Soft tip dart board recs???

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Hey fellas. Thinking about getting a soft tip dart board for the kids new play room/game room downstairs. I've not had one since I was a kid and the darts bounced off a lot. Anyone know of any secrets to this or getting the right tips or the best board or whatever to make this a success and not something I just wish I hadn't done? Really appreciate any help here.

 

[LuvDog]

Skip it until they can use real steel tips. Get some other game for them. The arcade1up games are neat.
Also foosball is a good option

 

[hlee]

We had a “soft tip” board when I was a kid. The tips were relatively hard plastic. The board had prepunched holes. The darts rarely bounced off the board, unless you threw one that hit sideways. But, the tips bent fairly easily, and broke somewhat commonly. And, you can most certainly sink one into standard home drywall…

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Skip it until they can use real steel tips. Get some other game for them. The arcade1up games are neat.
Also foosball is a good option

Yeah that's probably the best advice right there. The boy got some dollar store one that doesn't work at all but it got him all about the idea of it. Not sure I can move away from it but I'm going to try and do just what you said and go to fooseball

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

We had a “soft tip” board when I was a kid. The tips were relatively hard plastic. The board had prepunched holes. The darts rarely bounced off the board, unless you threw one that hit sideways. But, the tips bent fairly easily, and broke somewhat commonly. And, you can most certainly sink one into standard home drywall…

That was my experience too. I had planned to put a plywood backer up to mount the board on that's finish grade and make it look nice with some trim. I have a full shop so no biggie to do at my house, but I definitely don't want to do it for something that won't work... with the younger one being 2-1/2, it's just not a good idea to have the metal darts at this time so Foosball may be my best bet for now if I can get him off this dart board kick

 

[LuvDog]

What I did when my son was about that young was get some firm rubber throwing stars. Then I framed a 4 foot by 4 foot foam board. Basically floral foam. He had a ball with that.

 

[OldSalty2]

Soft tip dart leagues were huge here years ago. Bars competing for your services was a lot of fun.

Soft tips have came a long ways and the high quality boards and darts are not cheap and work very well.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Soft tip dart leagues were huge here years ago. Bars competing for your services was a lot of fun.

Soft tips have came a long ways and the high quality boards and darts are not cheap and work very well.

How much does a true high quality one cost? I've seen em for 50-$100 or so but if there was one that worked I'd spend more

 

[theLBC]

played in bars back when they were more popular and decent darts don't bounce off very often (and may still score)

Best Soft Tip Dartboards (Complete Guide for 2022) - DartsGuide

It does not take much to find out that there is a huge selection of different soft tip dartboards. And choosing the best soft tip dartboard can be a tricky

dartsguide.net

 

[Im2bent]

Jesus Christ you faggots were probably afraid of real lawn darts too. I can verify a steel tip will stick in your friends neck but it will not kill him. Of course I did not hit the jugular.......

 

[OldSalty2]

How much does a true high quality one cost? I've seen em for 50-$100 or so but if there was one that worked I'd spend more

TBh a 250 to 500 higher quality Aracnid or Spider branded board would do well for kids...

But if you get up into commecial boards you can get close to 10k pretty quick.

You could also go used commercial but as with anything, always a risk.

 

[OldSalty2]

played in bars back when they were more popular and decent darts don't bounce off very often (and may still score)

Best Soft Tip Dartboards (Complete Guide for 2022) - DartsGuide

It does not take much to find out that there is a huge selection of different soft tip dartboards. And choosing the best soft tip dartboard can be a tricky

dartsguide.net

I played competitively for a few years lots of awards and such lol. Won and hustled some decent money too.

Like steel tip, the quality of dart makes a huge difference. More weight, better balance, better flights etc.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

TBh a 250 to 500 higher quality Aracnid or Spider branded board would do well for kids...

But if you get up into commecial boards you can get close to 10k pretty quick.

You could also go used commercial but as with anything, always a risk.

Oh no I definitely am not ever going to be into darts so this is just family fun. Thr arachnid boards seems pretty reasonable though. For $250 or so you can get a pretty good set up that would be fine for us.

It seems the tips are the most important aspect of the darts sticking and having few bounce offs though. Is that the consensus here for yall that know about these things?

Tips are most important and arachnid board 600 or higher is good to go???

 

[OldSalty2]

Dart weight makes the biggest difference IMO. Tips are important too, some are more flexible while others are stiffer but more brittle and break easier.

The darts that come with boards are typically super light and very low quality. A decent set of darts will cost 20-50 bucks or so. Although they can also get into the 100s of dollars just like anything...

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

I knew the Hide could advise me on this. Really I appreciate it guys.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Forget the dart board altogether. Too dangerous.
Get them a set of lawn darts.

 

[theLBC]

Oh no I definitely am not ever going to be into darts so this is just family fun. Thr arachnid boards seems pretty reasonable though. For $250 or so you can get a pretty good set up that would be fine for us.

It seems the tips are the most important aspect of the darts sticking and having few bounce offs though. Is that the consensus here for yall that know about these things?

Tips are most important and arachnid board 600 or higher is good to go???

you can get bags of tips and replace them when needed. same with flights that get messed up.
i knew a guy that could beat most people with the cheap plastic bar darts that were never even straight anymore

 

[Hookturnr]

+1 on a the Arachnid boards. Look into some decent 16-18gm darts (mid length) at AZ Darts.
You can get all the accessories from them as well. Buy tips by the 100 and consider them disposable. Buy flights n shafts by the dozen.

The key with soft tip once you have a good board is to maintain the equipment. Pull the broken tips out of the board on the regular, etc.

I may or may not have played that game once..