How to make a simple larp quiver

Assuming you already have your bow and arrows, its time to get a quiver for them too. There are a good number of options here and what you choose is entirely up to your own preferences, not just in materials but in design as well.


First a bit of extra info. There are mainly two types of quivers - not based on design - all quivers are the same essentially, but based on how they are worn.


First you got back quivers.

And then you got hip quivers.

One is well obviously worn on your back, the other one tied to your hip(and optionally lower thigh). Which one you prefer is up to you and the way you work on your own weapon loadout. If you wear the quiver on your back you can't wear a shield there, if you wear it on your hip it will take room normally reserved for swords and knives and it might limit your movement a bit (if you don't want to spill your arrows that is. If you've fired everything you can run as fast as you want)


So how to make your own simple quiver?


You need a base - that can be leather, canvas, whatever you got. I mean a pair of old pants can do too, you will just decorate it a bit more. Fake leather is ok as well, one of the few cases where it is.

Here is for example my old training quiver(I only used it for practice) Its made from the sleeve of an old leather jacket that I had recycled already for other uses. I would not bring it to a larp proper because well, its just a sleeve with straps on it.

Anyway back on topic



Simple quiver - materials needed, either leather, canvas, or whatever you can use for the body. Something for straps. Something to sew the leather/canvas closed. 


Tools - eh, scissors, and whatever you will use/need according to materials. 

Budget - varies

 First thing to do is to measure and cut the body. I've picked leather since well I have leather available. A rectangular piece is cut, slightly shorter than the 68sm arrows. Make is as wide as you want to - it depends on the number of arrows you want. I made mine fairly big, since I plan to carry about 10+.

 After you cut the leather, close its sides, forming a cylinder. Then we need to close the bottom. Some people actually sew in an extra piece to close the bottom of their quivers. I picked a different approach by making a 2d bottom. You will see why in my next post where I will explain a little trick with arrows arrangement in the quiver.

 Fortunately I have a swiss army knife around so I managed to deal with the leather. The extra leather strip is both decoration and reinforcing.

 Once the bottom is closed, a strip of reinforcing leather is added to the top as well, for symmetry and for durability.

 After that its time to add the straps. For me thats simple shoe laces(the thickest ones) they are tough enough to survive any tension and won't rot away in bad conditions. I made sure they pass through both the body AND the reinforcing bands of leather. I decided on a hip quiver, since it can be easily turned into a back quiver if needed.

 That is how it looks from the other side. Now its ready to be worn.

To wear it, just tie the top lace to your belt, and the lower lace to your leg. Its firmly attached.

 If you want to convert it into a back quiver, just tie a belt to it like this and it can be worn on the back as well. If you want a back quiver to begin with, skip the part with the laces and get a shoulder strap directly.

 Coming up next - boffer  arrow arrangement for larp.

How to make a larp boffer meat cleaver.

In the previous blog post about improvised weapons, I showed a farming sickle. All that is well and good, but what other things come to mind in terms of everyday tools and items used as weapons? Let's see, lumberjack axe, blacksmith hammer, hunting bow, peasant pitchforks and flails...and a butcher's cleaver.

Its hard to argue with a 150kg butcher with a 2 foot long cleaver in one hand and a meat hook in the other. Or an equally big cook whom you've caught in his beloved kitchen while storming the castle so he naturally reaches for the first familiar choppy thing nearby...People don't generally keep swords and other stuff in the kitchen. No need - its a veritable arsenal already.

So - butcher's meat cleaver. What do we need? Eh not much really - same as usual.

First we cut the necessary length for the core then we make the handle.

The grip is similar to the one on the sickle, with the added exception - hemp string for looks.

After that the blade - which should be multi-layered.

To improve the looks - I added cardboard to the sides of it. Normally that hardens the blade, but in this case we are talking about a short weapon that's going to lack kinetic energy anyway, so we go for the looks.

 Finally - top layer of tape and we are done. We got a larp boffer meat cleaver.