How much are you willing to pay for weapons?

I understand the point with the boffers. We use them sometimes for npc here as well. I think we have to look at the material costs and then talk again about these topics.

I like the idea from Derek with the XP for costumes! This would support that players make or have their own costumes which look good. I reckon that good costumes are more important than good weapons.

You can make boffers look like weapons, just not swords :smiley: They are fine for clubs and staves though.

Here in NZ there is a strong Do-It-Yourself culture, and this extends to larp weapons.

It’s actually quite cheap to make a foam & tape weapon, around $20 if you know what you are doing, and can source some of the material free (such as fibreglass). The swords I make are similar to boffers, but have a flat fibreglass core instead of a PVC pipe, plus a lead pommel for counterweighting. This gives the weapon a good heft.

I still use PVC as handles for javelins, axes or hammers, but the “blade” is not simply padding around the PVC core, but is a different section all together (usually closed-cell foam).

One big advantage of silver duct-tape over latex is repairability. Plus, latex swords tend to have nice-looking guards that aren’t really up to the job because they are made out of foam and are rather bendy.

Our swords are coming up 9 years old, and they are still working well despite lots of hard out action. I’m not sure that latex weapons can claim the same.

Not that I’m against latex weapons. I would probably buy an unique one as you suggested in your (Isaac’s) initial posts, as long as I couldn’t make it myself. I’ve got a couple of latex rapiers that I’ll use in more costume-oriented games (the guards are cosmetic only and I don’t want them damaged).