Blasterhubs Best Dart Competition
It’s been too long and there have been too many dart types. I am currently revamping dart testing in order to cover all stock (1 cm) darts on shelves. Analyze the darts currently available to determine their fps, accuracy in hitting a target and cost.
You will notice that I will be looking at things from a stock blaster’s perspective. This is generally all that is needed to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of different darts. In addition, I will not be covering online bulk sales of offbrand China darts, which while far cheaper, can have QC issues with head adhesion, crushing in transit, and other things between batches and manufacturer (even if cheap prices on the order of a dart make durability less of a concern). However, there are many soft-head darts such as Ekind Waffles and Accufakes that can perform exceptionally well at stock speeds and higher velocities.
The prices listed are an attempt to find bulk prices for MSRP in America. Clearance or sale of dart packs can make them more attractive than usual.
The Competitors
Nerf Elite and Nerf Accustrike are from left to right. Buzz Bee Precise PRO, Buzz Bee Long Distance. Buzz Bee Suction Cup. Xshot. Dart Zone Sureshot.
We have seven darts under consideration. Nerf has Elite and Accustrike darts. Buzz Bee has three types of darts: Long Distance, Suction Cup, and Precise Pro. Xshot has their own brand of dart. Dart Zone recently discontinued their Super Darts in favor of Sureshot darts. Note that several of these dart types may be found under alternate branding, such as Adventure Force (Walmart).
It should also be noted that some dart types (mainly Buzz Bee) are getting hard to find outside smaller packs; the Precise Pro darts have largely been left to 14 dart packs in various stores, when they once were available in Walmart in 35-dart boxes. It’s possible that some dart types are no longer available depending on the retailer choices for spring.
Methodology
To show performance with different blaster types, I used three blasters Ive had extremely reliable and consistent performance from: the Buzz BeeTactical Storm (for magazine fed springers), the Buzz Bee Thermal Zenith (for front-loading blasters), and the Dart Zone/Adventure Force Light Command (for flywheel performance).In the end, however, beyond the weight of the dart, the FPS is largely a function of the blaster being used and is of limited use in determining dart quality.
To test ammo accuracy, I chose a more realistic test. What percent of the hundreds of shots of each dart type would strike a 3×7 door at 50? Although this test is not as precise as firing at a target with a blaster, it is still more realistic than hitting a target at close range. After firing one magazine of darts in the Tactical Storm as a reset for my aim, I then ran through 200 darts, doing my best to hit the door.
All shots were kept low due to the 8-foot ceiling. However, darts that veer into the ceiling are still considered a miss.
Test 1. FPS Measurements
The Light Command was consistent firing darts at the 90FPS mark.
The lighter darts had clearly higher FPS readings in the other cases. This is a straightforward case of Newton’s Second Law. The blaster applied a force to accelerate the darts, and lower mass darts are accelerated faster than higher mass darts.
Overall, however, there isnt a clear winner just going by initial dart velocity. At least in that respect, theres nothing preventing any of the darts from achieving high initial speeds. This is where the next test begins.
Test 2. Test 2.
This is the real meat of the testing. Its a generously large target, at a reasonable distance for foam-flinging combat. Each dart was fired downrange with 200 darts. And some interesting results were found.
All precision-oriented darts scored above 90%, which is a good result. All darts scored above 90%, even with human error.
Buzz Bee Suction Cup dart was next in accuracy! The reason the score was not higher was that many darts didn’t travel the full distance. However, this can lead to unfair comparisons, as you only have one type of dart. In any case, the current Buzz Bee Suction Cups clearly lose their initial energy very quickly and slow down, limiting usefulness in that regard.
The lowest tier consisted of Nerf Elites, Xshot darts, and Long Distance darts. These scores are a disgraceful comparison and show the limitations of foam combat darts.
It was quite common for darts to veer 10 degrees to the left or right of the target. This was extremely disappointing.
And The Winner Is
The Dart Zone Sureshot dart is currently the best stock dart. The dart is accurate and retails at five cents per dart if you purchase the 200 pack from Walmart’s Adventure Force brand.
Other precision-based darts like Accustrike and Precise Pro also performed well, but theyre hard to get in bulk, IN STORES, and you end up paying afar higher price. In the case of Accustrikes, the MSRP for a 75 pack is (33 cents a dart); for Precise Pro darts (in the Walmart 35 count box, if you can still find it) the price is or 25 cents a dart.
Long Distance darts, Elites and Xshot darts aren’t stable enough to hit the target consistently. Although Xshot darts have a slight advantage in price (500 dart tubes consistently sell for four cents per dart), they can sometimes cause compatibility problems with many magazine-fed blasters because of their shorter length. The rest of the darts are priced between ten and 16 cents per dart.
Buzz Bee Suction Cups? These cups are fun and provide the best results due to their low weight, apparently high drag. ButI can confidently say theyre far too limited for use due to how quickly they seem to bleed their energy. If you do want them, they are still available in 51 dart packs at Walmart and Academy Sports, for around a dart.
Final Anecdote
In an unofficial test, I used the Light Command to fire all the darts at a consistent 90ish FPS velocity, at a 40 degree angle, to see average ranges. The Buzz Bee Suction Darts placed last, only traveling 68 on average. Precision based darts landed in the high 80s, Xshot darts in the 90s, and Nerf Elites and Buzz Bee Long Distance Darts broke 100 on average. Note, of course, that the Xshot, Elite, and Long Distance darts were less of a series of groupings and more of a giant cloud. The rest were far more consistent and clustered together in their respective groups.
If anything, this result has me desiring a better standard for describing dart behavior, something along the lines of actual drag coefficients or, for an easier way of expressing energy loss, chronographing darts at both the blasterbarrel and at a specified range (30 away, perhaps). However, this requires multiple pieces of equipment and can be expensive.
In any case, theres still something to be said for heavier darts being more consistent overall.
