Guides · Dartboard buying guide · 8 min read
Dartboard buying guide: how to choose a good bristle board
This dartboard buying guide boils down to a staple-free bristle board with the thinnest wires you can afford and a number ring that comes off. That gets you fewer bounce-outs and a board that lasts for years.
In short
- Steel-tip darts? Buy a sisal bristle board, nothing else.
- Staple-free means no metal in the beds and fewer bounce-outs.
- Blade or triangular wire beats thick round wire.
- A removable number ring lets you rotate the board to spread wear.
Board types
Which type of dartboard should you buy?
For steel-tip darts, buy a bristle board. It is the only type used in WDF and PDC competition, it grips the darts firmly, and the holes close again after each throw.
- Bristle (sisal)Sisal fibres packed on end inside a steel band. Holes close up, and it lasts years. Buy this for steel-tip.
- Coiled paperTightly wound paper strips. Holes stay open and the face breaks up quickly.
- Paper-faced fibreA printed paper sheet on pressed board. Darts go in loosely and the print tears quickly.
- CorkSoft and cheap. Darts droop or fall out, and the board wears through fast. A party toy.
- ElectronicPlastic segments with sensors, made for soft-tip darts. Scores itself, but it is a different game.
- MagneticA flat magnetic sheet and darts without points. Safe for young children, no use for real practice.
Steel-tip and soft-tip use different darts, boards and throwing distances, so settle that first. The steel-tip vs soft-tip guide compares them. The rest of this page is about bristle boards.
Sisal and build
What makes a good bristle dartboard?
A good bristle dartboard has dense, evenly packed sisal and no staples in the scoring area. Sisal is a stiff fibre from agave leaves: a dart pushes the fibres apart, and they close again when you pull it out.
What to check in the shop
- Firm, even face. Press it with your thumb: dense sisal feels hard everywhere, with no soft spots.
- Fibres standing evenly. No gaps, bald patches or loose tufts, especially at the rim.
- Tight steel band. The band keeps the sisal compressed and should sit snug all round.
- No staples in the scoring area. Look along the wires, including the trebles and doubles.
- About 38 mm thick and around 5 kg. Much thinner or lighter usually means it isn’t solid sisal.
- 451 mm across, 340 mm scoring area. Smaller “home” sizes change every target. All figures are in dartboard dimensions.
Wire types
Round, triangular or blade wire: which spider is best?
Thin blade wire set into the sisal is best, triangular wire is a close second, and thick round wire is the weakest. The spider is the metal web that divides the board: the less of it a dart can hit, the fewer bounce-outs you get.
- 1.85 mmthickest wire the WDF allows (thinnest 1.27 mm)
- 8 mmtreble and double width on wire boards, inside to inside
- 10 mmthe same on blade boards, apex to apex
Depth matters as much as shape. A wire lying on the sisal stands up by its full thickness, so darts hit its side as well as its top. A bounce-out scores nothing and can’t be thrown again.
Number ring and printing
Does the number ring matter, and what about the colours?
Yes, buy a board with a removable number ring, because that is what lets you rotate it. The colours matter less, as long as the print is clean and the 20 sits on a dark segment at the top.
- Removable ring: turn the board underneath and put the 20 back on top. Dartboard care shows how.
- Firm fit: it clips on tight and sits flat. Thin wire numbers read best from the oche.
- Crisp, matte print: colour edges line up with the wires, with no shiny or crusty ink.
- Printed numbers or a fixed ring: you can’t rotate the board, so the treble 20 wears out first.
Entry, club, tournament
Dartboard buying guide by level: which is the best dartboard for you?
The best dartboard is the one that matches how often you throw. Each step up buys thinner wires, denser sisal and a longer life, not a different game.
Entry
The cheapest bristle boards. Fine for trying darts or the odd game.
- Real sisal, full size
- Lowest price
- Round wire, sometimes stapled
- Noticeable bounce-outs
- Wears out soonest
Club
Best for most home players
Mid-range. For regular practice, pub and league teams.
- Staple-free, thin triangular wire
- Denser, more even sisal
- Firm, removable number ring
- Costs a little more than entry
Tournament
Top of each maker’s range. For daily practice and competition.
- Thin blade wire set into the sisal
- Densest sisal, holes close fast
- Rare bounce-outs, longest life
- Highest price
- More than a casual player needs
Just starting out? A staple-free club board fixes the biggest annoyance of cheap boards for a small extra cost. The darts for beginners guide covers the rest of the kit.
Throwing most days? A tournament dartboard pays for itself, because its denser sisal takes far more darts in the treble 20 before it needs rotating.
Approved boards: WDF events use sisal bristle boards of approved manufacture, and PDC events are played on bristle boards under the Darts Regulation Authority rules. At home, any board built to the standard dimensions plays the same game.
Camera scoring
Which dartboard works best with camera scoring?
Any steel-tip bristle board works with camera scoring, but thin, flat wires and a matte surface make it easiest. The cameras have to see exactly where each wire meets the sisal, because a dart next to a wire is decided by fractions of a millimetre.
- Thin wires set low. Webcams look from the side, and a raised wire casts a shadow over the bed next to it.
- Matte surface. Gloss and shiny wires turn your light into bright spots.
- Standard colours. Sridu first looks for a red bullseye in a green ring, then follows the coloured rings out.
- Legible number ring. The app reads it to find the 20.
- Flat and firmly hung. A board that can’t swing keeps its calibration. See how to hang a dartboard.
Your own wires, measured. During Auto setup each camera measures about 1500 points along the wires and colour edges of your board, so its real spider becomes the reference. The camera scoring page, the automatic darts scoring guide and the hardware page cover the rest.
Lifespan and checklist
How long does a dartboard last, and what else should you check?
Anywhere from months to many years. It depends on how much you throw, the board’s sisal and how often you rotate it. These are rough guides, not promises.
- MonthsEntry board, daily practice, never rotated
- A year or moreClub board, most days, rotated regularly
- Several yearsTournament board, a few sessions a week, rotated
- Many yearsAny good board, casual play
Before you buy
- Bristle, staple-free, full size: sisal, no staples in the scoring area, 451 mm across.
- Removable number ring so you can rotate the board.
- Thin wires: triangular at least, blade if you practise a lot or score with cameras.
- Centre mounting bracket so the board can turn, plus stabilisers so it can’t move.
- A surround for the wall, or a bigger backboard (see darts room setup). If thuds carry through the house, see how to make a dartboard quieter.
- Smooth dart points that spare the fibres. Need a set? Read how to choose darts.
Sources: WDF Playing and Tournament Rules, 20th revised edition, sections 1 and 4.
FAQ
Dartboard buying questions
What is the best dartboard for a beginner?
A full-size, staple-free bristle board with triangular or thin wire and a removable number ring. It avoids the bounce-outs of cheap stapled boards and lasts long enough that you won’t need a new one as you improve.
Is an expensive dartboard worth it?
If you throw most days, yes. Denser sisal and thin blade wires mean fewer bounce-outs and a board that lasts much longer, so the cost per session often ends up lower. For occasional play a staple-free club board is enough.
What does staple-free mean on a dartboard?
The wires are held in place without staples on the playing surface. Older and cheap boards fix the spider with staples, and each one is a small metal target that knocks darts back out.
Are thin-wire dartboards better?
For bounce-outs and fair scoring, yes. Thin triangular and blade wires leave less metal to hit and steer glancing darts into the board. More of each bed is open sisal, too, because the wire covers less of it.
Do I need a special dartboard for camera scoring?
No. Sridu works with any steel-tip bristle board and measures its wires during setup. Thin wires, a matte surface and the standard colours simply make detection easier and flag fewer darts for a check.
How long does a bristle dartboard last?
Months for a heavy daily practiser on a cheap board, years for a casual player on a good one. Rotating the board regularly, smooth dart points and keeping it dry make the biggest difference.
New board on the wall? Put it to work
That’s the dartboard buying guide done. Sridu scores your darts in the browser with one to four webcams or typed-in scores, and has 41 game modes, bots and statistics. It’s free and needs no account.