Winmau Simon Whitlock Onyx 21 gram Steel Tip Darts

The first time I laid eyes on these I was in two minds. The first thing that came into my head was – what the…

Why would you make a black and gold set of darts?

Would you actually draw attention to yourself and play with them or, would you just put them in a case and admire them?

In either case the results are the same.

Winmau have revamped and redesigned the traditional Whitlock dart profile and come up with this design.

Sitting the Onyx side by side with the originals they appear very different, but are they?

The strategic placement of the Black highlights on what is a mainly gold dart gives the impression that the original design is much longer. The truth is the difference in length amounts to a mere 0.05mm the Onyx is actually shorter. The barrel diameter on the Onyx is 0.1mm smaller than the original, likely due to the fact that the originals were released in 22 & 24g and the Onyx is available in 21 & 23g.

The other difference is the Scallop on the rear third of the barrel had been reworked and is actually shorter making space for the flats that have been machined on the barrel and marginally increasing the rear grip. And what was a smooth transition from the rear grip to the shaft on the old design has been machined and is now an area of micro grip.

The Onyx is fitted black points that are slightly longer than the standard 26mm, thay are also supplied with Short Vecta Shafts and Black and Gold themed Prism Alpha flights. The colour scheme, changes what would be minor dimensional changes and the addition of 8 flat spots and micro grooves into an eye catching major revision.

I would Love to see this barrel in a natural finish, I was so worried about damaging the look.

I was a little reluctant to throw these at all, but after throwing them at individual numbers with good results I tried them as I would any others through the various practice drills. They are marked as a specialty shaped barrel, clearly because they are, Like the recent Peter Wright black racers these are in my opinion centre weighted. Like the Peter Wright Black Racers the Winmau Simon Whitlock darts are an awesome dart to play with. The barrel shape gives the player little or no choice other than to hold the dart the same way every time.

I have nothing but positives to express with them the grip coverage is comprehensive from one end of the barrel to the other and the scallop ensures consistency but does not interfere in throwing the dart.

A really easy dart to throw and a hard set to put down. I really gave these a full work out and was concerned that they may have been “battle scarred” but they came out with no disenable marks. As I said earlier this is a set that I would like to see in a natural finish, to make them more attractive to ordinary players who want a great set but want blend in not stand out.

I’d rate the grip 3 out of 5 and I’d rate the set at 4 out of 5 overall.