Cookouts and Jarts

Well it is cook out season so that means that it is also the season of lawn games. Ladder golf, horse shoes, softball and kick ball are some of the most popular. These games allow the cookout goers to enjoy some activities while waiting for food while testing their abilities against their fellow cookout participants. I was at a cook out just yesterday where there were three lawn games for people to partake in ladder golf, washers and Jarts. Now these three games share several things in common. They are all played in a similar fashion to horseshoes; that is there are two teams and they stand opposite sides of the field throwing there projectile at a target and are trying to get points. All the games have varying points which allow the players to score points from. Lastly they all require a modicum of hand eye coordination and a decent throwing hand. Now, those of you not familiar with the obscure lawn game scene may be wondering what on earth are Jarts? This is understandable since they have been illegal in the United States since 1988. So why would I want to play a game that was made illegal, and what made it illegal in the first place.

Well let’s first look at Jarts and why they became illegal. A Jart is a lawn dart, similar that you would find in a regular game of darts but about a foot long. It has fins on its side to guide it and its center is made of metal. You attempt to throw these Jarts into a circle (about a foot in diameter) that is about thirty five feet away. At this circle your opponent stands throwing their Jarts at the circle near you. If you land in the circle your team gets two points and if your dart lands outside of the circle but closer than all the other Jarts than your team gets a point. The goal of the game is to get twenty one points without going over, if you were to go over with a throw the throw does not count. Now the reason why this is illegal is because when people would play this way they would accidently hit their opposing team, which led to several deaths. 

A Jart

Which begs the question why would I want to play this game? Well it is really fun! That and we all stand on the same side so we do not hit each other with darts.