How to make a larp boffer roman gladius

The Roman gladius does hold a few more target specific points to be given a separate tutorial here.

So what can be said about it  in one sentence. If you are looking for a short stabbing sword meant for fighting with big shield in formation then you need a gladius. They come in several basic types, though most of the variation comes from blade shape which cannot be readily replicated. Size is between 60-70-80 sm long, depending on the type.

So Larp boffer Gladius - materials list

The usual gig - polypropylene pipe F25, tapes, foam, some glue and hemp string in this case.

The tools list is usual and so is the price tag attached. I'm not going to repeat it every single time after all.

Now the specific point about the gladuis is that it's meant mostly for stabbing. Therefore the tip needs to be made a bit differently. First I'll soften the edges of the pipe so that they don't damage the foam tip. A champagne bottle cap could go there but I don't have one at the moment.

 After that its grip making time. First I measure it and leave some room for error margin. After all the sword might go in bigger hands than mine.

 Then its business as usual for my current larp sword making technique - the grip is made oval and the pommel goes in. Note that there is no additional counterweight this time, apart from the pommel itself. The gladius is fairly short and light so there is no need for it.

 Usually at this point I add leather to the grip to improve handling. However I decided to do something else this time around.A bit of a cheaper alternative to be accurate.

 

 Simple hemp string is glued to the grip instead of leather. It works just as fine, but at a fraction of the cost.

Sometime later its done and one can start working on the blade itself. 

 

 

In this case the blade is made a bit differently. Its again classic 2 foam layers, however the layers themselves are made from a single length of foam that goes around both ways. 

 One extra layer of foam is added to the tip to soften it more. Both this and the previous step are made exactly with more stabbing in mind. A sharp tip will be flattened in no time anyway.

 Finally one thing the gladuis sometimes lacks - a sword guard. I made it from another piece of left over flip-flop foam. Nothing left to do now but cover the blade.

 All set - you can go stab someone now.

How to make a larp boffer bastard or hand and half sword

Now the bastard sword, longsword or hand and half sword, or however you want to call it since all those names actually refer to a pretty large family of swords used throughout medieval Europe for a decently long period of time is another less common larp weapon. What makes it different from one handed sword is mostly not the blade but the larger grip made to accommodate two hands. When it comes to larp - its a jack of all trades and master of none. It lacks the pure ooomph power of the dedicated greatswords, or the speed of the one handed arming swords, but takes a bit of both, leaning to either side of the spectrum, depending on how you design it. In size it ranges from about 100 to 120sm - longer variants are dedicated two handed weapons and people will probably call you out if you swing it with one hand.

 

In terms of construction it does not differ from the arming sword - its just a bit bigger, so this guide will be quite short. Here you can see a size comparison between the ordinary sword, the bastard sword and the claymore.

Materials tools and supplies, I believe I don't have to explain again. The core is an F25 polypropilene pipe - 1 meter long.

 When making it, measure the size of the grip well - its supposed to be big enough for two hands.

After that - its business as usual, same as the other guides. A counter weight and pommel are added.

 The grip is covered in leather. I used two types of leather this time. Normally my swords are very plain and lacking in decoration, I decided to indulge myself this time around.

The sword guard I made exceptionally thick this time, with even more layers of plastic than the claymore. I'd say you will have to rely on it, and well, it should be at least a bit reliable right?

 About the blade...well there is nothing extraordinary about it - make it as you make any other. My only advice would be - don't trim the foam too much. Its a sword that you will occasionally use with both hands and you may feel tempted to hit someone with a bit more force than needed. Best to be safe than sorry. Also the tip on this one is a bit long - that's why its 120sm, I might trim it a bit later.

Well, that's pretty much it I guess.

Recycling an old homemade larp boffer sword part 2

Previously on Buskador's LARP....

Last time we took this old torn boffer sword and gut it out like a fish. Now we are going to remake it.

While we already have a guide on Single edged swords this one will also serve as such for double edged swords. What we are going to get here is pretty much the classical "sword" stereotype, which everyone will be able to look at and say oh a medieval sword and be right. In other words - the Oakeshott type XII

From the old larp sword I kept only the core and the pommel, I decided to make a new sword guard piece eventually.Here we go!

Talking about sword guard, I decided to start with it, instead of making the blade first. For the guard I cut up two plastic bottles.

Then, I cut those in 6 strips of plastic and held them together with tape. From this I cut out the shape of the sword guard. We are using plastic bottles because they are far more durable than guards made from foam or cardboard. It will actually stop another sword from sliding down your blade so yes - it works too.

This is now fitted on the sword and two piece of foam and added to either end both for visuals and to keep the edges covered. The guard is tied firmly in its place with a piece of cable, same I retrieved when removing the old guard piece in part 1. Then its wrapped in tape and we move on for the time being.

Next thing on the list was hammering in a counter weight similar to the one shown here. After that the pommel is filled with screw to act as additional counter weight and fitted on.

Then we give the handle an oval shape by adding leftover bits of flip flops  from the making of the Advanced soft core larp knife. This will improve handling and keep you from hitting people with the flat.

 Finally - the outer shell is added. Leather is glued on for better grip and grey tape for better looks.

Now the pommel, handle and guard are finished and we only need to make the blade of the sword.
There is nothing special to it, its no different from the other swords I've made so far except that now both sides must be symmetric since we got a double edged sword here. 

Its important to pay attention to the tip especially if you plan on stabbing with it. I've inserted another piece of foam in the pipe itself

 

And after wrapping the blade, we are done. An old boffer is given new life and its ready for the summer games. 

Recycling an old homemade larp boffer sword part 1

Naturally when you are making your own weapons, its obvious you can unmake them too. A time comes in a homemade larp boffer when patchwork repairs just don't cut it and it needs a complete overhaul to be brought back in a game. Of course you might also need its parts for another project. Whatever the reasoning sometimes a larp sword simply has to be undone.


 This is my first sword which i had made by myself more than 3 years ago. Back then I could not do good looking weapons and even when it was brand new it was on the lower estimate as far as looks went. It was however (extra) safe and just the right size weight and length for me.  After countless action finally the damage is too much to be fixed with  (yet) another batch of tape. The foam of the blade is torn on multiple places, the guard is leaning and covered with more uncountable layers of duct tape, the pommel is about to break off any second now.But fear not -we can rebuild it, we have the technology! But first we have to pull it apart for spares.


Yeah its pretty mangled up as far as boffer swords go...Let's fix that shall we?

I started with removing the barely hanging pommel from the sword handle. No small feat considering all the tape involved.

After that I cleaned it out from the tape and it was ready for reuse. As you can see the pommel itself was from a water tap which used to be full of old rivets and screws to act as a counter weight.

Next the handle is unwrapped from the tape. An electric cable was used as decoration and to give better grip so I remove it  without cutting it, to be available for reuse.

 

Then the guard is removed as well and stripped from most of the tape holding it. Another small cable that was holding it in place before that is removed for future use.

 

Now the only thing left is to bisect the blade and slip it off the pipe core. This is actually the simplest part.

Finally we are left with a set of  parts ready for use - a weapon core, a pommel, cable for decorations and the sword guard which would need some repairs first.

Simple way to make a larp weapon counterweight

Most short larp weapons don't need to be properly balanced because after all - they weight almost nothing. However longer weapons, especially two handed swords and other such do benefit from a counterweight. It gives them the feel of a weapon, and allows better control, especially of inertia which is kind of important for a great sword for example, unless you want to put someone down for real.



Note that this is just a testing example - I'm not making a new weapon here. Also - this works with polypropylene pipes, so don't try it for PVC or some other weapon core.

Materials: A handful of nails.


Consider this to be your average larp sword or axe or whatever. The pipe itself obviously has 50/50 weight distribution.

However, when we add all the extra foam and tapes, not to mention move the centre of balance back
 towards the handle, the weight tips towards the front substantially. This can't be allowed, so we will fix it as best as we can.

 This is a handful of common household nails, just enough to fill out the inner diameter of the pipe and wrapped in tape to keep em tight and together. This is our counterweight.

Now you must hammer it inside the pipe until its firmly lodged in. Once that's done it will be immovable. Since this is a polypropylene pipe, there is no danger of it shattering, the only way to remove the counterweight  would be to melt the pipe around it. In this case I've not hammered it in fully - you can get it to fit better and them simply cover it with something.

There you go - now the weight of the weapon is not so disproportionate.  Mind you for something heavier, such a counterweight won't be enough but its still better than nothing.