Target K Flex One Piece Flight & Shaft System | Product Review
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In the growing market of molded flight and shaft systems, the Target K Flex comes to the forefront of the game with an innovative solution to one piece systems. Branching out from the original No.6 Shape, this Target drop adds the new No.2 Standard shape to all available K Flex colors!
Jen Mounts gives you an in-depth review and performs slow motion test shots with the Target K Flex one piece flight and shaft system using the Target Bolide Void darts range for the throwing action.
Let’s go over each aspect of the Target K Flex one by one, including all the latest expansions to the K Flex series:
The September 2024 Target Launch brought three big hitters to the K Flex family as part of the new K Flex Neon line. Available in both No.2 and No.6, the K Flex now comes in bright yellow, pink, and orange colors.
For months, fans have seen Luke Littler's exclusive Target K Flex player flights during his games and wondered, "Where can I get one?!" Wonder no longer — they're here as part of the July 2024 Product Drop! Available in both No.2 and No.6, you can finally rock the youth superstar's K Flex flights.
Like all molded dart flights, the Target K Flex requires a specialty case for safe storage. Thus, the K Case was born! It can hold a set of 3 K Flex flights at once, well suited for either No.2 or No.6 flights. Each K Case comes with a handy keychain clip so you can attach it to your darts case on-the-go.
Aside from new colors, the dart community was filled with curiosity and desire for the next K Flex flight shape. Finally, the long-awaited Target K Flex in No.2 Standard is here, brought to you by the April 2024 Product Drop! All previous colors now come in No.2 Standard so you can enjoy your favorite color in the new flight shape.
The Target K Flex made big waves in the dart community after their debut and everyone was left wondering: Where are the color versions???
By popular demand, Target has finally released three new colors in the December 2023 Product Drop. Take a peek at Target's video of the new K Flex colors in red, green and blue (first seen earlier this year in the Target 975 Ultra Marine) – expanding the original black, white and clear collection.
The Target K Flex made its initial debut in black, white and clear earlier this year in the Target September 2023 Launch. Check out Target's launch video on the K Flex system giving you a closer view into its engineering and appearance.
Amongst all other molded flight and shaft systems being released in the current dart market, the Target K Flex comes in at an incredibly affordable price point. If you're new to using one piece systems and want to try it without dishing out a lot of money, the K Flex is perfect for you.
For people looking to settle on their go-to system, it's worth looking into the price and durability of your options: Is the cheap, less durable thing in the long run going to best the expensive, more durable thing?
You might just have to experiment with your options to find the best fit for you.
As of right now, the Target K Flex system is only available in No.6 Shape, No.2 Standard and 6 solid colors, leaving little room for flexibility for those who prefer other flight shapes or designs. There are exclusive player designs such as the Luke Littler Prodigy flights and the Elysian 10 Amber K Flex, but they are currently unavailable for individual sale.
There's no doubt the Target K Flex collection will only continue to grow from here thanks to its endless success. Stay tuned for more additions to the K Flex line!
One piece flight and shaft systems combine the technology of molded dart flights with the familiarity of dart shafts into one cohesive molded piece that attaches to your dart like usual. With one piece systems like the Target K Flex, you don't have to worry about buying separate parts for your darts, and more importantly, you can finally cut down on those pesky bounce outs and robin hoods from traditional foldable flights and shafts.
If you're worried about the reliability of a one piece flight and shaft system, Target has got your back. Each Target K Flex is made for easy use with standard 2ba threading, allowing you to twist the K Flex directly into your dart barrel.
Not only does this guarantee your flights won't fall out, unlike traditional flights and shafts, the K Flex system can also be used with any dart barrel with 2ba threading, not just Target darts.
Something we noticed about the Target K Flex is the extra material on the threading that creates a tighter fit in the barrel, effectively reducing the chance of the K Flex coming loose. This is also common with soft tip points – they're made almost imperfect where the threads are a bit off so they stay on really tight and secure.
If you want a more comfortable experience installing the Target K Flex, try taking it off and putting it back on your barrel a few times to break in that tight threading.
Because the Target K Flex material is carved out to create channels in the stem, the overall system ends up being pretty lightweight compared to other one piece systems on the market. The overall material itself isn’t too soft or brittle – it’s also not so hard and rigid that there’s hardly any flex to make way for tight groupings.
With a change in weight to your overall dart, it might take a while to get used to the weight adjustment. It's also worth mentioning that rear grippers who rest their fingertips into the shaft might not be used to the feeling of the Target K Flex's carved grooves. They aren't big enough for your fingers to rest into, making it awkward to grip.
Being lightweight doesn't necessarily mean that they'll break quicker or easier. The Target K Flex systems are fairly durable and have lasted many users through months of repeated use.
To protect from long-term wear and tear, especially from tight grouping, the edges along the K Flex flights are reinforced with extra thickness. The flight wings are also molded in a perfect 90 degree angle, meaning that they'll always keep their shape and encourage optimal flight patterns in your throw.
What sets the Target K Flex apart from the rest of the one piece systems on the market is Target's patented twist system. The shaft is engineered in a way that allows the K Flex system to rotate and move around in place if it gets hit by another dart.
In practice, however, we have yet to see much of the twist system at play even with multiple test runs and hours of throwing. When you grab the Target K Flex itself and twist it, the shaft can definitely twist. On the board, not as much. It tends to bend out of the way more than anything.
As with many things in life, not everything is perfect. There's always some kind of trade off and subjective opinion to be thrown into the conversation and the Target K Flex is not immune to criticism.
Here are some pros and cons of the Target K Flex one piece flight and shaft system that we've come across:
You reduce the chance of robin hooding and completely eliminate the possibility of flights popping off the shaft when your darts impact the board. The K Flex is 100% secure in the barrel.
It’s way more user friendly. Not all flight and shaft systems are that complicated, but some do have quite a lot of parts – Target K Flex is literally just the one piece.
You have to have a specialty case with a one piece system since you can’t break the Target K Flex down into individual parts like traditional flights and shafts or two piece systems. Luckily, Target released a specialty case just for the K Flex flights.
Lack of variety. Molded flight and shaft systems rarely see variety in design since it's a huge investment for manufacturers to do so. Most stick to producing the classic black, white and clear color options.
To test the Target K Flex's full potential, Jen conducted various test shots with the Target Bolide Void darts range and aimed for very tight groupings. Let's go over each steel tip and soft tip scenario that Jen came across in her test shots.
In steel tip scenario #1, the dart that is actually fitted in the board rotates out of the way as the other dart comes in. The first dart is definitely spinning out of the way more extremely than the Target K Flex system flexing or twisting just at the stem or flight.
In steel tip scenario #2, either the actual marker dart itself physically moves up, down, left and right being forced out of the way from the incoming dart or the Target K Flex system bends itself up, down, left and right to flex out of the rather rather than twisting at all.
Steel tip scenario #3 is just one instance of good proof that the stem can twist decently during impact. Keep in mind the marker barrel is rotating a little clockwise, but initially the point catches the marker fin just above, pulling it down and clockwise to twist out of the way. Then, it seems the entire marker dart further rotates inside the sisal of the dartboard.
Our only soft tip scenario showcased the marker dart bending out of the way. There was hardly saw any evidence of the actual stem part twisting during the soft tip testing. Instead, the marker dart either gets pushed around or the Target K Flex bends to get out of the way.
The strength of the throw or the extreme angle of impact didn't matter – we could only see the marker dart bending out of the way.
After several test shots with the Target K Flex, we finally have the answers to some burning questions about the K Flex system and how well it lives up to its intended purposes.
After much trial and error, we found that the Target K Flex does twist to a degree – but more often it bends out of the way instead.
The amount of force it takes to require the Target K Flex flight to actually twist is too much – plus the friction of the dart in the board needs to be there for this to happen.
In steel tip, the sisal isn't strong enough to hold the dart in place for that twisting to occur. In terms of soft tip, the Target K Flex may twist as intended because of the greater friction from the plastic tip wedging into a plastic hole.
Because the Target K Flex is able to flexibly bend out of the way of a secondary dart, the K Flex does help prevent deflections and bounce outs as advertised.
We can't say for sure whether the patented K Twist also helps with deflections and bounce outs as, again, the Target K Flex doesn't twist as much or as often as intended.
Every single person is going to have a different perspective of durability, and the lifespan of your equipment definitely depends on your throw style as well.
For Jen, after 10 weeks of shooting with the original black Target K Flex, the flights still look brand new – no chips, no tears, no kinks or strains in the fins. Just minor lines from typical wear and tear.
However, the green K Flex set used in test shots experienced more wear and tear over the course of 2 days. Little chunks were taken out from the wings of the K Flex as Jen purposefully tried hitting the back of the flight during several test shots.
Finally, who might gravitate towards the Target K Flex system and who might not be best suited for it?
Your dart equipment matters. Finding the right fit for your exact grip and throw style could make all the difference in your games. After playing around with the Target K Flex, we've come up with a few categories to consider if you're thinking of buying yourself a set.
As far as the performance of the Target K Flex, we believe it'll perform better on steel tip because the darts are more anchored in the board, pushed in further.
Steel tip darts are lodged pretty securely into the dartboard and bounce outs won't be a huge problem.
Soft tip, on the other hand, is just a springboard where the plastic tip of the soft tip dart is just barely in the hole. This creates more potential for bounce outs and deflections on soft tip boards.
Even blowing on a soft tip dart is enough to make it move in the dartboard.
The Target K Flex really caters to people who already know exactly what they want in a flight and shaft system and love what the K Flex currently has to offer.
Or, if you're trying to avoid the paradox of choice and opt for a more minimalistic flight and shaft, the K Flex is a perfect one piece option.
For newer players who are still trying to work on their throw style and experiment with their darts equipment, the Target K Flex might be an expensive choice when you don't know if it'll work for you.
It's cheaper and more efficient to buy sets of traditional flights and shafts of different shapes and lengths to find what you like.
For someone with a lighter throw style, less bounce outs, no specialty points or aggressive barrels like Jen, the cheaper and less durable option may be the better choice.
Your Target K Flex set will last longer because they won't get as beat up and you'll save yourself more money in the long run.
For someone with a heavier throw, more bounce outs, specialty equipment or aggressive barrels, your Target K Flex might experience more damage over a shorter period of time.
Thus, your play style might require a more expensive and/or more durable system than the Target K Flex.
There you have it! We've covered the full collection available in No.6 Shape, No.2 Standard, and in 9 colors: black, white, clear, red, green, blue, pink, yellow, and orange. Click the image below shop the entire Target K Flex collection or click the Shop Now button.
Curious about some of the other products seen in our video review? Browse the items below:
If you're curious about the Target MOD System, Jen gives you a full breakdown of the entire MOD system build, tips on what to buy for your personal home set up and throws a leg against the dartbot level 9 in this A-Z Darts Youtube video.
The Target Bolide Void darts range features a variety of sleek barrel shapes in one collection made for ultimate precision and performance.
There are 6 total models: Soft Tip 10 and Steel Tip 01-05 purchase options. Click the image above to shop the full Target Bolide Void Darts Range.
Click the image above to shop the full Target September 2024 Launch or click the Shop Now button below 👇
No system is ever perfect. There's tons of variables at play – your preferences, your budget, your throwing habits and more. With the pros and cons we provided and the questions we answered, we hope that you're able to make a fully informed decision before buying a new set of the Target K Flex as your next flight and shaft system.
Get your hands on the Target K Flex today and experience new heights of performance in just one piece: Target K Flex.
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