Ryan Searle Darts – "Heavy Metal" Harrows Darts at Diplomatgames

Ryan Searle is one of the most unusual and at the same time most consistent players in the PDC. The Englishman from Devon bears the fitting nickname "Heavy Metal" – and this name describes not only his taste in music. Searle plays with 32-gram darts, one of the heaviest setups on the entire professional tour. Harrows currently expressly confirms this weight as his personal match weight.

Sportingly, Searle has worked his way up from the Challenge Tour to the world elite over many years. He has won numerous Players Championship tournaments, reached the final of the Players Championship Finals in 2021, and for the first time made it to the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship 2025/26. There he was defeated by the eventual world champion Luke Littler.

His career is also particularly remarkable from a health perspective. Searle suffers from Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA), a rare hereditary disease of the optic nerve. Sometimes he cannot clearly see where his darts are in the board on stage and has to ask the caller for his score. Nevertheless, Heavy Metal is one of the best dart players in the world.

At Diplomatgames you will find Ryan Searle darts from Harrows and suitable accessories. But which darts does Ryan Searle play exactly, why does he use a full 32 grams, and which Harrows series corresponds to his current setup? Here you will learn more about the career, playing style, equipment, and the man behind Heavy Metal.

Ryan Searle Profile

Name: Ryan Searle
Nickname: Heavy Metal
Birthday: October 21, 1987
Origin: Devon, England
Nationality: England
Throwing Hand: Right
Dart Sponsor: Harrows
Current Match Weight: 32 grams
Current Signature Series: Harrows Ryan Searle Series 3 Quick Point
Tungsten: 90 %
Barrel Shape: Tapered / front-loaded
Favorite Double: Double 20
PDC Tour Card: since 2017
PDC World Championship: Semi-finalist 2026
Players Championship Finals: Finalist 2021
Players Championship Titles: multiple winner
Former Profession: Window cleaner
Walk-on: "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath.

Who is Ryan Searle?

Ryan Searle was born on October 21, 1987 and hails from the southwest of England.

His career did not start as a highly touted youth project.

Searle initially played at a lower level and worked a regular job simultaneously.

Before darts became his full-time profession, Heavy Metal worked as a window cleaner.

The decisive sporting breakthrough came in 2016.

Searle won two events on the PDC Challenge Tour and thus secured a Tour Card for the 2017 season. Harrows explicitly credits these two victories as the beginning of his professional PDC career.

Since then, he has steadily worked his way up.

From Challenge Tour Player to PDC Professional

Ryan Searle's path is a good example of how long a professional darts career can take.

In 2016, he won two Challenge Tour tournaments.

In 2017, his first season as a Tour Card holder began.

In the following years, he increasingly established himself on the ProTour.

The big breakthrough finally came in 2020.

At a Players Championship, Heavy Metal made it to the final.

His opponent there:

Michael van Gerwen.

Searle won.

With that, he claimed his first PDC ProTour title. Harrows still refers to this victory as Searle's personal favorite moment of his career, because on the way he defeated, among others, Gerwyn Price and in the final Michael van Gerwen.

Ryan Searle's Greatest Achievements

His most important achievements in his career so far include:

• PDC World Championship Semi-final 2026
• Players Championship Finals Finalist 2021
• seven Players Championship titles by the end of 2025
• several other ProTour finals
• World Matchplay Quarter-final 2023
• several professional nine-darters
• first TV nine-darter at the Grand Slam of Darts 2023.

Searle does not yet hold a PDC Major title.

However, he has been very close on several occasions.

Ryan Searle in the Major Final 2021

Heavy Metal achieved his first major TV final appearance at the Players Championship Finals 2021.

In the final, Searle met Peter Wright.

The match went the full distance.

In the end, Searle narrowly lost by:

10:11.

Harrows describes this run as the closest he has come to his first major title so far.

With this, Searle proved that his success on the ProTour was not limited to floor tournaments.

Ryan Searle at the 2026 World Championship

Heavy Metal celebrated his greatest World Championship success to date at the PDC World Darts Championship 2025/26.

Before this tournament, Searle had never progressed beyond the fourth round in seven World Championship appearances.

This time, everything changed.

Searle made it to the:

semi-finals.

On his way to the semi-finals, he lost only two sets and played one of his strongest TV tournaments ever.

In the semi-final, Luke Littler was waiting.

Searle won the first set, but Littler then took control and won 6:1.

Nevertheless, the tournament was a milestone.

Career High in the World Rankings

Thanks to the World Championship semi-final, Searle made a big jump in the world rankings.

Even during the tournament, it was clear that he would move towards the Top 10. Sky Sports provisionally ranked him as high as eighth after reaching the semi-finals.

Harrows currently lists Heavy Metal at number 12 in the PDC world rankings as of August 2026.

This underscores how strongly Searle has now established himself.

What is Ryan Searle's playing style?

Ryan Searle's playing style is heavily influenced by his unusual equipment.

His darts weigh:

32 grams.

This makes Searle use one of the heaviest setups in professional darts. Harrows explicitly describes him as a player who throws with some of the heaviest darts on tour.

His throw appears accordingly:

powerful, controlled, and very stable.

A heavy dart does not necessarily require more force, but it can behave completely differently in the throw than a typical 21, 22, or 23-gram dart.

For Searle, the high weight perfectly matches his relatively direct throwing motion.

Why does Ryan Searle play such heavy darts?

That's exactly what makes his product page particularly interesting.

32 grams is unusual in modern professional darts.

Many pros play approximately between 21 and 26 grams.

Searle is significantly above that.

His Harrows Series 3 was therefore specially developed around this high weight.

Harrows describes the 32g dart as Searle's official match weight and additionally offers the same barrel idea in lighter variants.

For amateur players, this means:

You don't have to play 32 grams just because you like the Ryan Searle barrel.

Which darts does Ryan Searle play?

Ryan Searle currently plays the:

Harrows Ryan Searle 90% Series 3 Quick Point Darts in 32 grams.

Harrows expressly confirms this setup on his official player profile.

The Series 3 has a:

90% tungsten barrel
51 mm length
tapered barrel shape
front-loaded weight distribution
rear grip zone
Harrows Quick Point System.

This makes the dart one of the more unusual signature models on the market.

32 grams – who is it suitable for?

A 32g dart is not a classic all-round dart.

If you currently play, for example, 21 grams, the difference is enormous.

A heavier dart can feel very stable when thrown.

At the same time, it requires a throwing motion that harmonizes with the additional weight.

Therefore, I would not recommend customers at Diplomatgames to switch to 32 grams immediately just because Searle uses this weight.

More sensible is:

If you like the barrel shape, first try one of the lighter variants.

What's special about Ryan Searle Darts?

The current Series 3 combines several features not typically found together in many professional darts:

• extremely high weight selection up to 32 g
• front-loaded balance
• tapered barrel
• pronounced rear grip zone
• skull milling in the front area
• sandblast surface
• 90 % tungsten
• Quick Point System.

Especially the combination of a heavy barrel and a clearly defined grip zone is unusual.

Ryan Searle and Harrows

Searle has been part of Team Harrows since 2024. Previously, he played for Loxley Darts.

Thus, his current relevant outfitter history is:

Loxley → Harrows.

At Harrows, several specially developed Heavy Metal series have since been created.

The current range includes Series 2 and Series 3, as well as soft-tip darts, flights, cases, and player shirts.

For your Diplomatgames category, I would therefore mention both manufacturer names.

This way you can also reach users who are still looking for older Ryan Searle Loxley Darts.

Why is Ryan Searle called "Heavy Metal"?

The nickname fits in several ways.

Ryan Searle is a big fan of:

Heavy Metal and Rock Music.

At the same time, he plays unusually heavy darts.

"Heavy Metal" is therefore quite fitting both musically and literally.

His walk-on also supports the identity.

Searle walks on to:

"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath

onto the stage.

Hardly any PDC nickname fits a player and their equipment better at the same time.

Ryan Searle's Eye Disease

The most unusual part of his story, however, does not concern his heavy darts.

Searle suffers from:

Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy – ADOA for short.

This is a rare, inherited disease in which the optic nerve is progressively damaged and vision deteriorates.

Searle explained in early 2026 that his vision had been poor since childhood, but he only received the exact diagnosis about a year and a half prior.

Ryan Searle sometimes can't see his darts

This sounds almost unbelievable for a professional darts player.

Searle himself explained that on stage, he sometimes cannot clearly see where his darts have landed.

Sometimes he therefore asks the caller what he has thrown.

He now wears contact lenses to reduce some of the blur.

There is currently no cure for his condition.

The fact that he is still among the PDC world elite makes his technical skills all the more remarkable.

Muscle Memory Instead of Perfect Vision

For Searle, the concept of muscle memory takes on a particularly great significance.

He cannot always rely on perfect visual feedback.

His throw must therefore function particularly strongly through:

Kinesthetic sense, routine, and repeatability

function.

This may also explain why Searle holds onto an unusually heavy setup for so long.

If a movement sequence has been precisely tuned to specific 32g darts over years, a drastic change in weight can have a major impact on the feel.

His daughter is also affected

ADOA is hereditary.

Searle's daughter is also affected by the disease and is officially registered as visually impaired according to Sky Sports.

Searle is therefore now also involved in research into this rare disease.

By early 2026, he had raised approximately 15,000 Euros for the Cure ADOA Foundation.

This aspect goes far beyond darts.

Searle is now deliberately using his reach to raise awareness for a disease that few people know about.

Ryan Searle's Family

Ryan Searle is married and a family man.

Public profiles name his wife Sophie and two children. 

What did Ryan Searle do before?

Before Heavy Metal played darts professionally, he worked as a:

Window cleaner.

This makes Searle one of that generation of professionals who initially had to build their darts career alongside a normal working life.

Only after his results on the Challenge Tour and PDC improved, did darts become a full-time profession.

Ryan Searle's Hobby: Heavy Metal

For Searle, his most important hobby or personal interest is hard to miss:

Rock and heavy metal music.

His taste in music practically influences his entire player identity.

Nickname:

Heavy Metal.

Walk-on:

Black Sabbath.

Design:

Black, Red, Skulls.

Darts:

32 grams.

Harrows has consistently adopted this branding for the Series 3.

Ryan Searle and the Nine-Darter 2023

At the Grand Slam of Darts 2023, Heavy Metal achieved his first nine-darter on TV.

In the group match against Nathan Rafferty, he played a perfect leg.

This moment also shows that his heavy darts by no means prevent him from producing extreme scoring sequences.

On the contrary:

Searle is, despite – or perhaps precisely because of – his unusual setup, one of the most dangerous scorers on the ProTour.

Ryan Searle 2025 – two more titles

2025 was also sportingly successful.

Searle won two Players Championship tournaments that year. One of them was Players Championship 28, where he defeated Mario Vandenbogaerde 8:6 in the final.

By the end of the year, Searle had collected seven Players Championship titles.

His consistency on the Floor Tour is thus one of his greatest strengths.

Why Searle is so dangerous on the ProTour

Floor tournaments differ significantly from major TV majors.

There's less show.

No huge Ally Pally walk-on.

And the matches follow quickly one after another.

Especially under these conditions, Searle has proven to be extremely dangerous over the years.

His consistent rhythm and stable setup obviously work excellently over long tournament days.

The next big challenge therefore remains the:

first PDC Major title.

After the Major final in 2021 and the World Championship semi-final in 2026, Heavy Metal has come close multiple times.

Buy Ryan Searle Darts at Diplomatgames

Do you want to buy Ryan Searle Darts or try out Heavy Metal's extraordinary setup?

At Diplomatgames, you'll find various Ryan Searle Darts from Harrows and matching Heavy Metal accessories, depending on availability.

Especially current is the:

Harrows Ryan Searle Series 3 Quick Point.

The series consists of 90% tungsten, has a 51 mm long tapered barrel, and is available in several weights from 22 to 32 grams.

Ryan Searle himself uses:

32 grams.

However, if you are used to significantly lighter darts, you should not choose the heaviest model just because of his name.

Before buying, compare:

Weight, barrel diameter, balance, grip zone, and point length.

Discover the available Ryan Searle Darts at Diplomatgames now and find out which heavy metal setup best suits your own throw.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions about Ryan Searle

What darts does Ryan Searle play?

Ryan Searle currently plays the Harrows Ryan Searle Series 3 Quick Point made of 90% tungsten. His personal match weight is 32 grams.

How many grams does Ryan Searle play?

Ryan Searle plays 32 grams, making it one of the heaviest dart sets on the professional tour. Harrows also offers his Series 3 in several lighter weights.

Why does Ryan Searle play 32-gram darts?

The heavy weight is part of his personal setup, which he has been using for years. His current Harrows darts are specially designed for his powerful and controlled throw. For amateur players, however, 32 grams is by no means automatically the best choice.

What are Ryan Searle's greatest successes?

His greatest successes include the semi-finals of the PDC World Championship 2026, the final of the Players Championship Finals 2021, and numerous Players Championship titles.

Has Ryan Searle won a Major?

No. As of August 2026, Ryan Searle has not yet won a PDC Major title. His best Major final to date was at the Players Championship Finals 2021, where he lost to Peter Wright 10:11.

What eye disease does Ryan Searle have?

Ryan Searle suffers from Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA), a hereditary disease of the optic nerve that severely impairs his vision.

Can Ryan Searle see the dartboard?

Yes, but his vision is severely restricted. Sometimes Searle cannot clearly see where his dart has landed, and therefore asks the caller for his score during matches.

Why is Ryan Searle called "Heavy Metal"?

The nickname suits his preference for heavy metal music and also his unusually heavy 32g darts.

What walk-on song does Ryan Searle use?

Ryan Searle walks on to "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath.

What did Ryan Searle used to do?

Before becoming a full-time professional darts player, Ryan Searle worked as a window cleaner.

Which manufacturer does Ryan Searle play for?

Ryan Searle is currently under contract with Harrows. Previously, he played for Loxley Darts.

Where can you buy Ryan Searle Darts?

You can buy Ryan Searle Darts at Diplomatgames. Depending on availability, you can find Harrows Heavy Metal Series 2 and Series 3 Darts there, as well as matching accessories.