Great grip, throws on point: my verdict on Winmau’s Blackout steeltip darts
27.9.2023
Translation: Katherine Martin
Winmau has given its Blackout steeltip darts a classy, black and silver design. It’s also kitted out the barrel with an impressive grip. As my review reveals, however, the darts do have a few minor weaknesses.
I’m an avid darts player. Not only does the game help me unwind, but it also gives me an opportunity to challenge myself. In a quest to find my ultimate darts set-up, I often give different darts a try. In this review, I’ll be introducing you to one of these varieties – the Blackout steeltip darts from Winmau. As for the weight class, I opted for the 22-gramme variant.
Appearance and shape
I really like the look and finish of the Winmau Blackout steeltip darts. Made of 90 per cent tungsten, I feel the silver and black look lends the darts a certain elegance. Each dart has a straight barrel, measuring in at 50.08 millimetres in length. At least, that’s the length given in Winmau’s specifications. Taking my own measurement, I noted 50.90 millimetres – a slight deviation. Winmau uses standard black tips for the Blackout model, which measure roughly 26 millimetres in length.
Source: Kim Muntinga
Winmau states that the barrels weigh 22 grammes. For this review, however, I wanted to play it safe. Significant weight differences between individual darts is noticeable, so shouldn’t be underestimated. The first barrel weighs 22.15 grammes, the second 22.12 grammes and the third 22.19 grammes – that’s a difference of 0.07 grammes between the lightest and heaviest dart. Though this could be better, it’s still within an acceptable range. That being said, it does break the 0.05-gramme limit outlined in Winmau’s specifications.
The beginning of the barrel is silver to the tip and slightly tapered. As a result, this very small area is slightly conical, getting steadily wider as you move towards the flight. This allows the darts to glide past each other more easily when they’re thrown within close proximity of each other on the board. The dart’s long, aggressive ring grip begins right next to this conical area. While the outer sides are silver, the inner sides of the grooves are coated black. After the main grip, there’s a smooth, silver surface with the Winmau logo lasered into it, and an additional three grip grooves.
I really like the fluid transition to the shaft. For the shafts, the manufacturer has used 48-millimetre-long Winmau Prism Force shafts (length excluding thread). Winmau Prism Alpha flights in black, white and transparent grey as well as a Winmau point protector come included in the set.
Unfortunately, I have some criticism regarding the flights. When fitting them to the shafts, individual layers of the flights come loose on two models (if I’ve attached the silver shaft ring). This doesn’t seem like the best level of quality to me. I’m not a big fan of these shaft and flight systems either, but more on that later. The combination of the included shafts and flights adds about 1.7 grammes to each dart.
Source: Kim Muntinga
How they fare in a game
I’ve nothing but praise for the playability of the Winmau Blackout steeltip darts. If you ask me, it’s seriously good. The straight barrel feels balanced, a design I generally prefer over say, cylindrical, teardrop or torpedo shapes. Not only that, but the barrel has great grip and feels comfortable to play with.
When trying out the darts, I started off by playing with the included set-up. However, I soon threw a Robin Hood (when a dart lands directly into the back of another dart already on the board), so I switched to my standard set-up. Personally, I’m a big fan of L-Style systems. They offer better durability and, more importantly, help me to avoid Robin Hoods. For this game, I went for the L-Style L-Shaft Carbon Lock Straight Blacks, measuring 26 millimetres. This gave the darts a total length of 39 millimetres. Unfortunately, we don’t have them available in our range.
The ring grip, which almost encompasses the whole dart, allows you to play the Blackout dart from the front, middle or rear. It just depends on where you’re holding the dart between your fingers. The black coated tips also have a nice feel to them. They grip the dartboard well, holding neither too firmly nor too loosely.
My verdict
I’d recommend the Winmau Blackout steeltip darts. Given they fall within the low-medium price range, I’d say they’re a really good choice. They’re seriously well made, have a nice, classy look, and offer good durability and grip. So if that’s what you’re looking for, and you prefer playing with darts with a straight barrel, these darts are for you.
The only things I’d deduct points for are the shafts and flights. Even so, I wouldn’t be put off from buying a dart purely because of these two elements. After all, they can both be quickly replaced, and have a short shelf life. When buying darts, you should always focus on the barrels..
Header image: Kim Muntinga
My interests are varied, I just like to enjoy life. Always on the lookout for news about darts, gaming, films and series.
