If you are new to the sport of darts then you will be pleased to know there is an ever-increasing amount of darting accessories on the market. Besides darts, flights, stems, and dart boards which have been covered on this website the accessories items are now a massive area for the dart manufacturers. I have listed only a few but a visit to any dart supplies website or manufacturer you will find a vast number of products and product variation available to you.
These items have a couple of functions. The Cabinets tend to have scoreboards inside each leaf-door so ideal if you don’t have a separate scoreboard. They also house the board away when not in use.
Dartboard surrounds come in a few forms. They are made from either a soft rubber, coated foam or plastic. They are designed in the main to protect your wall area from a wide dart throw. The rubber will allow the dart to penetrate and it will selfheal.
My preference is the surround, not that I personally miss the board, however, I have seen many others that have. The surround protects not only the wall but also protects the dart point. A dart hitting a wall a few times will soon blunt it.
When you buy a set of darts, they usually come with a basic plastic case to keep them in however they have little storage for accessory items.
Any dart player needs somewhere to store spare flight shafts, grip wax, chalk and even spare darts! Yes, a professional dart player will have a spare set of darts just in case the unforeseen happens i.e. breaking a point, snapping a shaft that leaves a small part in the barrel, which can be hard to remove or just the loss of a dart that falls from the stage. You name it has happened at some point.
A good case will last a few years and well worth purchasing. There are loads on the market to choose from and you will be sure to find one that suits you.
It is essential that you have the correct oche! And there are many things available on the market to help you achieve this.
Dart Mats are available from most dart suppliers. They come is a couple of formats, heavy duty rubber and soft carpet-like. Mats usually have several oche lines marked on the not just the official throw length for a standard dartboard. These are ideal not only for an oche marker but they help keep your carpet in good condition from the endless treks to retrieve your darts.
In addition to dart mats, you can now purchase a raised oche. The raise oche marked with a centre line to help your positioning. Raised oches are the preferred by all players as there is no chance of overstepping the mark.
Laser technology! If you don’t want a mat, a raised oche or a mark permanently on your floor you can now purchase a laser oche. The Laser is placed on the wall above the dartboard and beams a laser oche line on your floor.
If scoring is an issue you may wish to purchase an electronic scorer. These scorers are ideal for clubs and pubs as there is little need for a chalkboard but be warned most if not all leagues insist on chalking so that the previous scores are clearly shown so if a mistake is made it can be seen and corrected. Some scorers will show a list of previous scores but these are not shown above.
If you are a regular tournament player or just want a portable dartboard and stand you can now purchase these from the top manufacturers. They fold down easy into a bag so you can erect them in a hotel room to get in some Practice. You can of course just use this set up in your home and pack the dart equipment away when not in use.
Darts over recent years has seen an influx of accessory items designed to help improve your darting performance.
Grip wax is designed to help grip the dart and works well when on stage and you are hot. Any moisture on the fingers can mean the dart is released prematurely. Grip wax helps prevent this from happening. Some players use wax as shown while other prefer chalk.
Dart point sharpeners are a handy thing to have amongst your accessories however personally I prefer a large sharpening stone, not the mini pocket sharpener as shown.
Trident point defectors are designed to go over your dart point. They are pushed to the base of the point adjacent to your dart barrel. The defectors help the dart violently deflecting off another dart and either falling to the ground or deflecting sharply into the wrong area of the board. These areas a personal choice accessory, some players don’t use them and some players use dart points that have the deflector built-in.
Mini rubber ‘O’ Rings are essential if you play with aluminium or steel shafts. Metal shafts will constantly undo if they are not fixed with an ‘O’ Ring of a rubber glue. Rubber fixing glues are available from some dart suppliers.
Spare Soft-tips, you will need these if you play soft-tip darts. They come in a few sizes small med and large again personal preference.
Flight guards are used at the end of the flight. They help prevent the flight splitting if another dart hits it. They also help keep the flight square ensuring the flight is in perfect performance mode. The downside they add a little weight to the rear of the dart that some people don’t like.
Probably one of the most expensive accessory items you can buy but well worth the outlay if you are a serious dart player. They come in a few forms however personally I think this one of the best.
Visitors who viewed the older version of Darts501 may have seen my page on how to change dart points. I showed a few ways using household tools, a rivet gun, similar to the Unicorn point puller and the point puller illustrated here. In this revised website, I have removed the house hold tools and have just concentrated on the Dart Point Puller.
If you feel the price is a little too much to bare and play in a team then you could always by one between you or look online for a supplier that will undertake the task for you.
If you want to see how to change your dart point click on the link button below.
How to Change Dart Points