LARP Weapon Construction

Below are the current construction guidelines for LARP Weapons as of the 19th February 2025. This page may be updated from time to time to reflect changing standards in LARP weapon manufacture.

Curious Pastimes considers the safety of weapon manufacture and weapon use very highly. The safety and well being of our customers is very important to us. Players and manufacturers alike should feel comfortable in approaching us with questions concerning any issue.

All LARP weapons must be made to these standards to be considered safe for use at Curious Pastimes events (“LARP safe”). Weapons sold by onsite vendors at Curious Pastimes events should all be made to these standards, and members of the weapons checking team conduct regular checks of all the vendors to ensure they conform to current guidelines.

Note that all weapons must be weapons checked every event and before every battle, regardless of these standards.

New Developments in Weapon Construction

Please note that the construction standards below may not cover all methods and materials, and it is accepted that equipment construction may differ between different weapons and manufacturers, particularly as new processes and ideas are developed. Each item is considered on its own merits, please discuss any queries with a weapon checker on site.

The development and manufacture of weapons that are suitable for LARP is a constantly developing field. Curious Pastimes maintains links with many weapon and prop manufacturers in order to remain informed as to new developments. With this in mind any set of guidelines such as these reflect the state of the art as known at the time of publishing. Should new innovations become accepted into the market, Curious Pastimes will inform players through rules errata and notices at events and online (including in updates to this page).

Checking From Photos

From time to time, players will ask Curious Pastimes weapons checkers for feedback on prospective weapons based on photos from vendor websites or catalogues. While we may be able to offer general advice in these cases – depending very much on the photo and the specific question – we are never able to pass a weapon as safe based on a photo. Every weapon must be checked in person on site before it can be used at an event.

Metric and Imperial Measurements Welcome to the United Kingdom, where we measure weights and temperatures in metric, distances in imperial, and volumes in metric unless you’re talking about milk or beer. One day, it is fervently hoped, a saner generation will sort this mess out, but for the time being, we’re very much a mixed-standards country. The standard measurements for the Renewal rules, from weapon lengths to spell ranges, were originally written in imperial units (inches and feet), and for consistency have been retained to this day. But for the benefit of our European and younger players, throughout this wiki, metric units are offered alongside the original imperial. These conversions are intended for quick reference in the field, and so for simplicity’s sake we’ve used approximations rather than exact values (i.e. 1” = 25mm, 3ft = 1m and 10ft = 3m), which naturally creates small inconsistencies. Where it’s important, the imperial measure is correct.

Hand Weapons

Please note the minimum and maximum lengths for the various weapon categories.

Category	Examples	Length
Small	Dagger, hatchet or truncheon	7” to 18” (17.5cm to 45cm)
One-Handed	Broadsword, axe or mace	18” to 42” (45cm to 105cm)
Two-Handed	Greatsword, greataxe or warclub	42” to 72” (105cm to 180cm)
Polearm	Spear, pollaxe or staff	48” to 84” (120cm to 210cm)

Materials

Foam used to construct weapons should be of the high-density closed cell type, such as Plastazote or Evazote. Pipe lagging and upholstery foam are not suitable construction materials on their own as they are low-density. Upholstery foam may be used as an outer layer of padding, but the core of a weapon must still be padded with high-density foam to the required depth as stated below.
All foams must be securely attached to the core and other areas of an item using a suitable glue.
Weapon cores should be made from fibreglass or carbon fibre rod. They should be stiff, especially in long weapons, which should not flex and ‘whip’ when swung. Where possible a core should be round in cross-section, and the tip must be rounded to prevent it working through the foam.
Axes, Polearms etc. must not be made in a manner where blades, hooks etc. are rigidly reinforced.
Weapon tips should be reinforced with at least two layers of inner-tube rubber, nylon cloth, leather or similar material. The reinforcing should extend at least 1” (25mm) above and below the core’s tip, and 1/2” (12.5mm) to either side.

Padding

All striking areas of items, including pommels, staff and spear ends etc., must have at least 1/2” (12mm) of high-density foam covering the core.
On all other surfaces there must be at least 1/4” (6mm) of high-density foam over the core.
On small weapons the above can be reduced to 3/8” (10mm) for striking areas and 3/16” (4mm) for all other areas.

Cold Weather Weapons Some weapons are intended for the Northern European market. These countries are generally colder than the UK and the normal foam materials used in these weapons is of a lower density. This makes them unsuitable for use at UK events. Care should be taken before purchasing such a weapon if a player intends to use it at events in the UK.

Decorations

Any decorations applied to any weapons, e.g. gems, stones etc. must be restricted to non-striking areas only.
Decorations must be securely fastened to the item and must be backed with foam.
Decoration must not protrude more than 1/4” (6mm) from the surface, and should have no sharp edges or points.

Stab-Safe Weapons

The shaft of a stab-safe weapon should be constructed in the same way as any other LARP weapon (see above).
After reinforcing the tip of the core, add 2” (50mm) of LD 45 foam and then at least 6” (15cm) of soft foam for the squishy stabbing surface.
The outer layers of the sandwich must be made of LD 45 foam and should not extend more than 3” (75mm) up the sides of the tip.
Reinforcement (in leather etc, in between the layers of the sandwich) extends from a point at least 1” (25mm) down the core and up over the pod and over the point where the soft foam joins the LD 45.

Flails and Exotic Weapons Flail-type weapons have recently been passed for use at Curious Pastimes, but each item will be passed on a case by case basis as construction can vary considerably. Please contact us with any queries.

Shields

The maximum size for a shield is 60” (150cm) in height by 36” (90cm) in width.

Rims

All rims must be padded to a depth of 12mm (1/2 inch) with high-density foam as described above for hand weapons. Low-density pipe lagging is not suitable, as this will tear and crush very easily, thus exposing the hard shield rim very quickly.
Shields must have no hard pointed protrusions.
All sharp edges/fixings (e.g. screws, nuts and bolts) on the inside or outside of the shield must also be padded to avoid injury.

Faces

All front faces of shields must have a 6mm (5/8 inch) thick layer of high-density foam padding.
There should be no hard or sharp protrusions such as bolt-heads that are not covered with a secure layer of high-density foam.
Any bolts used in the construction must be securely fastened, and able to remain that way for the duration of an event.

Straps

All shields, other than those with a centre-boss, should have an adequate method to secure them to the user’s arm.
Straps should be of sufficient strength and integrity to not break in combat.
Centre-boss shields should have a secure hand grip for this purpose.

Thrown weapons

Thrown weapons should be a maximum length of 18” (45cm) along the largest dimension. Whilst there is no real ‘minimum’, it is advisable that any protrusions are at least 2” (50mm) wide, i.e. broader than an eye socket!

Materials

Ideally, thrown weapons should be entirely made of foam and latex. Thrown weapons may not be built around fibreglass or carbon fibre rods, but may have weighted cores such as rubber balls.
If a thrown weapon has no solid support, the foam need not be high-density; upholstery foam would be acceptable.
If a thrown weapon has any solid support, the core must be padded on all sides by at least 1/2” (12.5mm) of high-density foam. The foam must be securely attached, with a suitable glue, and the support must not be able to be felt through the padding.
Thrown weapons must not contain any hard, pointed protrusions, nor may any metal be used in their construction.

Armour

All rigid or metal armour must have the edges rounded off or turned over for safety.
Chainmail links must be properly closed so that they cannot tear weapons and people.
Any item using tower studs in its construction will be removed due to the high probability of these causing damage to a person or weapon.

Projectile Weapons

All players wishing to use a projectile weapon (i.e. a bow or crossbow) at a Curious Pastimes event must produce a bow safety licence, and ensure that their weapons have been tested and issued bow poundage cards.

Bows

All bows must have a draw weight of 30lbs (13.6kg) or less, at the user’s draw length.
If the bow has replaceable limbs, these must be fibreglass and not composite.
No bow may have any mechanism for adjusting the draw weight once the limbs are attached.
Bowstring nocks must be sound, showing no signs of cracking or splitting.
No matter how a bow is constructed, if it is judged by the weapon checking team to shoot arrows too hard it will be disallowed.

Crossbows

All crossbows should have a draw weight of 30lbs (13.6kg) or less at the mechanism’s full draw.

Missiles

Irrespective of construction, any missile will be judged unsafe if the weapon checker is at all unsure as to its suitability.

Arrow and bolt shafts should be made of POC or a suitable alternative such as the fibreglass shafts specifically made for archery. We strongly advise the use of fibreglass, rather than wood shafts. Aluminium and carbon fibre shafts are not permitted.
The arrow/bolt shaft must be blunt and not have a metal head.
All shafts must be properly flighted, and all arrows must have a proper nock securely attached. It is recommended that all missiles are ‘over fletched’ (i.e. use larger than normal fletchings), as this increases stability, compensating for the oversized head.
Arrow shafts should be a maximum of 29” (72.5cm) long, measured from the nock to the start of the head.

All arrows and bolts must have a suitable head constructed and attached for maximum safety:

The head must be securely attached to the shaft so that it cannot accidentally be removed or become separated.
The impact surface of the head must be at least 2” (50mm) in diameter (i.e. larger than an eye socket), and padded with at least 1” (25mm) of high-density foam, measured from the tip of the shaft.
Missile heads must be constructed to contain a layer of strong material over the end of the shaft, so as to prevent it working its way through the foam. Thick leather, thick rubber etc. are suitable for this.
The head of the shaft must be circular in section, not square or octagonal.