Basic Weapon Safety
Pipe and Foam:
The oldest type of boffers are the Pipe and Foam with some form of tape or cloth over them. These are $25 to $40 easily enough.
These must have at least a 2" top/thrusting tip of dense open cell foam (green foam from JoAnn's works) and the distance from the PVC pipe to the striking surface should be about 3/4" and made of closed cell foam.
Gaff Tape is preferred to Duct Tape and can be painted much better. Also, tape and cloth covered weapons are considered to be poor quality (Gray color if you play MMOs) and will have a -1 penalty to damage. This has to do with safety; humidity in Florida wreaks havoc on Gaff Tape and glue for cloth and that sticky stuff can hurt badly.
PVC cores for weapons under 36" should be schedule 20, Over 36” up to 46" should be Schedule 40, and for Two Handed Weapons (not really recommended for these types) Schedule 80. 1/2" or 3/4" cores are fine no smaller or larger.
No wooden dowels or metal cores are allowed.
Carved Foam Latex or PlastiDip:
These weapons are those which are the most popular type presently in the world for LARP. They are made with either a fiberglass rod core or some form of carbon fiber core and the distance from core to striking surface to should be 3/4" or more. The tip must be approved before it can be used for thrusting attacks, and no matter what the core should be over 1 1/2" below the tip.
There are several great guides to making these sorts of very realistic weapons online, but understand safety is our primary objective and they need maintenance to stay safe. It is easy to go way far fantasy with additions like curved spikes and such, but again safety first. If you have a question, ask.
These weapons will need a clear coat that is hyper allergenic over the painted areas and will be inspected like all boffers each and every event.
If you decide to purchase a weapon from a manufacturer online remember, buyer beware. Unfortunately, many of the imports and other companies making these boffers advertise as "LARP like” or “LARP safe", but they are not. We apologize if your weapon does not pass a safety inspection.
Foam Injected:
The last type of boffer weapons we allow are the foam injected type. These need almost no maintenance at all and they can look amazing.
Please make sure to only buy something in person from a reputable vendor (Frederick's Forge carries approved boffers of this type) or from one of the companies such as Calimacil or Mitryl (both out of Canada) who we know have safe weapons designed for LARP.
If you decide to purchase a weapon from a manufacturer online remember, buyer beware. Unfortunately, many of the imports and other companies making these boffers advertise as "LARP like” or “LARP safe", but they are not. We apologize if your weapon does not pass a safety inspection.
That covers safe weapons. There are a few other areas that are similar and need to be addressed.
Foam Phys-Reps:
Foam Phys-Reps are preferred for the following items and they must always be larger than 3" in diameter and have no core. We prefer between 10lbs and 17lbs foam for the item.
Alchemy and Poisons which can be thrown should be made of these materials. We will work with players on helping with these items. We have many examples at events you can inspect as well.
Grenades are also made of the same foams, and should be larger in diameter, up to 6", than Alchemy and Poison Bottles.
Thrown weapons should be coreless or if cored, inspected and have at least 3/4" from the core to the striking surface, and a tip and pommel of soft foam.
Spell Packets
Spell Packets should be made with Rye or Grass seed (safer for the environment) and are color coded for the type of magic they represent. In our game packets represent components of the spells magic and are in play items.
Packets should be about the size in diameter of a U.S. fifty cent piece, and up to 2" in diameter. They should be no smaller. The packet should be tight enough to throw but have a little squish and give when pressed by your thumb. They should not be "floppy" or any smaller than the above stated diameter.
The materials should be cloth and a rubber band and should be used to keep the packet tight enough to throw well. There are some spell packets which like bottles and grenades are made of injection foam, these are approved on a case by case bases.