They came with a couple sets of RD darts I've had. Decent stems for sure. But the ones I had were an aluminum top. One robinhood and the things are toast
Spot on and exactly accurate in my book. Before you got into it I had both my kids rank the stems (they have used all of them) and they matched you as well!
Very nice! It's tough because this was mostly opinion but it was also based on experience of using many of these over the years. 1st and 5th were the easy ones. Cheers Willis 👍
As an L-Style/ champagne ring molded flight user, the designa stems hold my flights on the tightest. I've tried just about every brand of nylon/poly stem and those cheap ass designa stems are the best in my opinion! They even hold an L-style flight better than an L-style stem which blew my mind!
The video was great. As a newbie, info like this is a gem. Definitely helps with narrowing down what to try specifically instead of taking a random stab at a product. Thank you!
Thank you very much Loopy. I'm sometimes a bit hesitant to make videos like this because as I commented elsewhere it's mostly opinion. But I suppose it's opinion based on years of testing out different dart products. Even so, opinions will vary. That being said, the number 1 spot was well deserved and you can't really go wrong with any of the top 4 stems here. Thanks again for your comment 👍
As if anyone needs another reason to buy Designa stems, they are just good to have around for testing. For example, I always use short stems. Recently however, I bought a set of Designa ultralights in 16 gram just to try something out of my comfort zone. For the love of God, I couldn't get those to fly with short stems. I installed the supplied medium stems and they flew great. The problem was I only had that one set of mediums. So I ordered 10 sets each of tweeines and mediums just to have on hand. For four bucks, I'll have something that should work with almost any barrel I buy. Once I get the dart to fly right, I can always order another stem that may be more pleasing to the eye.
Spot on. They're a great stem to experiment with. Unreal to be able to buy 10 sets for $2. Most shops here in the states will charge $2 for ONE set of nylon stems 👍
Great Video once again. When I started playing darts 4 years ago I used non-branded stems that weren't any good. Then switched over to the Harrows and eveutually bought some Target Pro Grips, which I still love to this day. Having said that I'll have to try the Mission and Designa Sets next time I order new Stems
Cheers CG. Any of the top 4 stems were worth trying for sure. Definitely give the Designa stems a go though. Hard to pass on them when they're $2 for 10 sets lol
Excellent comparison video. Been using shot eagle claws but lately theyve not been so good Will try the mission and designas as not used them before. More of these types of video would be great.
There we go, just starting out in darts, and I have a set of the mission darts with the lock grip stems, but could not figure out how the lock ring works.... of course it's obvious once you see it done :D Thanks for the video!
I like the fact that you're quick to point out when a product sucks. As for the others in the ranking, I might buy a few Mission sets to go with the Kronos darts I won from your drawing (thanks again to you and Darts Corner for that), but it's the Designas I'd recommend to anyone. They're made by Nodor, I've been using them since 1992, and in those 27.5 years I've only broken ONE. If you want the metal rings you have to buy a bag of them (DC has those bags in various quantities), but even if you do they're still cheaper per set of three stems / three rings than the others and just as good if not better. They handle Robin Hoods like a champ - I've thrown quite a few Robin Hoods over the years and with the Designa stems once you yank the dart out of them after a RH you can't even tell it happened. The Designa / Nodor nylon stems are so good (as are many other nylon stems) that I'm left completely unable to understand why anyone would ever use polycarbs or aluminum.
Thanks Berlin! I always try to tell it like it is here. Sure, Unicorn is never going to send me any products to review now but I'm okay with that. I'd rather the truth get out there instead of me pumping out videos that are nothing more than a commercial for a company. But yes, the Designa killed it here. When a quality product costs 4-5x less than the competitor but performs equally as well then that's a hard to beat combination
i recently got some harrows supergrip shafts and i noticed something: when using a slot ring the flight won't go in all the way and it takes quite some effort to get it in there at all. however, when using regular grip rings those go on about halfway, just like a slot ring on a typical shaft and so if you are using punched flights, you can use a regular grip ring in place of an actual slot ring. quick cost comparison: mission slot rings, 3 piece set: 0.50 sterling mission slot rings, titanium, 3 piece set: 0.67 sterling vs XQMax Shaft Springs, 24 piece set: 0.60 sterling so that's almost 6x cheaper then slot rings and 9x cheaper then the titanium rings. not to mention you can use the rings that come with shafts as slot rings. also i'd say these things grip so well you don't actually need any rings at all.
Been using the Harrows Supergrip, find them excellent. The Mission grips are good too, but I found the ring breaks very easily, a couple of tight groupings usually does it, although I took the rings off the Harrow grips and they are good to go. I'll give the Designa a go now, anything else I've tried from Designa, including Darts sets, have been top-notch. Thanks for your reviews, very informative, all the best, from Ireland.
I have them all and would rank them like this. I threw with the Designa less than 5 minutes and one of the four pins snapped clean off (no rings on the stems), no bending just flew off. The Mission plastic seem to be softer than Target, Unicorn and Harrows. So the latter have the best build according to me when it comes to quality. Talking about how tight the flight attaches to the stem I agree completely as described in the video. Ranking the rings, the best first, Unicorn, Harrows, Target and Mission where Unicorn beats them all hands down while Harrows are good and Target and Mission I would change them directly. Anyway, my favorites are the Target, they feel nice for me but I change the rings while Harrows are the best in my opinion.
I can see that the video is three years old and you must have found out by now how the rings work :) but I am surprised to not have heard you talking about punching the flight first, placing the ring in the hole and then putting the flight back on the shaft. The rings make sure the flights sit tight and keep the shaft together after a robin hood as well. other than that, a great and honest review from you again. I have used all of them but I'd pick the Designa too :) Now I use super grip with spinning top, the logo wear off so easily.
I would suggest that a follow up video to show the breakability of the prongs from robinhoods. You could simulate it by simply bending the prongs of the stem back and forth without the flight inserted, until it snaps. I've experimented with a few different stems and concluded poly stems can take a lot more bending. But I punch all my flights so that the ring is positioned much closer to the end of the stems, which keeps the prongs from peeling back as much.
I've tried the designa and I believe I tried the pro grips. I actually really like the value you get from the designa stem as well. If my practice area didn't have a concrete floor that has not been kind to many a stem I would probably throw them almost exclusively. I still might throw them exclusively at some point just because of the price and value.
I agree entirely with your rankings here--one line of shafts I've been really pleased with that wasn't listed are the One80 Vice shafts. They hold a flight better than most if not all the other shafts I've tried, and they're cheaper than the Harrows and Target ones I'd bought before. They are a bit pointier at the flight end than other shafts, but I personally really like the shape and the flight grip is top notch.
Been using the Designa's for the last four or five days. Fine first two days. Then started having flights slip out on the way to the board. Bought some locking springs, but don't seem to tighten up much at all. After twenty minutes practise yesterday, one of the springs was almost touching my darts barrel. Slid it back up, and it's stayed there, but not promising. Flights popped out a lot last night, and springs came off too three or four times. Going back to my old Deflectagrip. Never used a locking spring on them, but hold the flight. Bought some with springs though, as it seems to protect the tynes. I think the modern stems are too hard, and shiny. So they aren't as grippy, and need locking springs because of this frailty.
Gave the Designa a try and broke 4 of them in one league night. This was on a soft tip board, no carpet or cushion on the ground, every bounce out was a broken shaft. When they break they are not easy to remove, you must use a dart tool or shaft remover to get them out. By the end of the night I was using my wife's Stratas. Going back to Target....
The one advantage that Target has 8s the number of a available stem lengths. All companies have stems at 34mm, 41mm and 48mm, while Target also offers lengths inbetween with 38mm and 44mm. For me that's the main reason for buying them, to get my preferred dart length. Other than that I prefer the Harrows Supergrips or the Winmau Prism Force because of the little grip zone on the stem
I play soft tip and often have bounce out due to the heavier dart I use. Since the beginning, I've been using Cosmo and I broke a gear stem every 2 weeks on average. Though after I try using the harrows supergrip, I broke 2 shafts in 30 minutes. 1 Cosmo stem last me around 16hrs of intense practice, and supergrip stems last me 15min only... If I only replace the broken one every time it breaks, that's 10 times more expensive than Cosmo!
Darts corner do there own stems now they are the designa with the darts corner logo on them and the flight ring for 5 sets in a pack is like £2.50 in the I use them 100% of the time the intermediate size great reviews
Would like to see you test the stress points of the shafts, at the threads ( nothing worse during play than the shaft break off with the threads stuck in the barrel) and at the prongs. And maybe the weight. I had a USA dart store pushing the carbon stems for $20, I used them 5 times and one broke off at the threads, I put my Harrow click fit back on and been using the same set for over a year with no problems just changing the flights.
Omg.. it FIGURES..lol.. i just ordered a wack of shafts just yestarday order still being processes in fact still... i picked like 6 different ones have 3 of yours coming in the review and a few other brands as well to try... lol... and even bigger kicker recieved a black friday sale for darts corner later that day after i sent in the order ..lol.. so that late as well...lol.. too funny how the universe works sometimes.. but all good.. still not gonna stop me from banging some 180s taking names and winning some games today at our hometown 2nd annual sauerkraut cup invitational ... lol.. you really are the best and agree with all of your reviews so far.. amazing work and thanks for this review you are the boss.. !!! Have a great day see your next reviews soon.. 👍👊✌
trying out some designa 'vignette' shafts. they look like harrows supergrip fusion shafts without the logo, and have the same shape, resulting in the same situation of being able to use regular grip rings or springs as slot rings. and they are about half the cost at 0,58/0,52 euros per set.
Great video🎯👍🏻 but you forgot to mention that the rings of the target pro grips are very unstabable. One hit on the ring and it is either bent or broken😫. They are on the right spot at number 4. Harrows Supergrip Stems have the best rings, it is nearly impossible to destroy them
I haven‘t tried the Missions Stems but the Slot Lock rings on them look quite a bit thinner than the Harrows ones, but still thicker and more durable than the Target rings, so i think you ranked all of them 3 in the right order 👍🏻🎯😉 right.
i use 'selecta' shafts. they are indistinguishable from the designa and prolly just the same thing rebranded. bought a pack of 20 sets, and it feels like a lifetime supply. am still keeping some pretty ones on the side though for when i play against other people...
I've used Supergrip stems on my first darts.. I've bought 9 stems and they all break in 2 weeks.. -_- But no problem with the Progrip, even after falling on tiles. There is only one defect: the holding ring. Too much fragile.
I now tested more with my shaft break problem: My shafts only break when i use the tweenie/intermedium shafts. Short shafts never break and medium only sometimes. But its crazy how often the tweenies break thats just not normal. The sad thing is that the intermediate are my Most favourite to throw. I now ordered a flight puncher and a gabriel clemens l style flight. I hope that helps me. But crazy that only the intermediate shaft breaks. Shaft rings reduced that a little bit but thats not much shaft rings helped. I look forward to the new flights i bought
Red Dragon Nitrotech! only downside: whenever you replace the flight you need to replace the stem as well. It holds the flight so well that you ruin the stem before it comes of
One more thing pertaining to my previous post, that's how I found out that the Designa poly stems (40 cents) are more durable than the Harrows Supergrip poly stems. And the Designa durable nylon stems snapped way quicker than the other two unfortunately.
I've never tried the Mission or Target stems, so I really can't speak to their quality, so I'll have to defer to you on those two and take your word for it that they're great stems, and I'll probably give them a go sometime soon. That being said... I completely agree with you that the Designa stems should be in 1st place. They do hold better than the the other two that I've used. You can't beat the price, especially if you buy in quantity. Flight retention-wise, they hold better than the Harrows and Unicorn, but only when flight rings are used. I think part of the reason they stay in so well without rings might be because they seem to cut the channels a bit deeper. Maybe they don't, but that's always been my takeaway on them anyway. When you do put lock rings on them, they're unbeatable. You have to pull really hard to dislodge the flight. From a durability standpoint, I've found them to be very durable. They tend to break a lot less, and I think this might be the unintended consequence of possibly being a softer and likely cheaper grade than the others. To me, they tend to be much more forgiving and, I guess for lack of a better word, flexible. The Designa stems check all the boxes for me and definitely get my vote for the best, plus, I like a cleaner look, devoid of logos or any other print. I'm not sure if it's just a QC problem, but I've not had any problems with the Unicorn Gripper series, and I've certainly never had a flight fall out as easily as they did in this video. My only problem with their stems is one that you mentioned, and that's loading them. They definitely take a lot more patience to load, and I noticed the same problem with loading them that you did, the tops are flat and the insertion slots aren't as pronounced as they are on the Designa stems. From a durability standpoint, I've found them to be tougher than the Harrows, most likely because they're nylon and not polycarbonate. My experience with polycarbonate stems has been poor at best. Every single time I've had one in a collision with an incoming barrel, the polycarbonate ones fall apart, especially in a Robin Hood situation. Every time I've Robin Hooded a Harrows stem, the broken part disappears and my incoming dart always lands on the floor. I've had this same problem with, and forgive me if I get the name wrong because I'm doing this from memory, one80 Vice Proplast. Whenever I've damaged the end of a Gripper 2, 3 or 4 stem, most of the time there's been enough of it left intact to hold the incoming dart for a few seconds until I can remove it. Not only that, but the polycarbonate ones, being less flexible than the nylon ones, don't allow for complete flight insertion without removing and leaving the rings out. And speaking of the rings, the Unicorn ones are the spring type, which means they expand slightly as you push the flight into the stem. The Harrows ones are solid, so once you get to a certain point, it's impossible to push the flights all the way in, plus the tops of the stems are wider, and they don't even allow the use of spring rings. At least that's been my experience with them. I'll take the Unicorn stems over the Harrows ones any day. Maybe I'll put a set each of the Mission and Target stems on my next DC order and give them a few throws to see what happens. I highly doubt that I'll like them better than the Designa ones, but I'll probably like them better than the Unicorn ones. For me the order would probably be: 1) Designa 2/3) Mission/Target 4) Unicorn 5) Harrows
Hey Worldwide, how do you find shipping to the states to be with Darts Corner? As far as time frame and shipping costs if I was to say order sets stems and flights. Ty
Can I just check that you know the process for putting a flight on a ring stem? I don’t think the designa are as good quality. I still use them, but you do get straggly edges of plastics. The target vampire teeth, I find great. Harrows have the best stems and flights IMO but I mostly use Winmau because I use Winmau barrels. Great video
Thanks. You can pause the video on the picture of the Designa stems. Mine were perfectly made. Maybe you got a bad set? I actually found the Target ones the hardest to get a flight into them.
Worldwide Darts I don’t mind if flights are hard to get in, although I find the target ones are really good. There’s a process to putting a flight in a ringer stem. You take the ring off and then let it fall in place, don’t push it down. Then you put the flight in, until it is touching the ring, still don’t push. Then you push the ring down as far as possible with your nails, then push the flight down as far as it can go, that gives the ultimate grip. I just punch a hole in my flight and use them that way
I bought the flight punch for the supergrips a few months ago and haven't had a flight pop of yet. Not sure if it makes a huge difference but fot $6 what the heck.
favorite practice shafts: designa i bought 20 sets of these and i'm pretty sure that's a lifetime supply :P favorite fancy shafts: Winmau prism force. they pretty :D
Are the Target Pro Grip Spin still considered nylon? I know you are not a fan of spinning stems, but have been using them for a while with Robson F-shape flights. Also tried the Harrows Carbons you reviewed on my backup set, but I seem to get more deflection related fall outs with non-spin stems. It could be a combination of lighter darts and softer throw, idk.
I started playing in the 90 s , at that time I found that plastic or plastic type stems had a problem of breaking off even inside the dart if you had a bounce out. So since then I started using aluminum exclusively. Is that less of a problem with today's materials?
To improve the video, I would've added rings to the designa stems to more fairly compare, I bet they would've been just as strong as the competitors with a ring but it's the lack of a ring which makes them cheaper
I have just ordered a load of the designa ones from darts corner, the price and even postage is cheaper than what I can get from any place in Australia 🤷🏻♂️
Awesome to score stems at that price isn't it? If you order again you can use the discount code newslettersignup and save 10%. It's a one time use code only. Works on most items. Doesn't work on sale items though
I flight punch all my flights so they hardly ever come out with just a cheapo spring in the slot So it all comes down to just how they look to me as I like the use different colour flights and stems just to look at something different in the board
Great video as always! I've used all the shafts reviewed here and couldn't agree more. The cheap desingna shafts are awesome. I do use the rings with minimal Robin hoods.
Hello friend does a 1mm longer stem make difference in your trow, because some darts stems (shafts) are 1 mm longer then 47mm they are 48mm especially when you search those stems with no Firm Name? Keep it up...
I have a problem: I threw today 2 hours and 12 stems broke in that time. Its very dissapointing A Quarter of the Shaft breaks always. I dont know what to do. I use the designa durable nylon from Dartscorner in black. With tge target bolide 01 21g with standard flights and the intermediate edition is my setup Do you have any idea?
I would try both although imo if you punch your flights that could lead to more robinhoods. If you want to eliminate them 100% get some sort of champagne cap or WizCaps . You shouldn't be breaking stems at that rate. I honestly don't remember the last time I broke a stem
I've used pro-grip and super-grip for years and pro-grip is the better shaft without a doubt between those. I hole punch my flights btw and everyone should as well....
I've been using L-STYLE stems for the last year or so, never changed a set. But if I used normal flights and stems it would be the designa stems. Using a locked ring always did the job. Used pro grip and supergrip (also carbon) and all of those broke once, on the barrel them selfs or 1 of the 4 tips broke... I have the feeling that the material that is used is an harder plastic, what results in a more fragile stem imo... but if u can spend more money than those stems i recommend L-STYLE shafts.
@@samgrootroessink7314 Probably because of the lip where the point transitions into the barrel. Have you ever considered Trident 180s or Storm type points?
Worldwide Darts yeah I know. I get my stems from the local sports shop, but they only stems they stock are Target pro grips. Would much prefer the Harrows Supergrips. Might get a couple of sets from dartscorner.
should have got the gripper 4 long length those match the other brands medium more closely the unicorns come in 4 lengths i actually love the g4 the amount of times u get a robin hood and the prong survives u can just bend it back into place fine defo need to use punched flights with them though my only issue with them is the threads on them are a bit too thick for my target darts and tyhey are prone to snapping the thread in the barrel if the fall on hard floors
Hey...Robin Hood here! Unfortunately I break ´em all in under ten minutes of darts. Just recently I switched from all nylon shafts to Target´s Aluminium Grip Style and bought an extra of 30 screw-on tops. Now, I can at least play 6 sets with 5 Legs. LOL!!!
@@WorldwideDarts Hey Worldwide! Merry christmas! Saw your answer here just today. Nope, not american; just here in germany we call it aluminium for some reason... but anyway, I even got L-Style shafts and flights for christmas today and guess what!?!?!? third throw Robin Hooded that thing. So, have some nice xmas days! Keep it up!
I've always used the supergrip simply because they look better, guess I'm a material guy 😂. Glad they placed high on the list, I don't mind paying extra for a sexy looking stem
@@WorldwideDartsI know I keep saying this but I honestly do believe that you could go pro. Have you tried, or would you consider trying? If I were anywhere near your level I definitely would. Take care buddy peace
I use the designa. Cant beat the price and they are very durable.
Great video. Try the Red Dragon Nitro Tech steams, they hold the flight extremely well. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on them.
They came with a couple sets of RD darts I've had. Decent stems for sure. But the ones I had were an aluminum top. One robinhood and the things are toast
I use those stems, getting pricey now
Spot on and exactly accurate in my book. Before you got into it I had both my kids rank the stems (they have used all of them) and they matched you as well!
Very nice! It's tough because this was mostly opinion but it was also based on experience of using many of these over the years. 1st and 5th were the easy ones. Cheers Willis 👍
As an L-Style/ champagne ring molded flight user, the designa stems hold my flights on the tightest. I've tried just about every brand of nylon/poly stem and those cheap ass designa stems are the best in my opinion! They even hold an L-style flight better than an L-style stem which blew my mind!
I was genuinely surprised at how well they held a flight. And for the price they simply can't be beat 👍
The video was great. As a newbie, info like this is a gem. Definitely helps with narrowing down what to try specifically instead of taking a random stab at a product. Thank you!
Thank you very much Loopy. I'm sometimes a bit hesitant to make videos like this because as I commented elsewhere it's mostly opinion. But I suppose it's opinion based on years of testing out different dart products. Even so, opinions will vary. That being said, the number 1 spot was well deserved and you can't really go wrong with any of the top 4 stems here. Thanks again for your comment 👍
You should snap the stems to test the durability. I play soft tip, and bounce out onto hard wood floor will break a stem every now and then.
Definitely enjoy Target Pro Grip been using for a couple years thanks worldwide very informative video
Thanks Andy! 👍
As if anyone needs another reason to buy Designa stems, they are just good to have around for testing. For example, I always use short stems. Recently however, I bought a set of Designa ultralights in 16 gram just to try something out of my comfort zone. For the love of God, I couldn't get those to fly with short stems. I installed the supplied medium stems and they flew great. The problem was I only had that one set of mediums. So I ordered 10 sets each of tweeines and mediums just to have on hand. For four bucks, I'll have something that should work with almost any barrel I buy. Once I get the dart to fly right, I can always order another stem that may be more pleasing to the eye.
Spot on. They're a great stem to experiment with. Unreal to be able to buy 10 sets for $2. Most shops here in the states will charge $2 for ONE set of nylon stems 👍
Great Video once again. When I started playing darts 4 years ago I used non-branded stems that weren't any good. Then switched over to the Harrows and eveutually bought some Target Pro Grips, which I still love to this day. Having said that I'll have to try the Mission and Designa Sets next time I order new Stems
Cheers CG. Any of the top 4 stems were worth trying for sure. Definitely give the Designa stems a go though. Hard to pass on them when they're $2 for 10 sets lol
@@WorldwideDarts Oh absolutely. With a price like that they are a given.
1. Target
2. Designa
3. Mission
4. Harrows
5. Unicorn
👍🎯💪❤️
Korrekt.
I love the Target Pro Grip shafts because i actually really like how the ends look. They look like Batman to me and who doesnt think Batman is cool?:D
only people with oddly coloured hair :P
Use Supergrip fusion and ignite. Fantastic Stems. But as others have said, the winmau prism force are also fantastic. I like them as much...
Excellent comparison video. Been using shot eagle claws but lately theyve not been so good Will try the mission and designas as not used them before. More of these types of video would be great.
Thanks Vinny 👍
Ive always used Supergrip. the transparent shafts look awesome.
There we go, just starting out in darts, and I have a set of the mission darts with the lock grip stems, but could not figure out how the lock ring works.... of course it's obvious once you see it done :D Thanks for the video!
2 Unicorn employees watched this video so far 😂😂😂
I like the fact that you're quick to point out when a product sucks. As for the others in the ranking, I might buy a few Mission sets to go with the Kronos darts I won from your drawing (thanks again to you and Darts Corner for that), but it's the Designas I'd recommend to anyone. They're made by Nodor, I've been using them since 1992, and in those 27.5 years I've only broken ONE. If you want the metal rings you have to buy a bag of them (DC has those bags in various quantities), but even if you do they're still cheaper per set of three stems / three rings than the others and just as good if not better.
They handle Robin Hoods like a champ - I've thrown quite a few Robin Hoods over the years and with the Designa stems once you yank the dart out of them after a RH you can't even tell it happened.
The Designa / Nodor nylon stems are so good (as are many other nylon stems) that I'm left completely unable to understand why anyone would ever use polycarbs or aluminum.
Thanks Berlin! I always try to tell it like it is here. Sure, Unicorn is never going to send me any products to review now but I'm okay with that. I'd rather the truth get out there instead of me pumping out videos that are nothing more than a commercial for a company. But yes, the Designa killed it here. When a quality product costs 4-5x less than the competitor but performs equally as well then that's a hard to beat combination
i recently got some harrows supergrip shafts and i noticed something:
when using a slot ring the flight won't go in all the way and it takes quite some effort to get it in there at all.
however, when using regular grip rings those go on about halfway, just like a slot ring on a typical shaft and so if you are using punched flights, you can use a regular grip ring in place of an actual slot ring.
quick cost comparison:
mission slot rings, 3 piece set: 0.50 sterling
mission slot rings, titanium, 3 piece set: 0.67 sterling
vs
XQMax Shaft Springs, 24 piece set: 0.60 sterling
so that's almost 6x cheaper then slot rings and 9x cheaper then the titanium rings.
not to mention you can use the rings that come with shafts as slot rings.
also i'd say these things grip so well you don't actually need any rings at all.
Been using the Harrows Supergrip, find them excellent. The Mission grips are good too, but I found the ring breaks very easily, a couple of tight groupings usually does it, although I took the rings off the Harrow grips and they are good to go. I'll give the Designa a go now, anything else I've tried from Designa, including Darts sets, have been top-notch. Thanks for your reviews, very informative, all the best, from Ireland.
I have them all and would rank them like this. I threw with the Designa less than 5 minutes and one of the four pins snapped clean off (no rings on the stems), no bending just flew off. The Mission plastic seem to be softer than Target, Unicorn and Harrows. So the latter have the best build according to me when it comes to quality. Talking about how tight the flight attaches to the stem I agree completely as described in the video. Ranking the rings, the best first, Unicorn, Harrows, Target and Mission where Unicorn beats them all hands down while Harrows are good and Target and Mission I would change them directly. Anyway, my favorites are the Target, they feel nice for me but I change the rings while Harrows are the best in my opinion.
i'd love to see a video like this on flights.
in fact i'd happily watch an entire series of comparing the best looking flights n stuff.
I can see that the video is three years old and you must have found out by now how the rings work :) but I am surprised to not have heard you talking about punching the flight first, placing the ring in the hole and then putting the flight back on the shaft. The rings make sure the flights sit tight and keep the shaft together after a robin hood as well. other than that, a great and honest review from you again. I have used all of them but I'd pick the Designa too :) Now I use super grip with spinning top, the logo wear off so easily.
I know about punched flights but this test was about the stems only. One of my most popular video is about punched flights
I would suggest that a follow up video to show the breakability of the prongs from robinhoods. You could simulate it by simply bending the prongs of the stem back and forth without the flight inserted, until it snaps. I've experimented with a few different stems and concluded poly stems can take a lot more bending. But I punch all my flights so that the ring is positioned much closer to the end of the stems, which keeps the prongs from peeling back as much.
Super informative video. I’ve been using Pro Grip for a while, but will try out the Designa and Harrows stems.
Thanks WW!
Cheers Joe! 👍
I've tried the designa and I believe I tried the pro grips. I actually really like the value you get from the designa stem as well. If my practice area didn't have a concrete floor that has not been kind to many a stem I would probably throw them almost exclusively. I still might throw them exclusively at some point just because of the price and value.
I agree entirely with your rankings here--one line of shafts I've been really pleased with that wasn't listed are the One80 Vice shafts. They hold a flight better than most if not all the other shafts I've tried, and they're cheaper than the Harrows and Target ones I'd bought before. They are a bit pointier at the flight end than other shafts, but I personally really like the shape and the flight grip is top notch.
Been using the Designa's for the last four or five days.
Fine first two days. Then started having flights slip out on the way to the board.
Bought some locking springs, but don't seem to tighten up much at all. After twenty minutes practise yesterday, one of the springs was almost touching my darts barrel. Slid it back up, and it's stayed there, but not promising.
Flights popped out a lot last night, and springs came off too three or four times.
Going back to my old Deflectagrip. Never used a locking spring on them, but hold the flight. Bought some with springs though, as it seems to protect the tynes.
I think the modern stems are too hard, and shiny. So they aren't as grippy, and need locking springs because of this frailty.
I ended up using Harrows Supergrip carbon stems with L-Style flights. With that combo they last forever.
I use the Target pro grips with a slot lock. Works really well for me, did not had a reason to change, yet ✌🏻
Gave the Designa a try and broke 4 of them in one league night. This was on a soft tip board, no carpet or cushion on the ground, every bounce out was a broken shaft. When they break they are not easy to remove, you must use a dart tool or shaft remover to get them out. By the end of the night I was using my wife's Stratas.
Going back to Target....
You bought the Designa durable nylon? I've never heard of them breaking like that. You sure you didn't buy the poly ones??
The one advantage that Target has 8s the number of a available stem lengths. All companies have stems at 34mm, 41mm and 48mm, while Target also offers lengths inbetween with 38mm and 44mm. For me that's the main reason for buying them, to get my preferred dart length.
Other than that I prefer the Harrows Supergrips or the Winmau Prism Force because of the little grip zone on the stem
Please make a review of the cosmo shaft and flights🙏👍🎯
I like to see you review the Winmau Prism stems ;-)
I think I have a set around here somewhere 😁
@@WorldwideDarts I'll place a bet, 5 throw at the 180 and 1 will break lol
I play soft tip and often have bounce out due to the heavier dart I use. Since the beginning, I've been using Cosmo and I broke a gear stem every 2 weeks on average. Though after I try using the harrows supergrip, I broke 2 shafts in 30 minutes. 1 Cosmo stem last me around 16hrs of intense practice, and supergrip stems last me 15min only... If I only replace the broken one every time it breaks, that's 10 times more expensive than Cosmo!
You read my mind! I was trying to find good steams on Amazon yesterday. Watched your vid today and cancelled the order. Thank you!
Well now ya know 👍
Darts corner do there own stems now they are the designa with the darts corner logo on them and the flight ring for 5 sets in a pack is like £2.50 in the I use them 100% of the time the intermediate size great reviews
My new favs. I buy the 5 pack often
Would like to see you test the stress points of the shafts, at the threads ( nothing worse during play than the shaft break off with the threads stuck in the barrel) and at the prongs. And maybe the weight. I had a USA dart store pushing the carbon stems for $20, I used them 5 times and one broke off at the threads, I put my Harrow click fit back on and been using the same set for over a year with no problems just changing the flights.
Yikes. It's hard trusting US dart shops. Be careful what they recommend. 😂
That Designa shafts I've realized that they don't have a "grip" phrase on their name.
Omg.. it FIGURES..lol.. i just ordered a wack of shafts just yestarday order still being processes in fact still... i picked like 6 different ones have 3 of yours coming in the review and a few other brands as well to try... lol... and even bigger kicker recieved a black friday sale for darts corner later that day after i sent in the order ..lol.. so that late as well...lol.. too funny how the universe works sometimes.. but all good.. still not gonna stop me from banging some 180s taking names and winning some games today at our hometown 2nd annual sauerkraut cup invitational ... lol.. you really are the best and agree with all of your reviews so far.. amazing work and thanks for this review you are the boss.. !!! Have a great day see your next reviews soon.. 👍👊✌
trying out some designa 'vignette' shafts.
they look like harrows supergrip fusion shafts without the logo, and have the
same shape, resulting in the same situation of being able to use regular grip rings
or springs as slot rings.
and they are about half the cost at 0,58/0,52 euros per set.
Using Mission Griplock stems with Target slot lock rings , durable stems and never had damaged stem from Robin Hoods , plus 0 bounce outs of flights .
Great video🎯👍🏻 but you forgot to mention that the rings of the target pro grips are very unstabable. One hit on the ring and it is either bent or broken😫. They are on the right spot at number 4. Harrows Supergrip Stems have the best rings, it is nearly impossible to destroy them
I haven‘t tried the Missions Stems but the Slot Lock rings on them look quite a bit thinner than the Harrows ones, but still thicker and more durable than the Target rings, so i think you ranked all of them 3 in the right order 👍🏻🎯😉
right.
i use 'selecta' shafts. they are indistinguishable from the designa and prolly just the same thing rebranded.
bought a pack of 20 sets, and it feels like a lifetime supply.
am still keeping some pretty ones on the side though for when i play against other people...
not sure if you've tried the winmau prism shafts but you gotta give them a try. best poly shafts I've ever used.
I use the Harrow's supergrip. Super durable and hold the flight really well. Good video :)
I've used Supergrip stems on my first darts.. I've bought 9 stems and they all break in 2 weeks.. -_-
But no problem with the Progrip, even after falling on tiles. There is only one defect: the holding ring. Too much fragile.
I now tested more with my shaft break problem:
My shafts only break when i use the tweenie/intermedium shafts.
Short shafts never break and medium only sometimes.
But its crazy how often the tweenies break thats just not normal.
The sad thing is that the intermediate are my Most favourite to throw.
I now ordered a flight puncher and a gabriel clemens l style flight.
I hope that helps me.
But crazy that only the intermediate shaft breaks. Shaft rings reduced that a little bit but thats not much shaft rings helped.
I look forward to the new flights i bought
Red Dragon Nitrotech! only downside: whenever you replace the flight you need to replace the stem as well. It holds the flight so well that you ruin the stem before it comes of
I mostly use the Harrows Supergrips with punched flights. Never had 1 break or any flights pop off.
One more thing pertaining to my previous post, that's how I found out that the Designa poly stems (40 cents) are more durable than the Harrows Supergrip poly stems. And the Designa durable nylon stems snapped way quicker than the other two unfortunately.
I've never tried the Mission or Target stems, so I really can't speak to their quality, so I'll have to defer to you on those two and take your word for it that they're great stems, and I'll probably give them a go sometime soon.
That being said...
I completely agree with you that the Designa stems should be in 1st place. They do hold better than the the other two that I've used. You can't beat the price, especially if you buy in quantity. Flight retention-wise, they hold better than the Harrows and Unicorn, but only when flight rings are used. I think part of the reason they stay in so well without rings might be because they seem to cut the channels a bit deeper. Maybe they don't, but that's always been my takeaway on them anyway. When you do put lock rings on them, they're unbeatable. You have to pull really hard to dislodge the flight. From a durability standpoint, I've found them to be very durable. They tend to break a lot less, and I think this might be the unintended consequence of possibly being a softer and likely cheaper grade than the others. To me, they tend to be much more forgiving and, I guess for lack of a better word, flexible. The Designa stems check all the boxes for me and definitely get my vote for the best, plus, I like a cleaner look, devoid of logos or any other print.
I'm not sure if it's just a QC problem, but I've not had any problems with the Unicorn Gripper series, and I've certainly never had a flight fall out as easily as they did in this video. My only problem with their stems is one that you mentioned, and that's loading them. They definitely take a lot more patience to load, and I noticed the same problem with loading them that you did, the tops are flat and the insertion slots aren't as pronounced as they are on the Designa stems. From a durability standpoint, I've found them to be tougher than the Harrows, most likely because they're nylon and not polycarbonate. My experience with polycarbonate stems has been poor at best. Every single time I've had one in a collision with an incoming barrel, the polycarbonate ones fall apart, especially in a Robin Hood situation. Every time I've Robin Hooded a Harrows stem, the broken part disappears and my incoming dart always lands on the floor. I've had this same problem with, and forgive me if I get the name wrong because I'm doing this from memory, one80 Vice Proplast. Whenever I've damaged the end of a Gripper 2, 3 or 4 stem, most of the time there's been enough of it left intact to hold the incoming dart for a few seconds until I can remove it. Not only that, but the polycarbonate ones, being less flexible than the nylon ones, don't allow for complete flight insertion without removing and leaving the rings out. And speaking of the rings, the Unicorn ones are the spring type, which means they expand slightly as you push the flight into the stem. The Harrows ones are solid, so once you get to a certain point, it's impossible to push the flights all the way in, plus the tops of the stems are wider, and they don't even allow the use of spring rings. At least that's been my experience with them. I'll take the Unicorn stems over the Harrows ones any day.
Maybe I'll put a set each of the Mission and Target stems on my next DC order and give them a few throws to see what happens. I highly doubt that I'll like them better than the Designa ones, but I'll probably like them better than the Unicorn ones.
For me the order would probably be:
1) Designa
2/3) Mission/Target
4) Unicorn
5) Harrows
Super grips are great. If I don't have my flights punched, then L style flights work great as well.
Hey Worldwide, how do you find shipping to the states to be with Darts Corner? As far as time frame and shipping costs if I was to say order sets stems and flights. Ty
It's back to normal now. My last order took a week. The Cosmo darts I just reviewed.
Well done designa durable nylon ha ha great video and amazing prices
Can I just check that you know the process for putting a flight on a ring stem?
I don’t think the designa are as good quality. I still use them, but you do get straggly edges of plastics. The target vampire teeth, I find great. Harrows have the best stems and flights IMO but I mostly use Winmau because I use Winmau barrels.
Great video
Thanks. You can pause the video on the picture of the Designa stems. Mine were perfectly made. Maybe you got a bad set? I actually found the Target ones the hardest to get a flight into them.
Worldwide Darts I don’t mind if flights are hard to get in, although I find the target ones are really good.
There’s a process to putting a flight in a ringer stem.
You take the ring off and then let it fall in place, don’t push it down. Then you put the flight in, until it is touching the ring, still don’t push. Then you push the ring down as far as possible with your nails, then push the flight down as far as it can go, that gives the ultimate grip.
I just punch a hole in my flight and use them that way
Worldwide Darts yeah you’re looked great, the thread looked best on the designa one, too.
I bought the flight punch for the supergrips a few months ago and haven't had a flight pop of yet. Not sure if it makes a huge difference but fot $6 what the heck.
Great review, I will try the designa stems, fantastic price
favorite practice shafts: designa
i bought 20 sets of these and i'm pretty sure that's a lifetime supply :P
favorite fancy shafts: Winmau prism force.
they pretty :D
I love the super grips. If you punch your flights, they will almost never pop out.
Do you not use a flight punch with the metal rings? It does makes a difference. Flights stay in and robin hood's won't break the tips.
Punched flights are highly recommended and the only way to go 👍
@@WorldwideDarts that's all I use! Thanks for the reply.
I tried one set of nylon shaft from designa. The shaft broke on me the 1st day I used on the fins where they hold the flight.
It's luck of the draw with any nylon stems. They could last months or break on the first day
Are the Target Pro Grip Spin still considered nylon? I know you are not a fan of spinning stems, but have been using them for a while with Robson F-shape flights. Also tried the Harrows Carbons you reviewed on my backup set, but I seem to get more deflection related fall outs with non-spin stems. It could be a combination of lighter darts and softer throw, idk.
I think they're nylon? I remember using them for the video and they broke on me really easy. Almost felt plasticky
Ring recommendation for the designa stems? Could you link me if theres one on dartscorner? Ty
Anything really. I'm not a fan of the rings because they cause too many robinhoods.
Target Titanium slot rings are best. I haven't broken one yet.
@@iSpeakEasy32 I agree these rings are indestructable
@@iSpeakEasy32 would it fit the designa stem well?
@@irkz3587 it's what I use. The mission titaniums sometimes don't fit as well.
Some nice darts on clearance red dragon just ordered the Askari darts only £20
I started playing in the 90 s , at that time I found that plastic or plastic type stems had a problem of breaking off even inside the dart if you had a bounce out. So since then I started using aluminum exclusively.
Is that less of a problem with today's materials?
Yes, the nylon stems are 100% improved. It would have to be an extremely bad bounceout to break a stem nowadays.
To improve the video, I would've added rings to the designa stems to more fairly compare, I bet they would've been just as strong as the competitors with a ring but it's the lack of a ring which makes them cheaper
Yo you can't be playing with me nerves over here what time is the give away coming on? 😂
I have just ordered a load of the designa ones from darts corner, the price and even postage is cheaper than what I can get from any place in Australia 🤷🏻♂️
Awesome to score stems at that price isn't it? If you order again you can use the discount code newslettersignup and save 10%. It's a one time use code only. Works on most items. Doesn't work on sale items though
Needed this, thank you for the vid.
I flight punch all my flights so they hardly ever come out with just a cheapo spring in the slot
So it all comes down to just how they look to me as I like the use different colour flights and stems just to look at something different in the board
Great video as always! I've used all the shafts reviewed here and couldn't agree more. The cheap desingna shafts are awesome. I do use the rings with minimal Robin hoods.
Cheers Jay! 👍
Hello friend does a 1mm longer stem make difference in your trow, because some darts stems (shafts) are 1 mm longer then 47mm they are 48mm especially when you search those stems with no Firm Name?
Keep it up...
It really shouldn't make a difference at all. Anyone should be able to adjust within a few minutes of playing. Don't overthink minor changes.
@@WorldwideDarts Ok Thks for your reply cheers mate
I have a problem:
I threw today 2 hours and 12 stems broke in that time. Its very dissapointing
A Quarter of the Shaft breaks always.
I dont know what to do.
I use the designa durable nylon from Dartscorner in black.
With tge target bolide 01 21g with standard flights and the intermediate edition is my setup
Do you have any idea?
What on earth are you doing? I go MONTHS without breaking a single stem. Time for you to get some L-Style champagne caps
@@WorldwideDarts You mean i should buy a flight puncher?
Or you mean that i buy champangne flight
I would try both although imo if you punch your flights that could lead to more robinhoods. If you want to eliminate them 100% get some sort of champagne cap or WizCaps . You shouldn't be breaking stems at that rate. I honestly don't remember the last time I broke a stem
@@WorldwideDarts Maybe i should buy shaft Rings that the shaft is more save.
Ill try out the l style stuff sounds interesting
I've used pro-grip and super-grip for years and pro-grip is the better shaft without a doubt between those. I hole punch my flights btw and everyone should as well....
I agree. I see so many players punching their flights nowadays. Perfect way to go! 👍
Do you have to punch holes in flights for rings
Yes.
Do you have any barrel suggestions for a rear gripper?
There's so many I don't even know where to start. Straight barrel? What weight?
@@WorldwideDarts i would like a barrel that narrows at the point, 22 to 24 grams
Random question but how do I prevent Robin Hooding regularly? It's like every hour or so of practice I Robin Hood.
I switched to Comso stems and flights back in 2015 and haven't had a robinhood since.
i am a fan of disinga stems for over 30 years and a don''t yus no more then 4 sets a sesson
Really looks like the Mission is the same stem as the Designa, just with a logo on them. They look nearly identical
I've been using L-STYLE stems for the last year or so, never changed a set. But if I used normal flights and stems it would be the designa stems. Using a locked ring always did the job. Used pro grip and supergrip (also carbon) and all of those broke once, on the barrel them selfs or 1 of the 4 tips broke... I have the feeling that the material that is used is an harder plastic, what results in a more fragile stem imo... but if u can spend more money than those stems i recommend L-STYLE shafts.
Great video as always !!!
I've been using Comso stems myself but only because I like the Superekites flights
Cheers Sam! 👍
@@WorldwideDarts I also used them, the system is also very good but I chew up way may flights for some reason🤔
@@samgrootroessink7314 Probably because of the lip where the point transitions into the barrel. Have you ever considered Trident 180s or Storm type points?
Personally I use short plus target pro grip stems, because I can get them for £1 a set and they're stocked by the darts shop down the road from me.
You could get 4-5 sets of equally good stems for that price.
Worldwide Darts yeah I know. I get my stems from the local sports shop, but they only stems they stock are Target pro grips. Would much prefer the Harrows Supergrips. Might get a couple of sets from dartscorner.
Now, for the real question. Why are stems not flight thick specific?
I use the short red version designers
Can you link the site where you purchased these items?
www.dartscorner.co.uk/index.html
@@WorldwideDarts what do you think about the Shot! stems. Also where do you see the discount for ordering bulk?
should have got the gripper 4 long length those match the other brands medium more closely the unicorns come in 4 lengths i actually love the g4 the amount of times u get a robin hood and the prong survives u can just bend it back into place fine defo need to use punched flights with them though my only issue with them is the threads on them are a bit too thick for my target darts and tyhey are prone to snapping the thread in the barrel if the fall on hard floors
Hey...Robin Hood here! Unfortunately I break ´em all in under ten minutes of darts.
Just recently I switched from all nylon shafts to Target´s Aluminium Grip Style and bought an extra of 30 screw-on tops. Now, I can at least play 6 sets with 5 Legs. LOL!!!
Aluminum. Are you American by any chance?
@@WorldwideDarts Hey Worldwide! Merry christmas! Saw your answer here just today. Nope, not american; just here in germany we call it aluminium for some reason... but anyway, I even got L-Style shafts and flights for christmas today and guess what!?!?!? third throw Robin Hooded that thing. So, have some nice xmas days! Keep it up!
Great review, once again. 😉👌 Thank you.
Thanks For Sharing My Friend..
I've always used the supergrip simply because they look better, guess I'm a material guy 😂. Glad they placed high on the list, I don't mind paying extra for a sexy looking stem
Winmau Prism Force?
Decent stems. I limited things to 5 because of the video length. Imo it's already WAY too long at near 12 minutes.
@@WorldwideDartsI know I keep saying this but I honestly do believe that you could go pro.
Have you tried, or would you consider trying?
If I were anywhere near your level I definitely would.
Take care buddy peace
Wow I must be getting clever in my old age, my 2 favourite stems came top and the Hardcore Charcoal flights are my latest favourite too ( wink, wink )
Seems as though I got a bunch of those flights in the mail recently 👍
Great vid👍
i use designa nylon shafts for about two years and i have no complain.....
Nice review.
👍🏻 Great review, thank you
Thank you. You'r welcome! 👍
Unicorn always expensive . The jet stems years ago ,it was hard to get a set that were straight !
Where are you buying theses?
Everything came from Darts Corner
Designa is the best👍👍👍
I hate unicorn stems, Pro grip stems are good but the ring suppiled doesnt last 5 minutes, Designa all the way cheap and very durable.
Totaly agree 🙂
U re right. The rings are maybe only for Softdartplayers made...
My favs are the red dragon Nitro Tech
tried almost everything..but always go back to the cheap designa stems
*All stems can be found here at Darts Corner* www.dartscorner.co.uk/index.php?cPath=434