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 scottish claymore

That is it! You positively need someone dead! No, you don't call a GM! You don't call a wizard! You don't call a dozen archers! You get a big damn two-handed sword to put him down on the ground for good!

The Scottish claymore(don't mix it with the basket-hilt)  is the first large weapon design I post. This is for advanced fighters only - standing at 135 sm, the weapon can be dangerous in inexperienced hands. Get good with it though, and you'll love it. Well, killing seven with one strike might be a bit hard - my record was 3 at once.

BUDGET - about 15-20$ - the weapon itself is almost twice the size of a normal sword. You'd need a bit more of everything. 

MATERIALS: Polipropilene pipe F32 about 1.20m long (optional - piece of pipe size F20) Foam, tapes, plastic bottles, leather or substitute to wrap the handle. Something for the counter weight.


TOOLS: Usual.


This is again a recycled old weapon, actually from my first weapon ever made years ago.

As such, it already had its own special counterweight made from a big bolt, a metal water valve and some nuts and rivets for extra weight.

Here's the optional part with the 2nd pipe piece. The F20 can just barely fit inside the F32, and will make it less springy(also it will again help with the balancing) You don't have to do it if you think the weapon becomes too heavy.

 After the 2nd pipe is fitted inside, a basic measuring is done to decide where to start fitting the guard.

 Next, the handle is given two pieces of hard flip flop foam to make sure the sword is steady in the hand.

 Now its time to make the guard. Anyone who'd read some of the previous guides can guess that I'm about to murder a ton of plastic bottles...And I did. The claymore has a bigger guard piece than a normal sword and thus required a lot more layers of plastic.

 

 To ensure it stays where its supposed to, I actually nailed it to the pipe(thus securing the twin pipes together as well)

 After that - its business as usual, leather is glued on and secured firmly with tape on both ends.

 The blade is the more specific aspect of the claymore(and any type of great sword) You can't skip on protection and make it slim. The pipe is quite and heavy big itself(but without it it would be a spaghetti sword...) and hitting someone with the flat will hurt like hell. Therefore - two thick layers of foam are used. I was thinking of a 3rd, but gave up - it was becoming too thick.

 Finally the claymore is done. Here you can see it again in full size and in comparison to a 1 handed sabre.

 I tried again to follow the model of a real claymore, but alas - boffer limitations can be annoying sometimes.

How to make a larp boffer kukri

You know, because kukri are awesome  and gurkhas are awesome too. If you have one, you are awesome yourself by default(either a kukri or a gurkha).

Anyway, the kukri is perhaps the last still used curved blade in existence. Modern ones are smaller than the original, being all in all an oversized combat knife. Old kukris varied but at 40+ sm length, they fall right in the short sword category for me. Anyway

Larp boffer kukri. 

For the record, this is the first time I don't like how a new weapon turns out. The tip could have been better. 

I'm not going to give YET again the budget, tools and materials, since they are all the same as for other weapons around. One thing you should consider is how long you want your kukri - that is do you want a big knife or a short sword.

Anyway...

First things first. I decided to use 40something sm core for my kukri, which with tip and pommel would bring it close to half a meter. 

The core needs to get a roughly 20 degrees bend so we use the method described here.
Once its done we can start with the blade.

The blade itself is made in the same way as all other I've made so far.

 What is of note of course, is its more specific shape which can easily be achieved with extra layers of foam.

 After that its a rather mundane task to wrap it in tape and move to the handle piece right?

 

 First a piece of foam from a flip flop - it has density and durability and it will shape out the handle of the kukri.

 After that a few finishing touches with the paper knife and we are nearly finished.

Whats left to be done is by now standard procedure - wrap the handle in leather for better grip...

 A small pommel piece, just to keep the end of the leather firm and we are done.

 Chop chop!

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.