- For most people, the Nerf Elite darts are exactly what they need
- Although not exactly “darts”, nerf makes several other ammunition types that perform just as well if not better.
- Third-party darts try to mimic many established Nerf products.
- Darts have changed a lot over the years, but they follow the same principle design.
There are so many different types of Nerf darts out there, and as you get deeper into the Nerf fandom you will find plenty of opinions about what dart type is best.
Nerf blasters have been around for over 30 years, and each time nerf released a new series of blasters they often came out with a new set of darts.
Nerf darts take many forms, but each type has its own pros and cons. Usually, the best thing to do when purchasing a nerf gun is to start with the type of ammo you want to use.
Standard Darts
Nerf blasters have followed a really standard design for years. There has been slight variation in the tip, but they are always trying to improve the design.
These standard darts are the stereotypical darts that you see from nerf guns. There is plenty of color variation but they are basically all functionally the same
Elite Dart
The Elite Dart is the cream of the crop when it comes to Nerf darts.
Between how accessible and cheap you can get them, many people purchase them in bulk for large scale Nerf battles.
Nerf has worked for years to perfect their darts, and in 2012 they hit gold when they released the Elite Dart alongside their N-Strike series.
The Elite Dart features a heavy but not too slow tip that has some give to it so you don’t leave welts.
One of the best parts about this specific dart is that it fits in almost any nerf gun that fires darts. Nerf was looking to make the end all be all nerf dart.
AccuStrike Dart
These darts are Hasbro’s attempt at an extremely accurate dart. Supposedly Nerf spent 2 years developing this dart.
The idea with the Accustrike dart is to create some sort of spin effect in the air to improve accuracy.
They were released in 2017, and are out there as a competitor to the Elite Dart. They cost about the same
Other Tip Variation
There are plenty of different variants of Nerf dart tips that have come through the years. These include whistlers, suction cups, and even velcro tips.
These tips have different use cases but in reality, they are not very good. The goal here is to have a dart that can be used in a vast number of situations, and these specific darts can end up being problematic.
Off-Brand
There are all sorts of Nerf knock-off darts out there and in all honesty, they work fine. They might be slightly less accurate or maybe even hurt a little more because of different plastics used, but they are fine.
If you are looking for a lot of nerf darts, there is nothing wrong with getting a knockoff brand. Here is a pack of 1000 on Amazon for fairly cheap.
Alternative Ammunition
Nerf has been making dart guns for a really long time, but the entire time they have been making dart guns they have made some guns with alternative ammunition. Recently they have settled on some different form factors that work really well.
Disc
The disc-based nerf guns are actually really great. They fire small frisbee like projectiles that are pretty durable. They cost slightly more than darts, but they are more accurate and fly farther.
High-Impact Round (RIVAL)
High-Impact Rounds are given their name because they are made from high impact foam, and boy are they awesome.
Unlike the original nerf darts, these are in the form of a small foam ball with pockmarks like you would find on a golf ball.
These darts are durable and fly fast. The guns that shoot them are slightly expensive, but they are extremely easy to load and fire. Traditional nerf darts have a tendency to jam, even in the best nerf guns, but the RIVAL series is almost jam-proof.
Learn More
If you are interested, here is a link to everything Nerf on Amazon.