I have been throwing with my gold Kong darts recently, and have had good success with them, but last week in a warm venue, I found that my hand got sweaty and I lost a bit of grip and therefore contorl. I decided I would try the Lewis darts, as the barrel is a similar desing, and more grippy.

I like the feel of 'gold' darts, so went for the Zirconium. they arrived yesterday, and my first thought was - what a loevely looking, quality dart. However, they are so slippery. I have heard people talk in the past about the unicorn latinum coating being slippery, but have not tried it myself, but this zirconium coating is so slippery, I really can't control the dart.

when I took them out of the packet and threw them, I immediatley go a towel, as I was convinced that the darts has some kind of oil residue on them from manufacture!!

the weight, shape and grip pattern are great, but they are like throwing wet fish. I am really disappointed as I piad £38 including delivery for these darts and went for the colour/coating because of the dart tart in me, but now have a dart that to me is useless.

Has anybody else had this experience with this coating.

If Rob form Target reads this, please do not take offence, as in no way am I having a go at Target, I think Target is a great company that makes great darts, and after my competition win I like Target even more, I just can't get my head around Zirconium and especially considering it being labelled as a 'performance coating'.

This exactly why i never go for coated darts, tungsten finish always seems more grippy to me.
Shame though as you have spent your money now.

I had the same darts when they first came out but dont remember them being slippy at the time, but I never liked the darts themselves, or I should say they never suited my throw, but I never played with them long.

I wonder if the coatings on darts are affected by peoples own levels of oil and moisture though?

I had a go of the Target Silica Intrepids yesterday (doing a review of them) and out the box they felt like a medium level of grip but when I started to play with them they sort of felt stickier/grippier so I wonder if the silica coatings properties change with temperature?

getagrip wrote:

I had the same darts when they first came out but dont remember them being slippy at the time, but I never liked the darts themselves, or I should say they never suited my throw, but I never played with them long.

I wonder if the coatings on darts are affected by peoples own levels of oil and moisture though?

I had a go of the Target Silica Intrepids yesterday (doing a review of them) and out the box they felt like a medium level of grip but when I started to play with them they sort of felt stickier/grippier so I wonder if the silica coatings properties change with temperature?

I don't know. I previously owned the silica version in 23g (I think) and they were greatm but that was when I was experimenting with different weights, and have since moved down to the 21g range and have been using the Kongs. I know that Target make them, so had expected the same type of coating.

I really wanted these darts to work, as they are the same length etc as the kongs but just couldn't get them to work.

I had a good two hours practice, and with the Targets, I was useless, literally spraying darts all over. I then tried throwing a mixture of Kongs and Targets (with the same setup), one kong and two Lewis, then two kong one Lewis etc, in random order, and the Kongs went where I wanted and the Lewis did not. the Kong dart has a grip pattern that is level 2 at best but the gold really helps and the darts feel so much gripper than the lewis which has a far more aggressive grip pattern. I just which I had gone for plain tungsten or silica. I hate owning darts that I cannot throw!!

The thing is you dont know until you try, and f there is no other way of trying than to buy first its always a gamble, pity they dont suit you, you will have to sell em on or try to get a swap with someone. I do like this Silica coating though.

Hi Danny

First of all I'm sorry to hear that you're unhappy with our Lewis Zirconium darts - we've had a lot of positive comments regarding the finish, but like all barrels and finishes it comes down to personal preference. Much like how players prefer a certain barrel shape or length, the exact same notion applies to what finish they prefer.

I appreciate it is a substantial amount of money you've spent and can understand your disappointment - I would by no means think you were having a go at us sometimes players just do not get on with a type of finish and are well withing their right as a customer to say so! As with all of our darts, be it weight choice, dimension or coating it won't please everyone all of the time haha.

Having personally spoken to our designer regarding this problem, Zirconium isn't a grip-enhancing coating, but one to protect against high wear. It is used in the Aerospace Industry for the same reason.

Darren - you are exactly right regarding coatings. Amount of sweat/moisture will often affect level of grip.

Our SILICA coating is designed to enhance grip as your fingers sweat more - the dart becomes stickier in your hand as your fingers perspirate, increasing the level of grip. It works in synergy with your hand temp and sweat level. That is why it is such a popular coating.

I hope this clears it up for you

Hope you're all enjoying the darts.

Rob

Damn I wish I had gone for Silica now!

i have had all 3 version and normal has the best grip silica is good but chips and zirco slips alot for me.

Cheers for the info Rob!