Usually, people play darts indoors, in places such as bars, clubs, and entertainment areas, or the comfort of their homes. However, has the idea of playing darts outdoors ever crossed your mind? If so, what would happen to your dartboard if it was moved outdoors?
So, can you put your dartboard outside? Yes, you can. In fact, many dart players and enthusiasts in Canada and the United States prefer to play darts outside. Overall, when the conditions are favorable, and you know how to maintain your dartboard’s health, placing it outdoors is fine.
Are Dartboards Weatherproof?
Now that you know that you can indeed place your dartboard outside, you may have a few other questions. Some of these may be “how does the weather affect my dartboard,” “will it ruin my dartboard,” and “are dartboards weatherproof.”
Overall, the most direct answer to these questions is that, no, dartboards aren’t weatherproof. That is why, if you and your playmates want to play outdoors, you must avoid hanging your dartboard outside when it’s raining.
Moreover, remember never to leave your dartboard outside after you play. This is because weather conditions can be unpredictable, and it might rain any minute.
You may have played while the sun was still out, but after a while, you might notice it becoming cloudy. In that case, you will need to bring your dartboard inside to prevent it from getting wet. If your dartboard gets soaked under the rain, this may affect its durability and overall structural integrity.
In addition, you should avoid hanging your dartboard outside if it’s incredibly humid in your area. This is because exposing it to high levels of humidity can also affect its durability and lifespan, similar to getting soaked in water or being exposed to too much moisture.
What Happens When You Leave Your Dartboards Outside?
Leaving your dartboard outside will undoubtedly lead to negative results, and even risk making the material completely unusable. Likewise, leaving your dartboards in an uncovered yard or court for an extended period will surely wear down their material faster.
On another note, the dartboard colors and markings will slowly fade, and its material will dry out, making it hard for players to pin the dart on its surface.
Although playing darts outside for a prolonged period is doable and safe, it will largely depend on the weather conditions in your area.
So, leaving it outdoors, especially during the rainy season, will compromise its structural integrity and overall quality. Again, this is because no quality dartboards are humidity-proof, waterproof, and weatherproof.
Moreover, you have to keep in mind that any natural bristle dartboard can be permanently destroyed when exposed to too much moisture.
Moreover, these boards should never be soaked or exposed to rain. This is because as soon as it is, the wet fibers will slowly develop bubbles. These bubbles are caused by the fibers pulling loose from the bulges and backing outward.
As a result, the board’s fibers will eventually fall out because the glue holding its sisal fibers will weaken as the bristles pull loose.
In addition, aside from the fibers becoming looser, your board’s metal parts will eventually rust, and wooden parts will rot when exposed to too much moisture.
How Should You Maintain Your Dartboard?
Generally, high-quality boards are made of natural and premium fibers specifically designed to last for an extended time and withstand plenty of dart games.
However, no matter how high the quality of these boards is, they too need proper maintenance and care to ensure they do not prematurely wear out. So, how should you maintain your dartboards?
- Never use liquid cleaners to clean your dartboard.
You might have seen videos of people trying to wipe off the dirt from their dartboard using alcohol, liquid detergents, sanitizers, and any other liquid cleaners.
However, the board’s tightly compressed bristle fibers aren’t supposed to get wet. Therefore, you must keep your dartboard dry at all times. This means keeping liquids away from the surface of your dartboard at all times.
Likewise, never use liquid cleaning agents to clean the board. In addition, spilling water and other liquids into its bristled surface could surely damage it and reduce its lifespan.
Also, if you want to play outside, avoid humid areas and make sure that you won’t leave your board outside while raining. Moreover, it would be best if you kept it under a covered area at least.
- Use sharp but smooth darts.
Many modern steel darts are engineered with precisions to increase accuracy, improve grip, and lessen bounce-outs. However, some modern designs might also damage your dartboard’s tightly packed fibers. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the hooks.
Darts with steel tips and hooked ends can settle more securely and firmly on the board. However, tips with hooks can also tear your board’s fibers when improperly taken out. Over time, it might look like strings were pulled out from your dartboard.
Another essential thing to consider is the bluntness of your darts’ tips. The board’s natural fibers are primarily designed to heal from the darts’ marks and impact. That is why even when you have removed numerous darts from it, holes are not visible, and its surface remains intact.
On the other hand, using blunt tips can pack down your board’s fibers. In addition, because they can decrease your board’s healing response, blunt tips can create visible holes on your dartboard’s surface.
- Do not pull; twist.
Removing darts from the dartboard can speed up the deterioration process of the packed bristles. Moreover, with some darts, the evident damage can be worse.
For instance, you must not pull out the steel tip of a mechanical dart from your board forcibly because this kind of dart has retractable or movable tips that can be set firmly into the board.
Although this kind of dart tip is perfect for minimizing bounce-outs and deflections, the mechanical act may make it more difficult for you to remove it from the dartboard.
In addition, if you forcibly pull it out straight, it can potentially damage the board’s fibers. Therefore, it is always best to twist the darts to detach them from your board safely.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there’s nothing wrong with playing darts outdoors or hanging your dartboard outside. In fact, many people even prefer to play outdoors to enjoy fresher air and wider space.