Nerf or Nothing: LARPing on a Budget

The Start:

LARPing is a great and creative hobby, but when trying to acquire the gear needed to survive the hordes of demonic troll ghosts, LARPers find themselves having to pick and choose what is essential and what is not, and what can be half-assed.


As open and accepting as the LARP community can be, there are still a few fuzzy guidelines that people follow equipment-wise. I say fuzzy because like with everything else in life there are always exceptions to the rule. As it stands, no two LARPs are alike so we'll try and keep it vague.

Can I Use A Nerf Sword at my LARP? 

'Can you' is up to the game-makers and weapon-marshals of your particular game. 'Should you' is the real question. The answer, for me, is NO. You might be able to get away with it in some games, but going to your local Target and spending $14.99 for a hard green foam stick with NERF written in bright yellow letters on it, doesn't really show the other LARPer that you take the game seriously.

Should I Just Buy an Expensive LARP sword? 

Well, this is a question less of  'Should you' and more of  'Can you'- or (in the spirit of vagueness) 'Do you want to'? If you have the money and don't mind spending it then absolutely buy a sword. Even if you get only 'on sale' items at your local LARPing store, you're looking at hundreds and hundreds of dollars though, but we all can't be Scrooge Mcduck.

Perhaps try making one your self. It is so easy and cheap to build your own boffer sword, it's almost ridiculous not to. Much like how a right of passage of the Jedi is to build their own light saber, you too should build your own sword.