All About Lawn Darts

How it is played?

The name Lawn Darts is fairly self-explanatory. The dart is similar to a traditional dart, only much larger. A lawn dart is typically 12 inches long. It has a heavy metal tip and plastic fins (much like a plastic flies on a regular dart). Along with the darts, a lawn dart set usually comes with two plastic rings. These are your bull's-eyes.

The game can be played with either two people or teams. The game is a sort of combination of traditional darts and Horseshoes. You begin by placing the rings on the ground at a certain distance. Each player takes turns throwing the darts underhanded, trying to place them within the ring. The weight of the metal tip insures that it will stick into the ground.

Why it is not played

On December 19th 1988, lawn darts were officially outlawed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission declared the outdoor game unsafe and the sale of the product was made illegal. This happened after, in separate incidents, four children were killed while playing or playing near a game of lawn darts.

The darts look fairly harmless. The metal tips are not sharp and do not look like they could puncture much besides the soft ground. But after being thrown vertically, the darts gain a great deal of velocity on their descent. They are strong enough to puncture skin and fracture skulls.

Since the ban, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has encouraged all parents to discard and/or destroy any lawn dart sets they may have.

In all fairness to lawn dart enthusiasts, the game can be played safely under the right circumstances. But because of the nature of the game and the way that it was marketed as a family game, it is very hard to control the many variables. Needless to say, children should never be allowed to play lawn darts, nor should they be allowed to run free in the vicinity of a lawn dart game.

It is a matter of balancing risk and reward. Sure, lawn darts is a fun game. But so is Nerf football.

More information on lawn darts