If you're new to darts and you're the market for a new dart, take a read of our dart buying guide.
Step 1: Steel Tip or Soft Tip
The Soft Tip game is generally less popular in NZ and soft tip darts are required for plastic or digital dartboards.
Steel Tips are the most popular and are used for a paper or bristle board.
Step 2: Brass or Tungsten?
If you’ve settled on steel tip, next you need to decide on the material that makes up the dart barrel.
Brass are much more affordable and are often popular with beginners. They are generally thicker and don’t allow for tight groupings on the dartboard.
Tungsten are more popular and also come in a range of budget. The higher the % of tungsten, the slimmer the dart barrel and higher the price. Beginners might start with a 70% tungsten dart and work their way up to 90 or 95% tungsten.
Step 3: Dart Grip
The dart grip is all about the grooves and cuts on the dart barrel. Some players prefer precision grip (with a rough surface) and others lean towards a more aggressive grip pattern. Many darts have a mixture of both within the one barrel.
Step 4: Dart Weight
Dart weights typically range from 18-40g with the most popular being 21-26g. Heavier darts are better suited to a more relaxed throw with slightly less accuracy and lighter darts are generally better suited to a dart player with more power in their throw. If you’re completely new to darts, 24g is probably a good place to start.