Differences Between Soft Tip Darts and Steel Tip Darts

The difference between soft-tip darts and steel-tip darts lies in how the dart hits the board. The tip of steel-tip darts is made of tungsten, and the board is made of hemp. For soft-tip darts, both the tip and the board are made of plastic. Soft-tip darts typically use an electronic scoring system, which can be triggered by lightly touching the tip to the board. The tip of soft-tip darts is flexible, and generally, there is little interference between front and back darts.

 

 

To protect the dartboard from damage, the weight of soft-tip darts ranges from 16 to 18 grams. With the development of material technology, dartboards are becoming more durable, and there are darts weighing 18 to 20 grams, with tips made of removable plastic, which is safer. Steel-tip darts generally weigh 21 to 24 grams. Some personalized dart players may even use darts over 28 grams up to 30 grams. The tip is a non-removable steel tip or carbon fiber tip, but soft-tip darts can also be replaced with removable steel tips or can even be used as steel-tip darts. The dartboard for soft-tip darts is an electronic plastic board. The surface of the board has small holes, and the dart that hits the board mainly goes into a hole. The distance between the bullseye and the ground is 1.73 meters, and the throwing distance is 2.44 meters. The multiplier area is relatively large, and its width is almost equivalent to 1 to 1.5 knuckle lengths of a man (I haven't measured precisely, so I have to say this is an approximate value). Dartboards used for steel-tip darts are mostly made of agar and sisal materials. Sisal material from Africa is relatively durable and doesn't fall off easily. The width of the multiplier area is 8 mm, which is much smaller than the soft-tip version. To highlight the difference in form, the soft-tip cabinet machine comes with a screen and can automatically score. When you hit the target, there's a specific sound effect and animation, which is more dazzling and highly entertaining. Merchants can use them for operational profit. The scores displayed in the game should prevail. The center of the bullseye does not distinguish between inner and outer, so all count as 50 points. The dartboard used for steel-tip darts is just a hemp board, which needs to be scored manually. The multiplier area is small, so hitting high scores is more difficult. For example, if you throw out of line and chase the tail, it should be calculated as off-target. The center is divided into an inner and outer area. The inner center is 50, and the outer center is 25, which is much harder to throw than the soft-tip, and it tests the dart player's skill even more.

 

Dart players usually use durable tungsten steel or a small amount of titanium alloy materials (because titanium alloy materials are more expensive). Beginners generally use copper darts, which are lighter and won't break easily. But the quality is far from as good as tungsten steel and titanium alloys. The composite plastic technology used to make electronic dartboards has also improved and breaks less often. However, the combination of sisal material and grain-free technology for dartboards used for steel-tip darts is relatively resistant to damage.

 

For professionals, steel-tip dart tournaments are naturally more prestigious, because the PDC, the Darts Hall of Fame tournament, always takes place in the steel-tip category. The honors and prizes won by players are not comparable to those of soft-tip dart tournaments. But the importance of soft-tip darts as a national sport, the scale of the game, and the prize money are increasing year by year. The development momentum should not be underestimated.