Darts Gear: Dartboards, Darts, Flights, Surrounds and Lighting

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Every darts player remembers the upgrade: from the cardboard-backed board that came with a kit to a real sisal board that swallows the darts, from house darts with bent flights to your own set in a little wallet that goes everywhere with you. Good darts gear doesn’t have to cost much, but the right board, the right weight of dart, decent light and a protected wall make every practice session better. Here’s the full darts equipment list: bristle and electronic dartboards, darts by weight and barrel, flights and shafts, surrounds and mats, lighting, and the recovery gear for long tournament days.

Prices change often. The prices below are what we saw on Amazon in October 2026; check the current price before you buy.

Our top picks

Dartboards: bristle vs electronic

A bristle board is made of compressed sisal fibers that close up after each dart; it’s what steel-tip players use, and the WDF requires sisal bristle boards for its events, about 451 mm (17¾ in) across with 20 at the top. Things to compare: how thin the wires are (thinner wire means fewer bounce-outs and more scoring area), a staple-free bull, and a number ring you can rotate so the board wears evenly. The Winmau Blade 6 is built to PDC tournament specification and comes in Single, Dual and Triple Core versions; the Unicorn Eclipse Pro is PDC-endorsed with wire the maker says is 30% thinner than conventional round wire; and the Winmau Diamond Plus is the budget pick with a staple-free bull.

An electronic board has thousands of small holes, takes plastic-tip darts and scores for you. It’s the board of US bar leagues (the NDA standard is a 15.5-inch target), quieter on walls, and easier for families. The Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 has 40 games and LED scoring for up to 8 players; the cheaper Cricket Pro 450 has 31 games and suggests checkouts. The Gran Board 3s connects by Bluetooth to an app for ’01, cricket and practice games against the computer or online. Whichever board you pick, hang it with the bull at 5 ft 8 in; see our darts rules for distances.

Darts by weight and barrel

• Weight limits: steel-tip darts can weigh up to 50 grams and be 30.5 cm long under WDF rules (40 grams and 200 mm under DRA rules for PDC events). Soft-tip darts can’t exceed 20 grams complete or 8 inches under NDA rules.
• Choosing a weight: there’s no correct weight; it’s feel. Steel-tip sets are commonly sold from about 21 to 26 grams, and many soft-tip sets weigh around 16 grams. If you can, try a few at a darts shop or a friend’s board.
• Barrel material: brass barrels are cheap and fatter for their weight; tungsten (sold as 80% or 90%) is denser, so the same weight is slimmer, which makers say helps darts group tightly. Many players move to tungsten once they’re hooked.
• Barrel shape and grip: straight or torpedo shapes, with rings, grooves or knurling for grip. Pick what feels the same every throw.

Good starter sets: the Target Luke Littler 80% tungsten darts (21, 22 or 23 grams, with nine shafts and nine flights), the Target Artemis tungsten darts (21 to 26 grams, a straight grooved barrel), the Viper Astro 80% tungsten soft-tip darts with a hard case and spares, and the inexpensive Viper Black Ice brass soft-tip darts at 16 grams.

Flights and shafts

Flights (the “wings”) and shafts (or stems) are the cheap parts you’ll replace most. Shaft length and flight shape change how a dart flies and lands, so small changes are worth experimenting with once your throw is steady. Most screw into the barrel with a standard 2BA thread. The Target Pro Grip shafts come as nine shafts in short, intermediate and medium lengths, and a multipack of flights such as Target Pro Ultra flights (15 flights, No. 2 standard shape) means a split flight never ends your night. In NDA soft-tip play, flights may be no wider than ¾ inch from the shaft and have no more than four wings.

Surrounds, mats and throw lines

A surround is a foam ring around a bristle board that catches misses, saves your wall and saves your dart points. The Winmau Xtreme surround is a classic; the Viper Defender III is a larger 45 x 32 inch, 1-inch EVA foam backboard that snaps together without drilling. A dart mat protects the floor from bounce-outs and marks the oche: the Target Darts mat shows both the steel-tip and soft-tip throw lines, and the heavier Winmau Xtreme dart mat is thick PVC. If you’d rather not have a mat, a stick-on Viper throw line marker is about $11.

Lighting

Shadows from a ceiling light hide wires and make darts look like they landed somewhere else. WDF tournaments require at least 1,600 lumens on each board, with the light screened from the player’s eyes; PDC events under DRA rules call for an 11–13 watt LED (or equivalent) per floor board. At home, a light that mounts on the board or surround solves it: the Winmau Polaris attaches magnetically and spreads light over 120 degrees, and the Accudart Vortex is an LED surround that lights the board from all the way around.

Recovery gear for the darts bag

Darts is easy on the body, but a long tournament day means hours standing and hundreds of throws. Many players carry a small massage gun like the Theragun Mini for a tight forearm or shoulder (see our massage gun guide), slip into the OOFOS OOahh Slide or other recovery shoes after the last match, and keep a water bottle at the table. These are comfort tools, not treatment; if your throwing arm hurts for more than a few days, see a sports medicine doctor or physical therapist. More on our darts recovery page and in our recovery tools guide.

How to choose darts gear

• Match your league. Soft-tip league? Get an electronic board and soft-tip darts. Steel-tip or watching the PDC? Get a bristle board.
• Spend on the board first, then on darts. A good sisal board lasts years if you rotate it.
• Try weights before you buy expensive tungsten; feel matters more than the number.
• Protect the room: surround, mat or line marker, and a lane nobody walks through.
• Fix the light before you blame your throw.
• Keep spares: flights, shafts and, for soft-tip, tips. Throw away broken tips.

Back to the darts hub, or read youth darts for kid-friendly setups and darts leagues to find a team. Compare with our soccer gear list.

Darts gear questions

What equipment do you need to play darts?

A dartboard, a set of three darts, a way to mark the throw line, and good light. A surround and a mat protect your wall and floor.

What weight darts should a beginner use?

There’s no right answer: try a few. Many steel-tip sets are sold from about 21 to 26 grams and many soft-tip sets around 16 grams. The limits are 50 grams (WDF) or 40 grams (DRA) for steel-tip and 20 grams (NDA) for soft-tip.

Is a bristle or electronic dartboard better?

Neither; they’re for different games. Bristle boards are for steel-tip darts and pro-style play; electronic boards take soft-tip darts, keep score and suit families and soft-tip leagues.

Can you use steel-tip darts on an electronic board?

No. Electronic boards are made for plastic tips, and NDA rules allow only plastic-tip darts. Use steel tips only on a bristle board.

How often should you rotate a dartboard?

Makers don’t give one schedule. Boards with a removable number ring, like the Blade 6 and Eclipse Pro, are designed to be rotated so the 20 and other busy areas wear evenly; turn it whenever the 20 starts to look worn.