Everything You Need to Know About LARP Weapons

May 13, 2025

At a LARP, LARP weapons are obviously a must-have. Whether you're playing a mysterious magician who's never touched a sword, or a tough knight who sits down in full armour for breakfast, pretty much every LARP character has at least one LARP weapon at their disposal, and usually even multiple ones, ranging from a small dagger to a big war hammer. These are weapons that look like historical weapons or weapons from popular media, but with an extra bit of safety to keep the game fun for both parties. The weapons aren't made of steel and iron, but of a fibreglass core with a thick layer of foam rubber around it, reinforced with a layer of latex. It's important that your LARP weapons are safe for when you want to get into some proper combat during a LARP event. Different LARPs and events have different rules around the safety of LARP weapons, but usually these align on the main points.

LARP weapons: Swords, spears, axes, hammers

To guarantee the safety of LARP weapons, strict rules have been established for the condition the weapon must be in. At the start of each LARP event, weapons should be checked by the game masters to make sure there are no sharp edges sticking out of the weapon or cracks in the latex. If your weapons no longer meet the quality standards, it's best to throw them away to avoid confusion. In some cases, a weapon can still be saved by applying a new layer of latex over it, but this will usually be indicated by the game masters who carry out the weapon inspection.

The following rules are basically established and will apply to all LARP events you participate in, whether that's in the Netherlands or abroad:

Hard surfaces may only be felt on the handle. The rest of the weapon must be soft.
The handle must be firmly attached to the rest of the larp weapon
The core, which is often made of fibreglass, must not stick out of the weapon anywhere. This is very dangerous, because fibreglass can be razor sharp and can leave nasty splinters. Always check extra carefully at the point to make sure the fibreglass core doesn't stick through the kevlar coating.
Especially long weapons must not be too floppy. Think of long sword blades and pole weapons. If a weapon is too floppy, you lose control over where you're hitting. Long weapons therefore always need a sturdy core
Stabbing is never allowed. The reason for this is of course the fibreglass core. But also with weapons that don't have a hard core, stabbing is almost never allowed, not even with spears. There are weapons that are specially made to be allowed to stab with; even these often aren't allowed to actually stab, partly because of equality in rules. Always check this with the game masters of the LARP.
Weapons must be in one piece and have no connections like flails or nunchakus. Such a connection is often impossible to make safely for LARP and handle properly, because the connection will still need to be made from a hard type of metal or plastic to be functional. You can seriously injure yourself or someone else with this.
Weapons must not be too heavy. Heavy weapons still deliver a hard impact, even though they're made of foam rubber. Basically, the rule is that the weight of your weapon should always be liftable in one hand, but you roleplay as if the weapon were as heavy as it would be if it were made of iron or steel.

You can't hold a LARP weapon in your hand for an entire event, so it's nice to have a suitable holder for it, which you can hang on your belt for example. Because LARP weapons have a layer of latex, it's important to take this into account when choosing your holder: sharp (metal) edges can damage the latex layer and latex can have a chemical effect with copper and tin, which damages both the metal and the latex.

Archery with bow and crossbow

Of all LARP weapons, bows and crossbows are perhaps the most dangerous. With a low draw weight bow, you can still seriously injure someone. This applies to the people at the end of your arrow, but also to the archer themselves. That's why there are extra rules for archers at LARP events. Most LARPs require archers to pass a bow test. This checks whether the shooter is skilled enough.

At almost every event, the maximum allowed draw weight for a bow is 30 pounds, and shooting must be done at a distance of at least 7 metres. In addition, not every type of bow is allowed to be used at a LARP event. A compound bow, for example, shoots at a much higher speed than a traditional bow. So even at more modern or even futuristic LARP events, compound bows are not allowed.

There are also special rules for crossbows. Many LARPs don't allow crossbows at all, but when they are allowed, there are always rules about the maximum energy a crossbow is allowed to have. Always check this with your game masters before you buy a crossbow!

Finally, there are rules for the arrows and shafts you use when archery at a LARP event. The points must obviously not be sharp, but the arrows have either a rounded tip or a flat piece of foam instead. This way you feel the arrows coming when you get hit, but no one gets impaled. Often, LARP organisations will ask you to make your arrows clearly recognisable, possibly with a reflective piece of tape, so the arrows are easy to find even in the dark. After shooting, each arrow must be checked for damage. Damaged arrows must be thrown away, because you can't shoot safely with them anymore.

You can probably imagine that shooting with a LARP arrow is different from shooting with regular arrows with sharp points, because of the shift in centre of gravity. This is another reason why you're often asked to take a bow test before you're allowed to do archery at a LARP event. It requires quite a bit of practice to aim the arrows where you want them to land, and not in the eyes of your fellow players.

Firearms

Some LARPs take place in a time period in which firearms already existed, or are even very important. Often, to make it clear that no real firearms are being used, NERF pistols are used. These NERF weapons are often painted to better fit the style of the LARP. Depending on the rules of the specific LARP, the foam darts may or may not be used. An advantage of these darts is that you can clearly show when you're shooting at someone, which is not always clear when you have to communicate this by shouting. A disadvantage of NERF darts is that it can be very difficult to shoot well with them, so the darts can end up in your victims' eyes. For this reason, some LARPs will ask you not to actually shoot with your NERF pistol, but to aim clearly and shout what's happening.

Some LARPs also use airsoft pistols. The ammunition from this type of pistol has much more impact than, for example, a LARP dart. There are usually strict rules set by the organisation. If airsoft pistols are used at a LARP you want to participate in, read the rules around these weapons carefully and make sure you're well prepared.

At LARPs where firearms cannot be shot at all, other imitation firearms are sometimes used. Like all other LARP weapons, the OC safety of participants comes before everything at firearms LARPs.

Thrown weapons

In the world of LARP there are an enormous number of different objects and weapons that can be used as thrown weapons. There are LARP throwing knives, LARP throwing axes and LARP throwing stars, but also LARP bricks, hand grenades, dynamite sticks, wrenches, skulls or even beer barrels and rolling pins to use as (thrown) weapons. Objects that are allowed to be used as thrown weapons have no hard core and are made of soft foam for the purpose of using as thrown weapons. Thrown weapons must not be smaller than the eye socket to prevent projectiles from entering the eye.

The fun thing about these unique weapons is that they can also be used well to decorate your camp. If you have an IC kitchen in your camp, for example, you can place LARP beer mugs or rolling pins in it or lay them down, which you can then use as a weapon when your camp is attacked.

Shields

LARP shields, like the weapons, usually consist of a core, a layer of foam and a latex coating for protection. The edges must be rounded and fitted with soft parts. This way you don't immediately smash your LARP weapon, or if you're very brave, your fists against a hard wooden or metal shield.

LARP shields are, also like the weapons, based on historical shields or shields from popular media. So there are shields in all sorts of different sizes, styles and shapes, from small round bucklers to large kite shields, from delicately painted elven shields to dragon wings, but also manhole covers, planks or even doors that you can use as a shield.

LARP shields are almost never allowed to be used as weapons. Some LARPs do allow shield bashing if you have obtained a certificate for it. This always happens under the supervision and approval of the game masters.

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