The popularity of darts has exploded in recent years with top level darts becoming more and more mainstream. Record prize money, record crowds along with record TV ratings have boosted the popularity of darts, helping it break out of its pub based origins and have a place in the public sporting consciousness.
From this increased darts awareness, there has been a marked increase in darts play by the casual player and a significant uptake of darts products and accessories, from the awesome to the more unusual.
There are plenty of accessories available to the darts fan however which accessories should you be spending your hard earned on to a) improve your darts game and b) improve your darts experience?
Below we go through 5 must have darts accessories to improve your game or for your home darts sanctuary.
Darts lights
If your budget allows it and you have plenty of room to set this up, why not purchase a quality set of darts lights and set your darts man/woman cave up like it’s the center stage of the PDC world championship?
Darts lights have come a long way in recent years and there is a solution for most budgets. For those on a very small budget you can use your current light (providing there is sufficient light) or at a basic level you can purchase a cheap spot light and set it up (either temporarily or permanently) to be shining on or close to your dartboard.
A simple clip-on spotlight can be purchased at most department stores or all lighting stores or from online stores such as Amazon. A basic spotlight with a suitable globe should set you back about £10 or $15. For those wanting to mount a dedicated light to shine on the dartboard, there are plenty of cheap options for this.
Alternatively if you want to go to another level with your lights game, you can look to purchase a set of designated dartboard lights such as the Winmau Plasma Dartboard Light 4300 or the Unicorn Solar Flare Lighting System.These light systems are very easy to set up and all you need to do to set these up is to attach the lights to your dartboard cabinet or the wall supporting your dartboard board and they run via a power cord so all you need is a power outlet close by or an extension cord. Importantly these dartboard lights don’t leave shadows on your board.
For those interested in dartboard lights at a lower price bracket, Target Darts offer a dartboard cabinet/lights combination, the Target Darts Arc Dartboard Cabinet Lighting System which is aimed for those at a lower price point but is a quality item for the price. As with the Unicorn and Winmau options above, this is also easy to set up; you only need a powerpoint or extension cord close by.
If you want to take your darts room lighting and dartboard set up to the ultimate level (and you have the budget), why not purchase the Winmau Pro-Zone Stage Set and hire a lighting expert to turn your darts room into something rivaling PDC center stage? By purchasing the Winmau Pro-Zone Stage Set and depending on the darts room environment, you could take a dreary board and room and turn it into a mini Aly Paly!
Video camera (or set up for the camera in your phone)
For those who have been playing darts for some time and are familiar with the basics, yet want to take your game to the next level, why not invest in a quality video camera and tripod to track all your darts throws?
Alternatively you can set up the video camera along with your darts lights set up above and create a mini amphitheater to mimic the stage of all the great darts and have your darts game broadcast on the television of your darts room for visitors to watch or to record for later viewing.
If your house and darts room is big enough you can set up several viewing areas and make it look like a mini Aly Paly and people watching on can do so in luxury away from the action (if you have say a bar area or pool table in your darts room) and watch the action through a television linked to the video camera.
You could also play live darts with a friend or relative in a remote location, playing each other ‘live’ with respective video cameras/tripods even though you aren’t playing on the same board in the same room.
A recommended video camera and tripod would be the Canon EOS R7 with Vanguard Alta Pro tripod.
You don’t have to fork out huge amounts to buy a specialist video camera if your budget is small or non-existent. You can easily set up your camera phone to film your darts exploits. If you are using the camera in your phone, there are plenty of tripods available such as the Benro Tablepod Pro Kit with Smartphone adapter tripod to help you set up your phone to capture all of your quality darts games.
Dartboard cabinet with scoreboard and book of games
At a basic level if you have enough room on your wall at home we recommend that your board is fastened securely to the wall, preferably housed in a darts cabinet or at worst with a dartboard wall protector set up behind your dartboard to stop any dart throws going into the wall.
Darts cabinets can be purchased from most darts stores or department stores that sell darts equipment and look for cabinets that have a chalk/non permanent eraser scoreboard inside to help you keep score. Like most products you get what you pay for and the cheaper lower quality wood cabinets are usually the cheapest but usually don’t last too long.
Quality darts cabinets that we recommend include those from popular darts equipment leaders Unicorn and Winmau; however providers such as Target Darts offer quality dartboard cabinets at a lower price bracket. If your budget allows it, reach out to a quality woodwork craftsman to build you a high quality dartboard cabinet.
Alternatively, if you are handy enough with woodworking, why not make your own dartboard cabinet? Invest in some quality wood and once finished it will be one of the top accessories in your house (particularly if set up with some darts lights as recommended above).
If you are relatively new to darts with a new dartboard and dartboard cabinet (with scoreboard), why not invest in a quality darts games book with a heap of darts games that you can play with friends and family? A recommended darts games book is 40 Easy Darts Games by Kerry Butters.
Darts holder with spare darts, flights and darts sharpener
When focusing on the larger items such as dartboard lights or dartboard cabinets it’s easy to forget some of the smaller things like additional or back up darts sets (either for you or for friends and relatives who will be playing with you) along with a quality darts holder.
Having a backup set for yourself is handy in the event that the stem of your main set of darts breaks or if you would prefer to have a lighter (or heavier) set of darts that you mainly use.
Also look to have plenty of back up darts flights as it’s very easy to go through a few sets in a session. Darts flights aren’t that expensive and having quality flights for every throw will improve the quality of your darts games.
Another accessory that you should have is a good darts sharpener. Darts can clip other darts, they can get blunted when hitting wires or if the floor that you are playing darts on is rather hard and can blunt stray darts it’s imperative that you own a quality darts sharpener and that you sharpen your darts quite regularly.
Options for a darts sharpener could be one that is attached to your keyring such as the Harrows Pro Dart Key Ring Sharpener or a basic stone sharpener such as the Tihood Darts Sharpening Sand Stone. There’s plenty of darts options on Amazon or Darts Corner.
Quality darts mat
A simple way to protect your floor (and darts) is to invest in a quality darts mat. Not only is your floor being protected with a quality mat, it also provides an easy way to determine the correct distance between the dart and your throwing line (or oche).
If you are looking to save money then an option is to visit a flooring store and see if they have any carpet offcuts that can be cut up into the correct distance between board and throwing line.
If your budget does allow a purchase of a quality darts mat then some of the popular darts brand options that we recommend include the Unicorn Striker or the Winmau XTreme dart mats. For those on a smaller budget, Amazon offers some good suggestions including the Target Darts World Champions Dart Mat.
For those who have a favorite football team you may be able to purchase a darts mat (or any other darts accessory) in the colors or name of your favorite team.
Having a quality darts set up with quality accessories doesn’t necessarily have to cost an arm and a leg, with savvy purchases (and maybe some good woodworking and lighting skills) you can turn your darts set up into something very professional.
This setup can be something decent to improve your darts or you can turn into the stage of your favorite darts tournament and have your darts room or man cave the talk of the neighborhood. Not only will you have plenty of friends, your game of darts should improve out of sight.