Target K Flex One Piece Flight & Shaft System | Product Review (2024)

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.

Luckily, Target has announced on their social media that future purchase options are on their way in 2024, including potential new designs! After the successful debut of the No.2 Standard, we can't wait to see what new designs will come out later this year.

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 anydart 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.

PROS

1. 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.

   
   

2. 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.

   
   
3. They are far more durable than traditional cheap foldable flights and poly shafts. Molded flight and shaft systems like the Target K Flex have more flex to them and can handle more of a beating than regular flights and shafts, which tend to be pretty fragile.

CONS

1. 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.

   
   

2. 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.

   
   
3. It may be too jarring to feel the channels in the shaft of the Target K Flex if your grip extends far into the rear and the stem, as the carved channels aren't big enough to rest your fingers in. This may also be considered a pro depending on your preference.

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.

STEEL TIP

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

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.

EXPERIENCED PLAYERS

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.

NEW PLAYERS

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.

LIGHT THROW

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.

HEAVY THROW

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.