Darts, Dartboards and Dartboard Cabinets :: Dart board :: Bristle dart boards

Bristle dart boards

Bristle Dart Board 

The Bristle dart board was first invented by Nodor in the 1930's and has been going strong ever since. The board is made from sisal fibres, the same stuff they make rope out of., and the best sisal fibres come from East Africa where the Nodor factory is based. The fibres are gathered together in small clumps and then the clumps are then compressed together and held in place with a steel band to form the dartboard. When the dart hits the board, it simply parts the strands of  sisal apart, but the compression of the fibres keep the dart in the board. When the dart is removed the fibres come together again so there is minimal if any damage to the board. It is said to be self-healing. Also the board can last a very long time and there is nothing quite like the thud on a bristle dart board when the dart hits it.

 

The bane of the bristle dartboard was the staples used to hold the "spider" or the metal grid on the dart board to mark out the segments on the board.  These staples infringed on the scoring part of the board and were responsible for lots of bounce outs on the board, where the dart hits the wire or staple and simply bounces off instead of entering the board for a score. The hunt was on to produce a staple free board. Nodor first came out with a staple free bulls eye, then Winmau came out with their "blade" staple free board and now staple free dart boards are almost the norm amongst the more expensive bristle boards. Further improvements were made with diamond shaped wire for the spider to further reduce the dreaded bounce outs and thinner and thinner wire was also used.

The bristle board is at the peak of its development and of course it is used exclusively for all of the big money tournaments like the Las Vegas Classic and the famous Lakeside tournament in the UK.  So get yourself a classic and get the true experience of tournament play with a bristle dart board.