13 replies to this topic

[Coodude26]

I feel like I haven’t contributed anything to the haven lately, and I had ideas of doing a thread like this in the past.

In this thread we (“we” being me) will compare the official (and unofficial darts) made by dart gun companies, and you can determine which is best for you
Let me say this: I’m not going to go into the individual brands of darts, mainly only by category. So don’t go asking me if the Larami darts are better or not.

It will look like this:
Picture
Dart Name
Brand
Color
Visibility: scale of one to ten, ten being obvious, one being practically camouflaged
Ranked by visibility on grass
Firmness: scale of one to ten, ten being white FBR hard, one being cheap black over-the-internet FBR flexible
Pros: What’s good
Cons: What’s bad
-Notes-
NOT ALL PRICES ARE COMPLETELY ACCURATE AND MAY DIFFER DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU LIVE!

Here we go!



Streamline Darts
Nerf
Orange

Visibility: 7/10

Firmness:9/10 (Aging reduces it to about a 4/10 after 6 months, especially with the longshot)

Pros:
-Whistlers
-Able to be used in breeches without any conversion

Cons:
-Pricy ($4 - $8 for 10)
-Softer than average
-Known to fishtail & curve in mid-air

Notes: For use in Longshot. Jamming longshot can put a big cut in them. Same foam as Dart Tag Darts.



Sonic Micro Darts
Not exclusively Nerf AFAIK
Nerf whistlers are black w/ orange tips :oR: older ones are red with black tips.

Visibility: (Nerf) 4/10

Firmness:3/10

Pros:
-Harmless
-Bouncy (can reveal itself after it is shot)
-Whistles (pretty cool to hear coming at you)
Cons:
-Very Soft
-Somewhat Expensive ($5 [+ or -$1] for 10)
-Bouncy(can bounce far away from initial landing spot)
-Also known to curve & fishtail because of hole
Notes: Pretty cool noise, especially coming out of a better gun. Good luck finding them in stores though, I only found them on eBay.




Tagger Darts (AKA Dart Tag Darts)
Nerf
Bright orange like streamline with black Velcro (not for use in Longshot however)

Visibility: 9/10

Firmness: 9/10 (Aging reduces it to about a 4/10 after 6 months of wear and tear, especially with the longshot)

Pros:
-Very Cheap ($10 for 30)
-Harder
-Sticks to some clothing
-Can be converted into a firmer longshot dart that is much cheaper to make

Cons:
-Velcro may come off after extended use (hasn’t happened to me, but showing signs of wear)

Notes: Overall very good darts. Worth the eight (or so) bucks for a whopping 30. Same foam as the streamline darts.


(Hopefully NHQ doesn’t mind if I borrow this)

Suction/Micro Darts

N/A, nearly every dart gun company
Color N/A, again, nearly every dart gun company makes them

Visibility: N/A, widely varies between brand

Firmness: N/A, usually a 5 or 6/10

Pros:
-Widely Available
-Sticks to walls, glass, skin, etc.
-Harmless

Cons:
-Usually not too firm
-Sometimes they don’t stick, sometimes they don’t come off
-Suction tip sometimes not glued to foam too well
Notes: No comment



Glow/ “Moon” Darts

Nerf
White

Visibility:10/10

Firmness: 8.5/10

Pros:
-Widely Available
-Sticks to walls, glass, skin, etc.
-Harmless

Cons:
-Little bit expensive
-Sometimes they don’t stick, sometimes they don’t come off
-With sticker on they don't fire as well


Notes:Basically a white micro dart with a glow-in-the-dark tip. Includes pre-cut sheet of glow-in-the-dark stickers to put on them. Glow in the dark part only for Firefly. Pretty expensive. The name “moon darts” was thought up by my friend.


(Again, I hope NHQ doesn’t mind)


Stefan Darts
Homemade darts
Black, gray, red, or white

Visibility:
Black-3.5/10
Gray-6/10
Red-9/10
White-10/10

Firmness: Depends on the firmness level you bought it at.


Pros:
-Able to be made be the 10s, 100s, or 1,000s if you give enough time
-Extremely cheap (about 5 cents each)
-Very Customizable (FBR color, hot glue color, which brand of weight you use)

Cons:
-Require time, effort, and materials
-Not compatible with most stock guns unless a deep hole is made in the back or the gun‘s peg is taken out
-Less safe to shoot stuff with
-painful, depending on the gun you use

Notes:
Sometimes referred to as Stephen, Stephan, Stefen, etc. however the correct spelling is STEFAN.
By far the most popular, and probably the best because they’re so amazingly cheap and durable. Highly recommended. To learn how to make them see this thread.

So which is best for you? That's for you to decide. Stefans take work, but are cheaper, taggers are cheap, but don't hurt. The choice is yours!

If I missed any, please tell me or submit your own ratings!
-C26

Edited by Coodude26, 18 July 2007 - 05:33 PM.

[Rambo]

Two things:

A) I don't like that you've rated the firmness for Stefan colors. FBR comes(even in within each color) in a wide variety of firmnesses that vary from brand to brand. Maybe the kind you get is that firmness, but with the exception of red(which as far as I know is only really available in one firmness from Forsaken), I've seen very firm darts and very soft darts of the same color.

B) While Stefans may be reffered to on the boards sometimes as "Stefens", "Steffans", "Stephans", etc. they should not be AKAs by any means.



This should serve as a good guide for newer members.

[AssassinNF]

Your prices are a little off.

LS Darts are $3.99 for 10 at Walmart... but even at TRU they're $4.99-$5.99, I don't see where you get $8.
Taggers are usually $9.99 for 30...
Whistlers are $4.99 for 10...

of course, those are walmart prices, but still...

And how can the firmness ratings on Taggers and Streamlines be different when they are both exactly the same foam?

Also, glow darts (or moon darts as you call them) have a tendency to perform very poorly due to those retarded stickers around them. That's another con you could add.

[Coodude26]

Thanks for the info guys. And I've never used megas so if you (or anyone else) could write it up in the same format I'll gladly add that.

I'll also fix the FBR and moon dart parts.

Assassin are you serious? My target must be a rip-off...

Thanks for the help guys.

EDIT: I can definitely feel a difference between my streamline and tagger darts but that could be age. So if anyone else with both of them could rate them that would help.

Edited by Coodude26, 17 July 2007 - 05:54 PM.

[Spectre666]

Assassin are you serious? My target must be a rip-off...

Nah, all Targets are like that. I've been to I think 8 different Targets across the country, and they all have the same prices for darts.

[Quilan Fett]

My target is $5 for a 10-pack of streamlines.

[badger]

Thanks for the info guys. And I've never used megas so if you (or anyone else) could write it up in the same format I'll gladly add that.

I'll also fix the FBR and moon dart parts.

Assassin are you serious? My target must be a rip-off...

Thanks for the help guys.

EDIT: I can definitely feel a difference between my streamline and tagger darts but that could be age. So if anyone else with both of them could rate them that would help.

Taggers and streamlines use the same foam stock from what it seems.

Here's a few other things that need to be mentioned, primarily some inaccuracies in your list.

The whistlers are called sonics. They have no other name. They currently come in black with an orange tip, but they have been around for a while and were also found in red foam with a black tip. They are still available in stores, but sometimes hard to find.

Suction micros are actually a bit different between the different manufacturers. The Buzz Bee and Lanard micros have a slightly larger diameter hole in the back, as opposed to Nerf micros. Some of the earlier Nerf micros also had a slightly larger hole. This minor difference made the darts not easily interchangeable.

The firmness of FBR is based on the manufacturer, the process in which they produce it, and even can vary from batch to batch. There is no way to really rate it's firmness. The FBR owner's geographical location and current climate can also affect the firmness. Temperature and altitude (altitude affects air pressure) can affect darts.

[Coodude26]

The whistlers are called sonics. They have no other name. They currently come in black with an orange tip, but they have been around for a while and were also found in red foam with a black tip. They are still available in stores, but sometimes hard to find.

I figured more people would know them by their unofficial name, so for now, I'll leave the name as it is, but I'll add that little tidbit.

Suction micros are actually a bit different between the different manufacturers. The Buzz Bee and Lanard micros have a slightly larger diameter hole in the back, as opposed to Nerf micros. Some of the earlier Nerf micros also had a slightly larger hole. This minor difference made the darts not easily interchangeable.

I know, but like I said, I'm not going to rate every individual company's darts. If someone else wants to review them I'll put them up here but honestly I haven't used anything that wasn't Nerf or a stefen.

The firmness of FBR is based on the manufacturer, the process in which they produce it, and even can vary from batch to batch. There is no way to really rate it's firmness. The FBR owner's geographical location and current climate can also affect the firmness. Temperature and altitude (altitude affects air pressure) can affect darts.

I know, which is why I put N/A, the info wasn't available, because like you said, there's not really a way to rate its firmness.

And if someone could please review the megas...

[badger]

Actually, most people know them as Sonic Micros. This is the first time I've heard them referred to as whistlers. You may be one of a very small number that call them that. If you want this to be a guide, you should use the correct terminology.

[Spectre666]

Would the Nerf arrows and mega missiles count as darts?

[sourskttles772]

At my stores taggers are 7.99 Me and my friends dont call them taggers we call them velcros.

[Grape]

megas are the best

[Coodude26]

Actually, most people know them as Sonic Micros. This is the first time I've heard them referred to as whistlers. You may be one of a very small number that call them that. If you want this to be a guide, you should use the correct terminology.

Fixed. Thanks.

Would the Nerf arrows and mega missiles count as darts?

Sure, why not? If you do a review then I'll add it but I've never used them.

At my stores taggers are 7.99 Me and my friends dont call them taggers we call them velcros.

I added a part saying the prices may be different depending on where you live.
No offense, but I really don't care what your friends think. And please fix your grammar and punctuation.

megas are the best

That was a completely pointless post. Don't post just because you can. And for the last time, if you like them, submit a review. I'm not going to make a form for megas saying
"Megas
Nerf
Awesome

Firmness: Cool/10

Visibility:rock/10"

If you like it submit a review people. I hate to backseat mod, but please don't make pointless posts. Contribute something.

And for the last time, yes, I realize megas rock/are the best. That doesn't fill out the form.