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A better way to mark darts other than Sharpie?


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#1 Mr Hands

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Posted 26 October 2012 - 08:25 PM

So my nerf group and I are findning that Sharpie rubs off pretty easily on darts (even when written on the rubber tips). I can see it fade quickly over a few a week as my nerf group starts using them. I'm thinking I need to start investing in some alternative and more permanent solutions to mark our respective darts. Have any of you ran across a solution that works? I've just ordered an industrial strength sharpie, and I'm hoping that this will work. http://tinyurl.com/9ftzk9h
I've also heard that you can try using solvent-resistant wax markers, but I'm skeptical as to whether or not it will work. What are your preferred solutions for marking your darts permanently?
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#2 Phoenix66

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Posted 26 October 2012 - 09:12 PM

On this forum, there are mainly two kinds of Nerfers. (Correct me if I'm wrong here)
You have some people that go to NIC wars with homemade darts, and a group that does HVZ style gameplay. (Ok, there may be a few other kinds, but those are the main two)
HVZrs mainly use stock darts. They write there names on them, and lose most of them in Missions so it doesn't really matter they last a few weeks. (They restock every event they have)
With us NIC war attenders, we all use different kinds of foam and pads. I have never been to a war where two people used the exact same dart style.
I use beige foam with green or white felt tips, and I usually put a "X" on the bottom of my darts, so at the end of the day when we do a dart sweep and get as many darts as we can. We then sort through them and everybody get his/her darts back based on certain types of foam. So it really isn't essential that we have marks that last weeks at a time, because we restock almost every war, because of dart loss in fields, and college campus's.
The industrial sharpie's you ordered seem like they may last a good bit, but still, probably not forever. I would suggest spraying, (Or dipping) The heads of your darts in some sort of clear sealant to keep the sharpie mark protected. (Not the foam, or it will effect the dart in ways you don't want it to)
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#3 Daniel Beaver

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Posted 26 October 2012 - 10:37 PM

Put them in a shallow box, spray paint the ends.
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#4 Siriuslyharry

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 01:18 PM

A quick way would be to take an inkpad (like you would use for a rubber stamp) and use it to color the bottom of your darts. The ink should stain to foam well, and you can mark a dart in about a second.

Off topic, your username reminds me of the Holocaust. Change that shit.
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#5 Crater

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Posted 28 October 2012 - 07:25 PM

I would suggest spraying, (Or dipping) The heads of your darts in some sort of clear sealant to keep the sharpie mark protected. (Not the foam, or it will effect the dart in ways you don't want it to)

Torukmakto4 on the HvZ forums suggests coating the heads with CA glue (superglue). He does it primarily to reduce friction, but he says it will help seal the Sharpie ink as well. Here's his technique.

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Don't use crazy formatting and tiny size tags. It is unreadable and we also don't care about your side thoughts.

Edited by Zorn's Lemma, 28 October 2012 - 09:26 PM.

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#6 Draconis

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Posted 29 October 2012 - 02:07 AM

A quick way would be to take an inkpad (like you would use for a rubber stamp) and use it to color the bottom of your darts. The ink should stain to foam well, and you can mark a dart in about a second.


Sorry, but without heat, the ink won't stick any better than the sharpie. With enough heat... You have a shriveled mass of useless plastic.

Off topic, your username reminds me of the Holocaust. Change that shit.


To whom are you referring? Because if it is the moderator I think you mean... You may want to remove that.

Torukmakto4 on the HvZ forums suggests coating the heads with CA glue (superglue). He does it primarily to reduce friction, but he says it will help seal the Sharpie ink as well. Here's his technique.


Coating the heads of darts in hard, brittle plastic is just the kind of idea I would expect from that guy. A bad one. All it will realistically do is increase the likelihood of hurting someone with broken plastic tipped darts.

Edited by Draconis, 29 October 2012 - 02:09 AM.

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#7 Siriuslyharry

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Posted 29 October 2012 - 07:39 AM

To whom are you referring? Because if it is the moderator I think you mean... You may want to remove that.


Oh well before he changed his username, the OP was "Knight of Broken Glass".
That's Kristellnacht.
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#8 CrossBite720

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Posted 29 October 2012 - 12:57 PM

I have put tiny hot glue holes so it wont effect the accuracy but do that and u should be able to tell
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#9 hamoidar

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Posted 29 October 2012 - 01:32 PM

I have put tiny hot glue holes so it won’t affect the accuracy, but do that and you should be able to tell.

Do you mean burning holes in the foam? As long as the holes don't go all the way through, this should work, as you don't lose any mass from the dart. Quote: "the accuracy" <LOL

Personally I just use sharpie to mark H's in a spiral pattern down the entire dart foam.
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#10 KaneTheMediocre

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Posted 31 October 2012 - 07:04 PM

My dart-marking totem:

Posted Image

Posted Image

Still at it's core it's marking with a sharpie, but it certainly saved me a lot of time and effort.
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#11 Mr Hands

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Posted 01 November 2012 - 09:49 PM

@Crater, Draconis. You're right. That does seem like a bad idea. There's no way for CA glue to reduce friction at the tip. That doesn't even make physical sense.

I'm going to give putting clear tape over the foam near the tip to see how it protects sharpie. I hope that works.
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#12 Crater

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Posted 04 November 2012 - 05:54 PM

There's no way for CA glue to reduce friction at the tip. That doesn't even make physical sense.


Sure it does. The CA glue forms a harder, slippery plastic coating over the soft, frictiony plastic of the dart head. I wasn't suggesting gluing the darts to something.

In fact, I tried it the other day. I got two T-code Streamlines and coated the tip of one with CA gel (because that's what I have). I then rubbed both of them on my desk and computer. The coated dart slid around easily, while the uncoated one grabbed the surface and bent before sliding.
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#13 hamoidar

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Posted 04 November 2012 - 08:33 PM

Sure it does. The CA glue forms a harder, slippery plastic coating over the soft, frictiony plastic of the dart head. I wasn't suggesting gluing the darts to something.

In fact, I tried it the other day. I got two T-code Streamlines and coated the tip of one with CA gel (because that's what I have). I then rubbed both of them on my desk and computer. The coated dart slid around easily, while the uncoated one grabbed the surface and bent before sliding.

It may reduce friction with a hard surface, but the effect will be quite small on air. The big problem with putting rock-hard CA glue on dart tips is safety. Even though the dart tip itself is soft, the CA glue will form a shell around it, making it almost as dangerous as plastic tipped darts.
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#14 Crater

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Posted 05 November 2012 - 01:16 AM

It may reduce friction with a hard surface, but the effect will be quite small on air. The big problem with putting rock-hard CA glue on dart tips is safety. Even though the dart tip itself is soft, the CA glue will form a shell around it, making it almost as dangerous as plastic tipped darts.


I never suggested it would reduce drag. The originator of the idea had problems with dart tips rubbing and getting caught on plastic parts of blasters (magazines, barrels), and CA glue fixed that. About hardness, he said it doesn't increase the hardness of Sonic dart tips because the CA coating cracks on impact and flexes*. The Streamline I tried seemed pretty hard, but I didn't shoot it at anything to see if it got softer after impact.

*potential eye scratch hazard?
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Crater is a combination of a box and a dent in the ground. (Thanks Tangerle)

I'll stand on my head and gargle peanut butter for 70 dollars.


#15 Mr Hands

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Posted 06 November 2012 - 07:39 PM

@Crater, I was talking about coating the tip. Someone mentioned the tip. It would make sense for whistlers, and other "necked" rounds if you're using a Quick 16. But it wouldn't make sense for Elites or Streamlines.

Edited by Mr Hands, 06 November 2012 - 07:41 PM.

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#16 gehaga

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 02:41 AM

Daniel Beaver solved your problem. Also you can use a reflective paint so it's easier to find the darts even in low light, that is if playing in the dark is your thing.
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