Ever wonder why your dart shafts keep unscrewing? It’s an incredibly frustrating thing when playing darts and I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve been playing a game and needed to stop mid-throw because the dart shaft is coming loose.
Well, there are actually some quick, easy, and cheap solutions to this problem. In this article, I’ll cover how to stop dart shafts coming loose with both some cheap and easy accessories or by using a very easy hack (all you need is a set of darts)…
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How To Stop Dart Shafts Coming Loose
When playing darts there are a few things that frustrate dart players constantly. These are dart bounce-outs, broken shafts or flights, and finally – dart shafts coming loose.
The latter is a particular issue for anyone using aluminum or titanium dart shafts. The threading on these types of shafts doesn’t lock tightly in a dart barrel, this is due to the metal-on-metal contact and you’ll often find these shafts wobble or come loose after repeated play.
How to stop dart shafts coming loose? To stop dart shafts from coming loose, you should use a rubber o-ring for aluminum shafts to fully tighten them. You could also use a dedicated dart wrench to tighten dart shafts or use a second dart to tighten aluminum shafts that have a tightening hole built-in.
As metal shafts tend to be those that come loose the most, an easy solution is to just buy plastic shafts. Most professional players use plastic shafts despite being cheaper and having a shorter lifespan so metal shafts coming loose must be one factor in this.
If you want to use metal dart shafts though for value for money, longevity, or just out of preference there are still some easy fixes that you can utilize.
There are 3 ways to stop dart shafts coming loose:
- Darts O Rings
- Dart Tools
- Tighten Shafts with a Dart Point
Below, I’ll cover each of these three tips in more detail.
1. Darts O Rings
By far the easiest solution that you can use to keep dart shafts tight and from coming loose is to use a rubber o-ring. Rubber o-rings are specially made for dart shafts and are designed to act as a “washer” between the dart shaft and barrel.
O-rings essentially keep a dart shaft tight and locked into place against the dart barrel which reduces the need to constantly tighten your shafts. The main benefit of a darts o-ring is that they are incredibly cheap (a few bucks) but also incredibly effective at what they do.
Once applied, you’ll notice a drastic reduction in your dart shafts coming loose – if at all!
How To Put Dart O Rings on Shafts
There are two ways you can apply dart o-rings. Firstly, you can use the manual method and roll them over the threading of the shaft. This is honestly easy enough to do but due to the small size of these rings, it can be intricate work and frustrate some players.
Therefore, the second method is to use a dedicated tool called an o-ring applicator. This cheap accessory allows you to quickly put o-rings onto your dart shaft without any fumbling or difficulty. You can even check out this video below to see how easy it is to use:
For ease of use, I’d recommend picking up an o-ring pack that comes with an applicator included like this Scott Edward set or the Elkadart accessory pack from GLD Products.
2. Use a Dart Tools (Dart Wrench)
A dart tool or dart wrench is a multi-purpose darts accessory that has multiple functions – one of which is tightening dart shafts. These tools are used to sharpen points, straighten bent aluminum shafts, and remove or tighten dart shafts.
They’re a simple tool and you’d use them as you would a normal wrench on a bolt, there really isn’t too much to explain with their use!
If you want to consider a dart tool, check out some options on Amazon here.
3. Tighten Dart Shafts With a Second Dart Point
Finally, the easiest way (but not necessarily the most effective) way to stop dart shafts from coming loose is to tighten them with another dart. This sounds confusing but if you look at a set of shafts – particularly aluminum shafts – you’ll find they have a hole close to the base of the shaft.
This hole is not a manufacturing default or a visual addition but serves a very specific purpose which is tightening your dart shafts. The hole is designed for a dart point to go through it allowing you to use a second dart as a wrench (of sorts).
The second dart allows you to use the leverage of the dart to tighten the shaft much tighter than you could if twisting it by hand. This is a manual process which reduces the need for buying additional accessories but just keep in mind it’s not the most efficient.
Even when using this method, the shafts still come loose so it’s more of a temporary solution but one that still works well and is easy to implement.
Rounding Up
Dart shafts coming loose is one of the most frustrating things you experience as a dart player. Having to tighten the shaft after every few throws quickly becomes tedious and are noticeably distracting when you go to throw and feel a slight wobble from the shaft.
Therefore, finding a way to permanently tighten your dart shafts is usually a welcome solution. Fortunately, there are a few cheap and easy solutions that will ensure consistent playing without the shafts constantly coming loose.
To stop darts shafts coming loose, I’d recommend using rubber o-rings as a first option. These keep shafts locked in tightly and do an excellent job, especially for the cheap price. Other solutions include using a dedicated dart wrench or even tightening the shafts by using another dart (if the shaft has a hole to allow it).
