Yes, you can convert darts from soft tip to steel tip. Soft tip darts always have removable tips because they are made of plastic and often break.
To convert steel tip darts to soft tip, you must have a removable tip which is not always standard in steel tip darts as they rarely break. One way is to choose a heavier set of sof tip darts and then change out the tips to steel tips.
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Why Are Soft Tip Darts Lighter?
Soft tip darts are lighter because the electronic dartboards that they are designed for are more delicate and prone to breaking than bristle dartboards. Soft tip boards have lots of sensors behind the board and if a dart is too heavy, it’s much more likely to break a sensor.
The tips are usually made of some sort of plastic which by comparison is lighter than steel tips. Soft tip darts are more prone to the tips breaking so they are removable as standard and can replace easily. This is not always the case for steel tip darts.
Pros of Converting Your Darts
There are 3 main pros to converting your darts and they are as follows:
- You only need one set of darts
- You will always have the right set on you if you are out and about
- You can convert a favourite set
Having just one set of darts may be an advantage for people and keep costs down particularly if you have more expensive darts.
When you are out socializing and a darts opportunity presents itself you can have a set of convertible EDC (or everyday carry) darts that will serve you no matter the type of darts game is on offer. The ‘survival kit’ of darts if you like.
There might be a particular set of darts that you’ve spent considerable investment in and want to keep that same experience playing steel tip darts.
Check out our article on Best 5 Cheap Electronic Soft Tip Dartboards.
Cons of Converting Your Darts
Here are the cons of converting soft tip darts to steel tip:
- They will weigh more
- The dart will move differently
- Your throw will have to be different
- They can be fiddly to change
- It takes time to convert tips
- The darts may still be very light for bristle boards
Yes, unfortunately, there are quite a few cons to converting your darts. A steel tip will add several grams to your dart and although this may seem small, it greatly affects the way the dart flies. Although you’ll be keeping the same feel of the dart barrel etc, adding to its weight affects how it feels to throw.
This means to achieve the same results, you’ll have to adjust your throw.
In addition, changing all the tips can be time-consuming and fiddly. Of course, the more you do it, the more the thread will degrade and you may end up constantly having to tighten your tips. The other downside is you may find the darts are just a bit light for playing on a bristle board.
You’ll know this immediately if you have a lot of bounce-outs.
Our Advice
Buy two separate types of darts that you like for each type of game.
We find that the two games are so different due to the feel of the darts that you will save a lot of time and even have more success if you use separate darts for each type of darts game.
The other thing to keep in mind is that soft tip darts are weighed differently from steel tips. Steel tip darts weights are the barrel and tip only. Whereas soft tip darts usually measure the whole dart (including the stem and flight). However, there are some exceptions with soft tip darts who measure the barrel only – if they do this it should say on the packet.
Confused much? A simpler solution is to get a set of darts particular to the type of games you are playing and don’t interchange them. Or find a dartboard to play on that can take either type of darts.
Regardless of which route you decide is better, you’ll have to adjust your throw either way. If your intention is to really improve your game and work on it in a competitive arena, we recommend sticking solely to that type of darts. The less disruption you have to your throw style as you are trying to perfect it, the better.
Hopefully, by following our advice you’ll find a good solution for your game. You might also like our article on Best Replacement Steel Tips for Darts.
Sue has been playing darts since her 20’s when she played in weekly tournaments and she enjoys writing about darts. She’s also a great teacher, and she enjoys helping others learn how to play the game well. When Sue isn’t throwing darts, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
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