LAWN DARTS (Jarts) vs ROMAN PLUMBATA

Lawn darts are legendary; sold under many names and famously as 'Jarts' in the US and they were a toy so dangerous they were outright banned in the US and controlled in various ways in Europe.
Their parallels with the Ancient Roman Plumbata; flighted war darts is quite clear but how dangerous are 'Lawn Darts'?
I recruited a band of 1970's reenactors (yes they really do exist) and threw some darts about......
Many thanks to the 1970's camping reenactors of Kentwell Hall, Daddy two and daughter two and the 'geniuses' who thought they could tame a lethal weapon and give it to children.
Throwing plumbata in every way I could think of • Plumbata 2 - Bigger, B...
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Kentwell Hall is where my reenacting started and the reason that I make medieval weaponry now - a very special place to me and thanks for letting me film www.kentwell.c...

[@mjfleming319]

The amazing thing to me is that Tod has so many contacts in the re-enactment world that he even has 70’s campers friends. I didn’t even know such a thing existed, but he apparently has them on speed dial.

[@Rami-ll2bq]

Look, spot on bro, hilarious, the orange sweater is the key

[@LailandiAdventures]

Not really acknowledging the ridiculousness of the situation is so quintessentially British and I love it.

[@johnladuke6475]

As though Monty Python was just a documentary series about how absurd the country really is at times.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

I grew up with that toy was around , My friends had it also , None of us ever hurt ourselves or ended up at the hospital ! Kids now dAYS ARE CLUELESS , THEY WOULD ALL DIE , OR BE BLIND ,ECT: IF THEY HAD OUR TOYS FROM BACK THEN !

[@benholroyd5221]

@@TOMAS-lh4er survivorship bias. All your dead peers aren't here to disagree. And those with stumps instead of fingers and hands can't type a response. I could equally point out that I grew up without mobile phones and the internet. Every teenager knows that they are basic necessities of life that they wouldn't be able to survive without.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

@@benholroyd5221 WOW !! you must stop smoking crack !

[@benholroyd5221]

@@TOMAS-lh4er but it helps me relax and think clearly.

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

If Tod had dressed as a Roman skirmisher, the video would have been perfect.

[@mchernett]

We actually had a Roman reenactor lined up for the video but unfortunately he had a positive Covid test and couldn't make it (he's fine now).

[@Aengus42]

@@mchernett Glad he's OK! He would've stolen the show though!

[@Riceball01]

Or he could have invited the Metatron over,

[@mchernett]

@@Riceball01 Now that's a good idea...

[@mchernett]

@@Aengus42 Hard to steal the show from Terry!

[@78my9]

For some inexplicable reason I'm expecting John Cleese and the rest of Monty Python to suddenly appear in this fun vid.😕💓😁

[@ludecom-cz1wz]

That would be silly!

[@goreil2489]

I say anyone for tennis?

[@maciek19882]

Salad Days by Sam Peckinpah

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

Don't mention the war ! The Gallic war, that is.

[@kevinwestermann1001]

And now for something completely different...!

[@AndyColglazier]

Being those kinds of boys, my cousin and I, when we were in middle school, so about 13 or 14, had a set of lawn darts of the old style. One evening we thought it would be a great idea to throw these darts as high into the air as we possibly could without having any idea where they were going to come down. Of course we did it until it was truly too dark to see, and on the last throw we threw ourselves to the ground and put our hands over the backs of our heads, as if that would make much difference. I heard the sound of the dart coming down before I heard my cousin scream. The dart penetrated his elbow to the bone and bounced back out. I remember the sound of the impact to this day. The second scream came when my mother applied Mercurochrome to the wound, all the while shaking her head and calling us stupid boys. But those darts were a lot of fun!

[@bologna3048]

Basically... kids are dumb lolol

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

Who thought introducing mercury into the bloodstream was a good idea?

[@Leo.23232]

@@AndyFromBeaverton its an antiseptic, it wasnt proven ever it caused mercury poisoning, just speculation since it contained mercury, i doubt it does since someone surely would have gotten mercury poisoning at some point if it did, but maybe it does i massive quantities, cant say for sure

[@Leo.23232]

could just wear a helmet and it should be mostly safe

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

@@Leo.23232 Apparently, the cousin needed some elbow pads as well..😏

[@snootdingo9365]

Oh my, the menacing scourge that is JARTS. My cousin has a nice gouge-like scar from forehead to outer corner of eye from one of those deadly instruments of fun. We would all stand back to back, 6 of us, then one would throw the Jart straight up, as high as they could. If you looked up, or ran, you were a chicken. Last one to run, won. He won.

[@Lianthrelle]

We did that in boy scouts in the late nineties with 4ft (ish) sharpened sticks. Called it Mubley Peg

[@jm9371]

I remember doing the same thing with my brother.

[@jeffthebaptist3602]

The US Jarts weren't built like yours though. They were something like a foot long steel shaft with fins that slid up and down the length of the thing. I'm betting they were noticeably heavier that the English ones. I don't recall if they were blunt tipped or not. I don't think they were sharpened, but they may have had something like a rounded tip.

[@motagrad2836]

Rounded if not a semi-sharped blunt. I always stood well back and away while my brothers took their turns throwing (I was the youngest) and one high lib did get sick solidly in the top of a fence post. Also, the find on the us ones slide back when thrown, for better stability and a longer handle, then came solidly back down when they hit

[@dbb1292]

I remember those, still amazing my protective mother allowed the things. I remember them with a rounded tip. Lots of fun.

[@brianreddeman951]

@@motagrad2836 The ones I played with (it's been decades) basically a nail that's been dulled a little.

[@motagrad2836]

@@brianreddeman951 as I recall we ended up with the rounded version rather than the rounded-off nail-tipped ones, and my brothers were disappointed. We did know about those though

[@Albiom]

i just searched google for ''american lawn darts'' damn they're nasty

[@VenisDamalo]

I'm American and I just call them lawn darts. I've heard them called Jarts before but to me that sounds like a dart somehow made out of denim.

[@darrenp9454]

They were called lawn darts in Canada too. They were different than Todd's as well.

[@VenisDamalo]

@@darrenp9454 And if anyone was going to make darts out of denim, it'd be Canada

[@johnladuke6475]

@@VenisDamalo Denim jarts are best when they taste like maple, thank you for your interest in Canada. Sorry we don't have a sample for you, eh?

[@atomic5134]

I jarted

[@houmand]

You've gotta bring Jeremy and Terry around for more stuff.

[@mchernett]

You mean Brian and Terry?

[@_aullik]

I love how you manage to get those ridiculous setups.

[@equesdeventusoccasus]

I remember Jarts as a kid. My father's set didn't look like the set Tod had. They had the plastic fins, but the main body only had a plastic sleeve over the bar, and the spike was longer & sharpened. Considering the other common lawn game was horseshoes, with a shoe large enough for a draft horse, Jarts didn't seem that much more dangerous. There were more horseshoe injuries than Jarts. (I suspect it was due to the fact that the Jarts had points & were therefore more respected.)

[@potatoradio]

You apparently were smarter than some of us who knew better but there were catch or chicken versions of the game... then again I also used to jump of ramps made out of stacked 2x4s and crap plywood on a Huffy wildcat with no helmet.

[@equesdeventusoccasus]

@@potatoradio I warped my Huffy's frame standing on the seat without holding the handlebars, also sans helmet.

[@johnladuke6475]

Even the non-maniacal play at lawn darts can end badly. Tod and another grownup actually read the rules and attempted to follow them. But they still did it wrong. For safety, you're supposed to stand at the same end, with your opponent, and take turns throwing (like when they first threw). Then walk to the target, turn around, and throw back to where you started. Just like horseshoes. And yet, the intelligent people demonstrating how they compare to historical weapons still stand at opposite ends and chuck them at each other. Kids are doomed, even without a little psycho to suggest that someone play goaltender.

[@TOMAS-lh4er]

no !! wE WERE JUST KIDS WITH SOME COMMON SENSE , THATS WHY WE COULD PLAY WITH THAT STUFF 1

[@tanuvazi]

Horseshoes has a bounce or roll to contend with, jarts you just had to avoid the point of impact.

[@johnbeauvais3159]

So is 70s camping weekend the same time as Medieval weekend? Or is there enough overlap that they have to be offset so you aren’t missing your cobbler and blacksmith?

[@doctorgorgomel]

The overlap depends on which 70s we're talking about. Perhaps 970s? Bloody good times ;)

[@MollymaukT]

I was gonna say there's probably more acid involved in 70s camp but thinking about who I go to Medieval weekend with I'm not so sure

[@dahobdahob]

From my memory, the 70s were in the middle ages...

[@caseysmith544]

@@MollymaukT They had the Weed from the area, yes there was some not good stuff in England at the time in 970, Weed and like weed stuff grows all over the world in most climates to zone 4 or zone 3 but often not anything more cold. There was some kind of Sage when smoked it gave a buzz for about 10--15 minutes in England but not sure if the specific sage is still able to be found or if mankind in the way we expanded where we live/changed the landscape had something to do with it disappearing.

[@benholroyd5221]

1970s during the week. Mediaeval only on the weekend. Friday night. Keys in a pewter bowl.

[@JeveGreen]

I remember the original videos on plumbata, and through them all I couldn't stop comparing them to lawn darts. I was just thinking: "That's basically a lawn dart made for combat." I had a feeling this video would be made sooner or later. Lo and behold, ladies and gentlemen! I was right.

[@erikpetersen-chinguacousys1943]

We played with these at the cottage every summer when I was a kid. Their points were SHARP! They came that way. Their dangerous nature of course made them that much more fun!!

[@TerminusTartaros]

It's funny how tod is trying to hide the fact that he build a genuine time machine by pretending he is just visiting some nostalgia campers. But you can't fool me. I am onto you.

[@ryklatortuga4146]

"Sadistic Mika Band" did a cool 70's song about a ... Time machine ni onegai

[@EmergencyChannel]

I never expected to see a Sadistic Mika band reference here

[@Horizontalvertigo]

I like how the object of the game slowly shifts from the ruleset to "how many children can you injure?" The campers are totally fab too!

[@beebob1279]

I’ve been a physical education teacher for over 30 years. When you mentioned the kids tossing straight up or behind them, you’re absolutely right. I remember those darts as a kid. It taught you to pay attention that’s for sure. If you were adhd it cured your problem fast

[@Texasbluesalley]

Lawn Dart survivor here. This brings back so many memories. 😅

[@BaronVonHardcharger]

70's Camping! I love it. :D

[@pencilquest9409]

Your mates are KILLIN it, bud, lmao! Tell them they did a great job! :D

[@codys1528]

I truly love your 70's camping group

[@wintera138]

this video just transported me. total fever dream. completely lost in it, i feel high.

[@johnladuke6475]

The pills that mother gives you don't do anything at all.

[@earthknight60]

I was a little kid in the US in the 70 and used to play with these through the 70s and 80s. As I recall, the ones in the US (at least the ones everyone I knew had) didn't come flat blunted like that. They came pointed, not sharp points, but plenty good enough to stick deeply into wood and such. The ones we had also seem to have been heavier and more sturdily built than the ones you've got here. We had a lot of fun with them. I've always been annoyed that you can't buy them any more in the US. I think there is a loophole though, I think you can buy the tips and the bodies separately and put them together yourself, you just can't buy them in one piece, or with the parts shipped in the same package.

[@bologna3048]

correct, they aren't classified as lawn darts when they're in pieces, they can be in the same shipping box just not the same packaging lol

[@RiylanCorma]

Just make them. Have your friend with a 3d printer print the vane part, pick up a length of steel rod from your local hardware store... Easy.

[@johnladuke6475]

I don't think you'd even need to get a 3D printer involved. The vanes could be cut from signboard or any sheet of plastic, and stuck to a shaft with hot glue. If you want to tone down the danger, you could just use a large wood dowel as the shaft to cut down on weight.

[@allengrantham6693]

yes the ones I recall from the 70's were factory sharp and more sturdy than these. The shaft ran the full length.

[@captainflint8412]

I used to launch darts with a length of pvc pipe as an arm extension , normal brass barrel darts would go through the shed door ! Would like to see if a plumbata can be launched with a "throwing tube " more effectively than the conventional methods

[@mikeabbott2396]

I like how Brian 1:09, Jonathan 3:55, and Jeremy 10:03 are one and the same

[@VikingTeddy]

Good catch, didn't notice at all. Wonder what the inside joke in that one was.. On a tangent. How long did it take for Terrys ooooohhs to start grating?

[@rorydonaldson2794]

The production quality on this video was very *chef kiss*

[@raymonddeancona4522]

Tod, we had a set when I was a kid - the US set was quite different, solid metal shaft all the way through, point like an arrow target head and bigger vanes of plastic. Quite nasty indeed.

[@nilo70]

I LOVE these Tod , please do more whimsical episodes !

[@doug-Hakura]

I enjoyed the silliness of this video, well done.

[@nickharvey7233]

Love all your stuff, but this was absolutely great. Life On Mars camping crew on toy weapon testing tour has definitely got legs. More please!

[@CanalTremocos]

This is what happens when you feed historic reenactors after midnight. I love it.

[@euansmith3699]

Now I want to see Tod doing experimental archaeology on a variety of 1970s PSAs. Those 1970's Camping Re-enactors are doing a great job. It takes me back to my youth, when I first gained a dislike for the life-outdoors.

[@brockburker5760]

5:15 I remember doing something like that with horseshoes, I thought it went straight up and ran forwards, I saw my cousin standing back where I have thrown and was confused, then it hit me. Now there was a tree with branches hanging over the horseshoe pit so I thought the horseshoe rustled the branches and one fell on my head. When I went to touch my head it felt wet, that's when I realized what happened, and that's when I felt immense pain. Now naturally I was taken to get medical attention, after about an hour wait (with no one else in the waiting room) I ended up with three staples in my head for about a week, although the doctor had to redo two of them. Now I am left with a indent in my head and memories of the best family reunion I ever had.

[@Unsensitive]

I was almost hit by flying or bouncing horse shoes soany times growing up..

[@g0nk_droid]

I was watching a totally different video about the Plumbata, then remembered Lawn Darts. Just decided to google "lawn darts vs plumbata"....lo, and behold, EXACTLY what I was looking for lmao, thank you

[@freeholdtacticalmed]

Here’s to being the adolescent you didn’t want to live next door to! I completely identify with that. Speaking of arrow penetration, I put a cheapo target arrow into my neighbour’s above-ground swimming pool (10 kg draw weight-penetrated, pierced the liner and bounced out-followed by a stream of water). Figured you could collate my datas into your calculations. Awesome work Tod. I love your Plumbata! (Can’t get Jarts!)

[@christophercox5566]

Fun video! I had a set of American lawn darts when I was a kid. Loved to play but had to give them up because my sister was such always in the way on purpose to get me in trouble. Ahh, memories.

[@chadbaker712]

Absolutely love your videos I look forward to them very much . I only wish they were longer much longer ...

[@davedujour1]

The lawn darts/jarts I played with in the early 80s in IL were pointed if not sharp. Much more pointed than those blunt end English lawn darts. Our Jarts would have been quite dangerous if they had hit someone. We'd have people stand in the front yard and throw them over the house into the back yard hoping to hit the hula-hoop. Then the people in back would throw them over the house to the front yard. Getting enough height to clear the 2 story + attic house was a lot of fun, but we always yelled to make sure the people on the other side knew one was coming. I don't remember anyone getting injured by our Jarts. Make a slightly cut hand if someone tried to catch one being thrown at short distances, but that would be a cut from the plastic. But if one had hit someone on the head I wouldn't have been surprised if it had caused some damage. Maybe not penetrated the skull but at least would have caused an ER visit.

[@abyeeve]

Having the 70s group with you gave me a big smile

[@ohm1945]

Todd, this episode was nutty. But educational all the same.

[@Intranetusa]

0:20 - Both skirmishers and late Roman legionnaires carried war darts.  In Vegetius' De Re Militari, there is a section called "The Loaded Javelin" that says legionnaires carried 5 of these in the hollow of their shields: "The exercise of the loaded javelins, called martiobarbuli, must not be omitted. We formerly had two legions in lllyricum, consisting of six thousand men each, which from their extraordinary dexterity and skill in the use of these weapons were distinguished by the same appellation. They supported for a long time the weight of all the wars and distinguished themselves so remarkably that the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian on their accession honored them with the titles of Jovian and Herculean and preferred them before all the other legions. Every soldier carries five of these javelins in the hollow of his shield. And thus the legionary soldiers seem to supply the place of archers, for they wound both the men and horses of the enemy before they come within reach of the common missile weapons."

[@johnladuke6475]

Well nobody was arguing that the plumbata were real and saw use. Tod is just the champion who answers the burning question we've all pondered... "Aren't those just sharp lawn darts?"

[@Intranetusa]

@@johnladuke6475 I was referring to 0:20 when he said they were used by skirmishers and not legionnaires.

[@user-fl8yv7rz6f]

@@Intranetusa the old Roman armies had 4 types of legionaries , the skirmishers were called Velites, after the Marius reformation of the legions the Velites no longer existed so the legionaries became the missile throwers.

[@Intranetusa]

​@@user-fl8yv7rz6f You're confusing the army of the late Roman Empire with the army of the mid Roman Republic. Vegetius' De Re Militari was written in the late 300s AD and describes the late Roman Imperial Army. This is almost ~500 years after the Marian Reforms (early 100s BC) you're talking about. War darts are weapons adopted by the late Imperial Roman army. Furthermore, the Velites of the mid Roman Republic didn't carry war darts either. The Velites, along with the Hastati and Principes, carried javelins and heavy javelins (eg. different types of pila) that could be thrown or used in melee.

[@user-fl8yv7rz6f]

@@Intranetusa I was wondering why I'd never come across them before, my interest in Roman history drops after the Flavian dynasty. Thanks for the information.

[@jm9371]

We had a set of those lawn darts in the 1980's. I remember doing all kinds of crazy stuff with them. My brother got one stuck in his foot when we were seeing how close we could come to each other without hitting them.

[@tylerstutzman9722]

My brother and I had these exact lawn darts as children, and yes, we did immediately sharpen them. One variation on lawn darts that we played was that one player had to straddle the target ring (feet outside of the hoop, perpendicular to the thrower at the opposite end, which left a small child stretched out, and unable to move quickly), while the other player threw all 4 lawn darts either at the ring, or at the person straddling it. If the straddler didn't move at all, they negated the 3 points of any darts that made it in the ring. If they moved at all on a throw, that was worth 2 points to the opposing player. If a dart went past the straddler, and they didn't move their feet (but were allowed to duck or move torso), then that was worth 2 points to the straddler. I distinctly recall one embedding in my shoe, and slicing the outside of my foot, and that was the last I saw of the lawn darts.

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

Kids used to throw them in the air straight up like your buddy did on accident. My folks saw us doing it and immediately confiscated them. This was 1990 ish.

[@craigplatel813]

Did that in the 60's as a kid. Living in the country that was one of the lesser dangerous things we did.

[@johnladuke6475]

The only set I ever saw as a child belonged to my cousin, and I couldn't understand why he was so excited to have found them buried in a crawlspace. He played the same way you did, with similar results. I was very confused about how the game was fun. I was an adult before I learned how you're supposed to play.

[@Ryzawa]

What a riot of an episode, surely didn't expect that one but that's how you keep things lively of course!

[@simonrival1613]

The bloopers at the end were fantastic.

[@kevinbarron5434]

I remember my parents bought a set at a lawn sell, box and all, and that particular set was factory sharpened. Luckily, even at 10, I was pretty athletic, and would have made a pretty accurate and nasty roman skirmisher.

[@krissteel4074]

I remember the ones in Australia were fairly terrifying things which had I think a fibreglass shaft, some 'sci-fi rocket' wings on them, a huge steel weight and about 2" of sort-of sharpish steel hanging out the front of it. If you caught one in the dome, you're going down! I don't think they ever made them technically illegal as the casualty rates are much lower than something like fireworks or cricket balls, they just sort of stopped selling them after a while. Darts and Dart-throwing (like you find in pubs) never seemed to get the same stigma as the lawn dart though, despite the fact everyone has them in their garage, plays them at xmas or family gatherings and usually in some kind of inebriation while at the pub if there's games on. Plenty of people get zapped by those and while they won't kill you, it will at the very least really f'ing hurt and there's potential for some concussion or an eye injury.

[@whomee2]

Tod's films are just so damned enjoyable, they're over before you know it... and then you watch it again!

[@Dirtbag-Hyena]

"No-much." Is that a technical term, Todd??😄 I love your channel, I always smile at your honest enthusiasm. You're awesome, brother. Thanks for everything. ✌🏼

[@HereticalKitsune]

What a fun little skit, nice work! Silly, humorous and still informative, perfect.

[@michelguevara151]

wow, this is a blast from the past! my great uncle laurie had a set of these!

[@DanielEleveld]

Funnest video I’ve seen in a long time. I’d love to see your sources for plumbata only being used by auxilia. Gibbons refers to them used by legionnaires and the praetorians assassinated one of Alexander Severus’ advisors with plumbata. I reached out to a historian a couple years ago about this subject and he said the plumbata supplemented and even often replaced the pilum.

[@I_am_ENSanity]

The lawn darts I had as a kid were about half that size but were actually dart board sharp. We would actually through them at targets we painted on trees and they'd stick with no problem.

[@joetaylor486]

Aah brilliant. Speaking to my childhood so much there Tod. No neighbour's kids were maimed, I hasten to add.

[@mikurusagawa6897]

The bit about health and safety was righ on point - my grandpa was born in 1931 (he's still going) and he was a carpenter for most of his life, when I was younger he taught me a lot of things from his trade, and I must say, health and safety after that seemed like very foreign and exotic concept ;)

[@joshuaentwistle960]

Did anyone else see the two 70's guys in this video, or am I having a COVID fever dream? What just happened?

[@skepticalbadger]

What 70s guys?

[@backwards7]

Carry On Kentwell

[@VosperCDN]

I had a set of these and played often - but I remember a different design shape, and a far more pointed tip. No one was ever injured.

[@Tsofuable]

This was simply hilarious. Thanks for giving me a good start on this weekend. ^^

[@colbunkmust]

the amount of effort that went into the 1970s reenactment is quite hilarious.

[@kieren4475]

7:08 got me thinking "Well you can tell by the way I throw my plumbata I'm a Roman man, no time to talk."

[@garrykellogg3215]

8:52 Yuppers. Add 4 Boys/Brothers in the mix who were just like you described. 'Lets see how high we can throw them' (then scramble for shelter under a Card Table that only provided a 2' by 2' surface to take shelter under. LOL! Not a one of us ever suffered from being darted, but it was enough to make our parents have the decision that those things should disappear.

[@lloveAphmau]

I love the costumes, my mum had a friend who owned a fashion shop in the 70's, as it turned out there was still some of the stock left around early 2010 so she managed to get alot of completely unworn clothes with the tags still on

[@williameddlewis4625]

i love three guys together so cheery

[@mose717]

I got a set of these in the US for Christmas '76. They were bigger than the set shown on the video. The head of the dart was a cast pointy spike and counterweight in one which was attached to a set of large and sturdy fins with a longish tailpiece for throwing. We'd stand in a group and throw them as high as we could or we would take turns with one kid throwing them at the rest of the group. The winner was whoever the dart landed closest to. Honestly not sure how we all survived childhood.

[@leemcgann6470]

The lawn darts we had had a longer& pointed metal tip & were made of more substantial looking shafts. The tip you put on was near what you put on.

[@Glimmlampe1982]

I've never had lawn darts, but i had a toy crossbow (the ones that shoot small darts with those rubber heads that stick to smooth surfaces). And I had old style darts with metal points... :D

[@cheesewokka2930]

This video is Just amazing, its one of those video's You never thought You needed.

[@FrogmortonHotchkiss]

Apocalypse preppers take note.

[@frobro7]

The level of style in this video was astonishing

[@jorenbosmans8065]

I love the fact that you guys are comparing two ancient things. And men, that orange camping tent, I think we used to own a similar one. The smell in it was often terrible 😄

[@piccalillipit9211]

*OH PROPS TO THE 1970'S PEOPLE* that was fantastic, you looked magnificent...

[@clearmelody6252]

4:30 Tod being a subtle gigachad, and casually throwing the plumbata so they all stick perfectly into the ground.

[@florianlunne9100]

Thank you so mutch!

[@bokkenwielderful]

If I wanted my 15th century kit as authentic as your 1970s kit I'd have to rob a museum.

[@tommyfred6180]

we had lawn darts when i was little. we played with them a lot. no one ever got injured and we had a lot of fun with them.

[@user-ol1ib1ss2b]

Not enough cigarette smoke for truly authentic 70s camping. ;)

[@DarkValorWolf]

As a kid I got my hands on some bar darts and we started tossing them as far as we could along a field, at the end of that field were some mobile homes that had siding down to the ground. Well... I tossed one so far it imbedded itself in the siding with a loud "thack", luckily the people weren't home because is landed just 2 feet under a window. Tossed it well over 50 meters as a child, and that's a tiny little dart. Things are really dangerous.

[@taekwondotime]

In Canada, lawn darts were sharpened to a spear-like point, just like regular darts on a dart board. In essence, it was a lightweight plumbata. Canadian lawn darts were just larger versions of traditional pub style darts.

[@troywalker8078]

I'm thinking the ones I had in the 70s WERE sharp. However, I have slept since then.....

[@NetAndyCz]

Some kid brought regular darts to my elementary school, and poor classmate ended with one sticking out in the middle of his chest. Luckily it did not bleed much and surprisingly enough it did not seem to cause any significant damage, but those things are deceptively dangerous in the hands of irresponsible kids. And I am pretty sure they were just throwing them at improvised target and the unlucky kid was just passing in front of it unaware...

[@tylisirn]

@@NetAndyCz Once when I was a kid at a campground I was throwing darts at a dartboard (ie. using them appropriately as intended) when some other idiot kid ran right through the line of fire right before one of my throws. Had he been half a second later he would have got a dart to the side of his head...

[@adamtwelve]

As an American kid in the mid 80's I vividly remember playing with these. Our version had a much longer metal shaft and I think somewhat of a point, maybe not a needle point but it wasn't a flat blunt point either. As a 5 year old I remember throwing them straight up as far as I could, and they would stick far into the ground. Definitely were much more dangerous than the version depicted in your video, which are still dangerous (imagine taking one of those to the face!). See if you can find a set like we had in America, they were much more plumbata-esque.

[@andrewharrison8436]

My parents had a set of bowls darts, I am guessing on the size, about a 10 cm sphere of wood, actually more turnip shaped with plastic fins on the "root" and a sharpened metal spike. Good solid heft to them, nearest to the target counted unless someone elses dart was stuck in it. I would say they were about midway between these lawn darts and the plumbata in terms of risk of misuse. However the underarm bowling action made them easy to send in the right direction. So thanks for the entertainment and analysis

[@mikejackson2228]

I remember those being a lot longer and sharper as a kid in America. Almost exactly like really big ass darts.

[@nekrospike]

Yeah, they were similar to plumbata. Lots of fun.

[@OTSOBerg-pn5gm]

Spectacular

[@danstrav1788]

I remember in the early -00's we would play dodge the lawn dart, and I remember thinking that what I was feeling was a lot like what a peasant conscript in a medieval battle probably felt like.

[@cbluebeard]

showed up for the darts, stayed for the outfits! nice work!

[@jeydex5348]

There is some real quality content right there!

[@bassemb]

Your friends are delightful!

[@DGFTardin]

That ending!

[@RobertFisher1969]

We had exactly that set of lawn darts when I was a kid. Although ours were sharpened a bit. No accidents, thankfully. I guess we were too sensible. 🙂 And maybe I never showed them to my less sensible friends. I do vividly remember that I’d broken the vanes off of one of the blue ones right where they met the weighted section.

[@randalthor741]

I was *not* expecting a Tod's Workshop video to just casually involve 70s campers like that 🤣

[@Psiberzerker]

I pulled one of these things out of my thigh when I was a kid. I'm amazed that I, and everyone I knew grew up with both eyes!

[@Psiberzerker]

How dangerous they are, compared with Horse Shoes, or Bocce balls, croquet mallets... Oh, because some boy can take a bench grinder to them, and sharpen the tip? Those were the same boys that cut paper clips in half to zap you from across the room with a rubberband stretched between their thumb, and forefinger. Manufacturers don't want to be liable for bullies weaponizing their toys, I get it, but how hard is it to stick the point from a compass in the soft rubber head of a shuttlecock? Bullies will modify things to commit mayhem, as they always have done. What's the solution, take all the paperclips, rubber bands, and staplers out of school? They'll wait for winter, and put rocks in the snowballs instead. I made trebuchets as a kid, my mom and dad didn't take all the 2x4s away, and if they had, I would have raided construction sites to make trebuchets.

[@JoeR1066]

I like the dude just carrying around the box in every shot. 😂

[@ivanjednobiegowiec7656]

"for each dart embedded in your opponent..." "yeah, sounds about right?" "oh! Mind that squirrel..." Absolute GOLD :D Cheers! I.

[@draxe9121]

I have memories of my brother and I playing lawn darts in Germany as kids. I also recall that minor injuries were not uncommon,

[@PriNcEoFSpAcE009]

*unrelated* when I grew up, my parents had that exact model of tent and sunbed - the brown/orange-flower-thing, brings back some nostalgic memories, sadly we did not have lawn darts to attempt to kill each other with.

[@jameshuffaker9369]

Grew up in the same house I live in, used to be a smallish town, not Mayberry RFD, that was my mom's time, cow farm ect. No longer a small town, now a burb. Setting the framework, my lawn darts came pointed and heavy. more akin to plumbata then not, course I didn't know what a plumbata was, you taught me that. I then went looking for lawn darts like I had, originals long gone (when am I going to learn to religiously listen to my inner packrat?) and I found that in the US and Canada, they can't be had, like you said. I can see the danger, but me and my family and friends remain unperforated, Plumbata lawn darts, anyone?

[@kiltymacbagpipe]

I remember playing with the kind that had a sliding set of fins as a kid in Canada. So much fun.

[@neonsamurai1348]

I don't remember the ones we had in Canada being blunted originally but pointed, and they were metal weighted with wood and plastic.

[@tasatort9778]

The set I had as a kid, had 6 inch, weighted, sharpened steel heads, and were around 16-18 inches long overall. I live in the States by the way.

[@esoel]

Great reenactment! 🤣 And awesome video as usual!

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Those are some strange-looking romans, I can tell you that