bulls), diamond shaped wires, and even boards whose wires are completely embedded (can you say " The Bandit Board?"). If you are always throwing on real hard boards, or older type boards that don't have all the nice features, moveable points may be for you. If, like me, you're lucky enough to only throw on the higher quality dartboards, then they may not be worth the extra money. They do have one main advantage over fixed point darts and that's the ease of replacing the points when they are worn or damaged. Well, there's my two cents worth! :-)

Soft-tip: Now, unlike steel-tip, the difference is in the width of the opening of the barrel, not the action of the point. Your two choices here are ¼" and 2ba.

    ¼": This is definitely the wider of the two choices. Though I do not know this for a fact (do you), I suspect this was the first size that came out with soft-tip darts.
    2ba: Much narrower and much more common. It's been my experience that if you walk into a pub with soft-tip machines, you are more likely to find a box or bowl of 2ba replacement tips than you are of the ¼" variety.

Recommendation: Unless you just love the set of darts you are using that has ¼" points and you can not find a set that uses 2ba points, I would just stick with the 2ba darts. They are much more common which makes finding someone with a spare point or two in the middle of a match easier should you run out. Note, if you like hammerhead steel-tip points, they will normally screw into most soft-tip 2ba darts.

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