Steel tip darts have been around forever, what are the differences between them and soft tip darts.
The name steel tip darts has only recently been coined since the advent of the soft tip darts. Previous to the soft tip revolution, all darts were steel tipped and were simply called darts. But now there are two types of dart game, the traditional game played on Bristle dart boards with the old steel tip darts and the new electronic game that uses soft tip darts and electronic dart boards.
As the name suggests the tips of steel tip darts are steel with a sharpened point so they can stick into sisal or paper or even a wooden dart board. The steel tip has had some innovations over the years, like the Bottelsen No Bounce out darts that had the trademark Hammerhead system in the grip whereby the tip can retract slightly into the body of the dart absorbing the sharp impact if a dart hit the wire or staple on the dartboard allowing the forward momentum to push the dart past the obstacle and stick into the board.
Black widow darts had a similar system called a movable point that also had the added advantage of allowing the body of the dart to swivel around the tip achieving the same effect as spinning shafts i.e. if a dart hits the flight of a "widow" dart that is in the dart board, the barrel can rotate so moving the flight and that reduces the deflection of the dart coming into the board.
Another step forward for darts is the metal used to make the darts today. Tungsten has all but taken over as the material of choice for the body of the dart, with its superior density to traditional brass, the same weight of dart can be made much thinner, increasing the chances of getting three in a bed and that 180 score.
The tips are obviously different for the two types of dart, but the other parts like the shaft, flights etc are the same. The other big difference is the weight. Steel tip darts can go up to 50 gm, but are normally in the 18 - 28 gm range, but soft tip darts only go to 20 gm to protect the delicate electronics.
As for maintenance of your steel tips, be sure to keep the point sharp, either by rubbing the tip on some grinding paper or using the shaped carborundum stone you can get specifically to keep steel tips sharp. If you are really flash, you can get battery-operated sharpeners that can do it for you, guaranteeing the correct angle to your point as well.
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