Winmau Blade 5 and Blade 6 Bristle Dartboards

I have owned a Winmau Blade 4 for approximately 8 years. Home recreational use only. It is still in good condition, with no "blooming" of the sisal or surface defects: white areas were getting dirty, and some minor flattening of the wedge wire around the bull area.Received the Blade 5 last weekend. Very simple to set up, as the central screw fits in the Blade 4 "cradle" already mounted in the dart cabinet (same size as the blade 5 mount). The rotolocks are easy to screw in to the back of the board and adjust - was set up and playing inside 5 minutes. The rotolocks are definitely a big improvement on the Blade 4 system.The new board arrived tight with no defects whatsoever, and colors are vibrant. Had not realized just how dirty the surface of the old board had got, mostly from chalk transfer I think. Thrown darts at it for a couple of hours now. Very pleased with the blade 5 so far. If it lasts as long as the Blade 4, I will be ecstatic!I only use smooth steel or titanium points on my darts - I can see that if you use the ridged or ringed points, although they may be slightly better at avoiding "drop outs", there is increased risk of pulling sisal fibers out of the board when removing the dart which may shorten the life of the board. Just a thought....UPDATE 4/9/2020 Been playing on the board for about a month now - probably practice on it for about 15-20 minutes a day. Board is holding up very well. Still no defects on the playing surface and colors are still bright. The sisal grips the dart points well. The rougher the shafts of the dart points are, the more resistance to pull the darts out of the board. This is practice so I don't really care if any drop out (not that any have) so I buffed the dart points using metal polish so its a little easier to pull them out. I want to be able to pull out the dart with one hand without touching the board itself - I don't want to have to put the other hand on the playing surface for leverage to pull the dart out - as that is probably how the dirt and chalk etc got the old Blade 4 board so grubby . I have rotated the board a couple of times to keep the wear even. Very happy so far, Great boardUPDATE JULY 2020 - still using the board for practice 15-20 minutes a day (I am not getting much better, but not the fault of the board...!) Board still looks very good, no issues. I rotate it every week or so to keep the wear even (not that there really is any wear). Great board. Glad I bought it.

I am not a heavy user but I have it for years and many hundreds of plays and it does not show any visible wear.Two notable features:1. The rotatable numbers frame distributes the usage over the whole area and no score is weared out excessively2. The metal separation between sectors is thin and shallow so the chance of a dart to bounce off them is slim to non-existent.

I really don't know what to look for in a dartboard other than 1) does it mount on the wall easily, 2) does it stay on the wall, 3) do darts go in, 4) can you read the score, and 5) do the darts come out undamaged. The answer is YES to all!MOUNTING - much easier than it may look as you just hang it and then use three turn dials to create pressure against the wall and the dartboard so the dartboard does not shift or move when playing. Pretty easy and looks professionally installed.STAYS ON WALL - we've used it quite a bit, and it has not shifted or moved at all. It has stayed perfectly in place.DARTS GO IN SMOOTH - No issues with darts on this board. They go in smooth and very limited bounces off of the wires because the wires are tapered to help the dart go into the board as opposed to bounce off. This is nice to protect my tile floor!SCORE READING IS GOOD, NOT PERFECT - the numbers are made in a wire which, as a novice, I do not have locations memorized. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell some numbers and it may make you pause to think. But its fine and manageable.DARTS COME OUT WITHOUT DAMAGE - while there appears to be some limited memory in the dartboard with some holes, overall they either fill back in or they just shrink a little. No real damage to the board and it seems to be holding up just fine. The darts are also not damaged and no issues with them dulling or bending.Overall, a solid board that you can't go wrong with!

2nd time getting a blade 5 from Amazon because of the shipping cost being free compared to $12+(usd) almost everywhere else. The board itself is great. The box came damaged heavily, but didn't effect the board itself. All mounting brackets and screws were still contained in the box. The durability of the blade 5 depends on your amount of activity on it. I practice 1-2 hours per day and some days I play multiple online league matches and I get a good 9 months to a year out of my board before I feel the need to replace it. That is with regular rotation of the board as well. I usually rotate the board once a week, sometimes 2 depending on how many hours I put in. This time I purchased the basic model, but previously had the dual-core and there is noticeable difference between the 2 for me. The dual core feels as if it grabs your dart point when it hits the board compared to my dart feeling like it is just sitting on some bristle and could jar loose at any point with the basic between. Hope I was able to help with your decisions. Next order I will try the new blade 6 model and leave feedback accordingly.