14 replies to this topic

[taji34]

I'm completely lost. I play HvZ at my school, and have modded my blasters to the point where stock darts just don't make the cut anymore. I'm currently getting by with strawing Elite dart, however I figure making my own darts is a better long term solution. I've done some research and am a bit lost. I found Xplorer, and saw that they have premade dart tips and precut foam for sale that looked good, but since it ships from Singapore and I live it the US, the cost for shipping looks to be more than I am willing to spend. What are my options? Should I look for more "Premade" tips and foam, or should I make my darts by hand?

Ideally I'd like them to fit into an unmoddified clip and load properly, and be accurate at short and long distances. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

[Droid31]

You can't use stefans or homemade darts for most HvZ games, but yours may be different.
What exactly is the problem your having with stock elite darts?
And if you need a cheap alternative koosh darts are great for the price especially for flywheel blasters

[Sam-underscore]

Use koosh darts. They're really cheap and are quite accurate

[ooontrprzes]

I'm a big proponent of the buzzbee "xtreme" darts, aka rangemasters. Dense foam, good weight. Not clip compatible, though. Sheer death through an airgun.

[taji34]

You can't use stefans or homemade darts for most HvZ games, but yours may be different.
What exactly is the problem your having with stock elite darts?
And if you need a cheap alternative koosh darts are great for the price especially for flywheel blasters

Our rule is that you must be willing to shoot yourself point blank with your dart/blaster combination and no bruises or welts can show up, so customs darts are fair game if they pass that test.

The problems I'm having with elite darts are: 1. Jamming because of weaker foam, the strawing does help with this, but it's be nice if I didn't have to cut straws whenever I got new darts. 2. Accuracy. If the elite dart is in pristine conditions the curving isn't too bad, but any sort of damage (be it indentations or bending, etc.) cause them to curve immediatly after leaving the barrel, making the accuracy very unreliable after 5-10 feet. 3. Range, this not so much a problem as, if it were possible, to squeeze a it more range out of the blaster if possible with the darts, but the other two things I listed are much more important.

I looked up koosh darts, and I don't think they are what I would want. They are more accurate than elites, but from what I could tell, more cheaply made and might cause the jaming prolem to go up.

[azrael]

They're not cheaply made, IMO. I like Koosh darts.
You could also try the Elite Suction Tip darts.

And silly HvZ pain tests. So subjective.

Edited by azrael, 14 August 2014 - 07:33 AM.

[TheNerfingFlamingo]

You could just cut the tips off and add felt pads, or buy kosher darts. As for the pre-made tips, they are not worth it. The only thing that company makes that is truly worth it is stampede breeches.

[Drev]

The problems I'm having with elite darts are: 1. Jamming because of weaker foam, the strawing does help with this, but it's be nice if I didn't have to cut straws whenever I got new darts.

Elite darts actually use very strong and durable foam. The foam does degrade with use, but I have discovered that it is the same foam type that I buy from China, except it has a hole in it. This is, obviously, why putting straws in the darts is a good option. Like ooontrprzes said, buzzbee "xtreme" darts have good foam. It is the most durable, hard and dense foam available. You could buy these darts and switch out the tips with custom ones, but that would be expensive. I'd say koosh darts are probably the best bet like what everyone else is saying. However, you could also probably use whatever foam you want and make stock dart length silicon domes. They are time consuming, but they might be acceptable in HvZ. If you use foam like buzzbee foam or something, it already would have the hole in the foam and it would work in normal non-homemade blasters. Hope this helps.

[Snoop Doggy doge]

If your willing to take the time to get an X-acto Knife, get suction darts and cut the heads off (the suction part), they are pretty accurate if I say so myself but suction darts are the most accurate stock darts. It may be a bit more expensive since you have to buy in packs of 30 but, but they don't have the hole like standard darts do which cause a lot of the inaccuracies with blasters.

[taji34]

They're not cheaply made, IMO. I like Koosh darts.
You could also try the Elite Suction Tip darts.

And silly HvZ pain tests. So subjective.

Well, it also can't leave a welt/bruise, so that we don't have pain tolerance come into effect.

Elite darts actually use very strong and durable foam. The foam does degrade with use, but I have discovered that it is the same foam type that I buy from China, except it has a hole in it. This is, obviously, why putting straws in the darts is a good option. Like ooontrprzes said, buzzbee "xtreme" darts have good foam. It is the most durable, hard and dense foam available. You could buy these darts and switch out the tips with custom ones, but that would be expensive. I'd say koosh darts are probably the best bet like what everyone else is saying. However, you could also probably use whatever foam you want and make stock dart length silicon domes. They are time consuming, but they might be acceptable in HvZ. If you use foam like buzzbee foam or something, it already would have the hole in the foam and it would work in normal non-homemade blasters. Hope this helps.

Most of my darts have been used for a little while so the foam is worn I bit. I'd just like something that lasts a bit longer. I actually found a pack of whistle darts I bought a while ago with really great foam (It feels a lot stiffer/denser than elite foam), so I might try to transplant the tips off some old streamlines and see how they fly.

[Panda]

Well, it also can't leave a welt/bruise, so that we don't have pain tolerance come into effect.


Most of my darts have been used for a little while so the foam is worn I bit. I'd just like something that lasts a bit longer. I actually found a pack of whistle darts I bought a while ago with really great foam (It feels a lot stiffer/denser than elite foam), so I might try to transplant the tips off some old streamlines and see how they fly.

I don't see the need to put stream-line dart tips onto the better foam, because stream-line tips are extremely inaccurate anyways, due to the hole. But you can always plug it up with tape or glue...

[taji34]

I don't see the need to put stream-line dart tips onto the better foam, because stream-line tips are extremely inaccurate anyways, due to the hole. But you can always plug it up with tape or glue...

Its what I have, looking into making custom tips, but I want to find an optimal tip shape aerodynamically for stabilization and what not.

[jktrolldaddy]

Here is something to help you with your concerns: http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=23034
Hope you find this helpful!

[azrael]

Well, it also can't leave a welt/bruise, so that we don't have pain tolerance come into effect.


Most of my darts have been used for a little while so the foam is worn I bit. I'd just like something that lasts a bit longer. I actually found a pack of whistle darts I bought a while ago with really great foam (It feels a lot stiffer/denser than elite foam), so I might try to transplant the tips off some old streamlines and see how they fly.

Still pretty subjective. I have yet to received a bruise from a hot glue dome stefan. Some people out there have skin made of out vanilla pudding, I swear.

[KaneTheMediocre]

I would strongly recommend the elite suction darts. They fly very straight compared to elite streamlines, which means more effective range with more powerful blasters, even though the maximum range possible range is shorter.

Making homebrew darts for Nerf mags out of destroyed nerf darts just isn't worth the hassle, as you have to do the work of making the dart while still paying for a stock dart or at least tube foam. Furthermore, most homemade dart designs work poorly with tube foam in terms of durability.

And yeah, as everyone says, your HvZ has a terrible bullshit standard for what is/isn't allowed, but that's not necessarily something you can change, so don't worry too much about it. It's better than no standard at all, and it at least gives hosts the opportunity to observe a truly ruinous setup before it gets put into use.