In this blog post, we'll take a closer look at soft tip darts. The reason is simple. Especially with soft tip darts , the tip is the most important element of the dart. Tips often break due to improper impact with the board and thus need to be replaced quickly. Furthermore, rapid warping is a major problem that many e-dart players struggle with. We'd like to provide an overview of the different tips available for soft tip players and what you should consider when purchasing one. After all, there are many parameters that play a role in choosing the right tip—especially in relation to the rest of the dart.
What should you pay attention to when buying soft dart tips?
The first section will simply cover what to look for when purchasing soft tip darts. There are several general characteristics to consider. These include the length and thread size. Due to the different threads, not every tip will fit every barrel. This means that if you buy the wrong tip, you'll have to return the entire pack of tips or even throw them away. Therefore, pay close attention to the thread size of your soft tip darts to avoid this kind of situation.
The length is also important to consider. It's important to ensure that the length matches the flight characteristics of the darts. The tips of soft-tip darts, in particular, are often extremely fragile and prone to breaking. Therefore, watch your dart very closely. It's best to test beforehand, if possible, whether you need short or long tips. Essentially, with soft-tip darts, the dart only needs to land in the desired zone. Unlike with steel-tip darts, sticking isn't necessary. However, for the sake of the tips and the e-dartboard or machine, care should be taken to ensure that the darts land as gently as possible on the board.
Finally, the material remains a factor in the purchase. With soft darts, it's not necessary for the tips to be rock-hard. This wouldn't make sense anyway, as the darts wouldn't stick in the machine or on the wall. A healthy mix of elasticity and hardness will lead to success. This way, you can enjoy your soft points for a while and won't have to replace them every night because they break. Nevertheless, the soft darts will stay securely in the electronic dartboard.
What soft dart tips are there and what is the difference?
First, there's the short dart tip with a 2ba thread. These are the completely standard dart tips, the kind used for virtually every electronic dart in every bar. While they're less stable, they're extremely inexpensive. They're perfectly adequate for a casual player in a bar. A more ambitious player rarely uses these tips—partly because they constantly break or bend. High wear and tear should therefore definitely be taken into account. Furthermore, the tips are extremely short, which is something to pay extra attention to, especially with regard to the flight behavior of your darts.
The second option is the long dart tip with the same thread. The main difference here is basically the length of the soft points. These two different lengths can particularly affect the flight characteristics of the darts. So, match the tip to your darts—and not the other way around! With this tip, the dart will definitely stay firmly planted in the board.
The different thread sizes for dart tips
In this section, I'd like to take a closer look at the various thread sizes for soft tip darts. It's important to note that the 6 mm thread (2ba) is considered the standard thread size. These are the ones, as described above, that every amateur player typically uses in bars around the world.
In contrast, soft dart tips have an 8 mm (1/4) thread. This thread is a dying breed. In the past, this thread was generally used. However, these days, the thread is simply too narrow, as modern barrels often have a larger diameter and are somewhat heavier than they were a few years or even decades ago.
However, those who play with an extremely slim barrel can often use M3 dart tips. These feature an internal thread for extra-narrow barrels. The manufacturer M3 introduced these dart tips and adapted them to their own darts. The disadvantage is that this thread doesn't fit just any soft-dart barrel – no matter how narrow – but only the M3 barrel.
Longer tips often lead to more stable flight behavior
The major advantage of longer soft dart tips, which are preferred by experienced players, is that they often stabilize the flight behavior. This allows a player who occasionally makes technical errors in their throwing motion to compensate for them relatively easily. In other words: Longer tips mean that technical errors in the throwing motion are less noticeable because the flight behavior is more stable.
As already mentioned, beginners often use short tips. While darts with these tips are more sensitive to technical errors in the throwing motion, they generally stick better in the board. Especially when darts with short tips fall to the ground, which is still often the case even with beginners, these tips aren't quite as sensitive as long tips – logically, since a long tip is significantly less stable and can bend or even break off completely.
Conclusion: Find out for yourself which tip suits you best
Long story short. In the end, it's like so often with darts. Your throwing motion is what matters. In a blog post like this, we have to point out repeatedly that we can only make recommendations – knowing full well that these don't necessarily apply to every dart player. In darts, it's generally the case that your throwing style is often the deciding factor when choosing the right dartboard. So try it out for yourself. You'll notice relatively quickly whether long or short soft dart tips produce the desired results. There's no one-size-fits-all solution.
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