Soft Tip Boards and Darts

A relatively new type of board is the soft tip board, which is made of plastic and cast with small holes (about .08 inches, or 2mm) in the face. The soft tip darts are, in general, lighter than the steel tipped darts, and have a lower maximum allowable weight. They have semi-rigid tapered plastic tips that will penetrate the holes cast in the board to a depth of about .25 inches (6 mm) before lodging securely in place. The darts may be removed from the board by a gentle twist and pull. While still dangerous, soft tip darts are less likely to cause serious injury if they hit a person, and are far less likely to damage items the hit if they bounce out of the board. Since the plastic tips are prone to chip, bend and break with use, even inexpensive soft tip darts are made with replaceable tips, and replacement tips are sold in quantity.

Other than the difference in maximum allowable weights of darts, soft tip dart rules are the same as those for steel tip darts. One advantage of the soft tip dart for the recreational player is the availability of electronic boards that will detect and score each dart hit, and track the score of each player. Many of these electronic dart boards have dozens of different dart games and variations programmed in, and will even coach players about where their next throw should be aimed.