Armor and weapons for a newbie

Alex W

Alex W

Novice
I'm new to larping and I'm really excited to get into it! That being said my excitement and my insight are on two different levels. As far as armor goes I got a cool idea for a scale male armor set roughly based on http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Scale-Mail-How-to-Make-a-Riders-of-R/ but cleaned up quite a bit.I have a decent bit of imitation leather I got for free and sheet metal is pretty cheap for big sheets. As far as weapons I'm really interested in making a two handed ax but axes seem much more difficult to construct than swords since the contact point is hanging off the side for lack of better terms. Any vet advice would be greatly appreciated. Also my funds are limited so ideas for quality on a budget will help tremendously!
 
My typical suggestion on armor is to wait until after your first game (you probably won't die, promise). After seeing what other people wear, it may change your mind about the kind and type you want to wear. Armor is an expensive prospect and making yourself a suit only to discover- OH NO! It doesn't count for the points you want, it's too heavy, it's too light, it doesn't match the general theme, etc. is something I've seen many, many times.

That all being said, that instructables link looks decent. If you're planning on using the imitation leather for straps or for the leather the plates are mounted onto I would recommend against that. Imitation leather is pretty weak, and over time (especially when exposed to the weather or strenuous movement, which for some reason seems to happen a lot in LARP) it will start peeling. I suggest picking up a real leather jacket (to take apart and use for the under cloth) and some real leather belts from a thrift store- not only will they be cheap, they'll also come with buckles!

A two handed axe sounds excellent. Here's a basic axe tutorial (just make sure to stay within Alliance size rules, and add a little more padding on the top of the core): http://www.dagorhir.com/gear/content/weapon_tutorials/ryker_axe.php
And my all time favorite weapon finishing tutorial: http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php?topic=15445.0
 
Make a solid head for your ax. That means, use whole pieces of foam. They do not have to be open cell like in the rulebook. If you do three layers of half inch or 3/8 inch foam, the middle layer will need to be cut for your core. This gives you much more surface area for adhesive to stick to and it has less fault lines where it could break.

As for armor, go for it on your first weekend. I made some cheap armor (looked like crap) but got me some armor and increased my survivability. You can replace it after your first game with better looking stuff. I used pleather I got from JoAnn's but it was the marine upholstery kind so it wouldn't fall apart.
 
Whether or not you make the armor right away is up to you, but I'd be a little leery of that tutorial. Setting aside the fact that (even with two layers) 26ga steel isn't thick enough to get you to 3 point armor, that's a lot of very roughly cut, jagged sheet metal. You can cut yourself pretty badly with sheet metal just grabbing it wrong - I work with sheet metal for a living and we have to wear gloves and cut-resistant safety sleeves when we handle it. You could easily cut yourself if you have any exposed skin around it and I don't want to see what would happen if someone fell into you at a bad angle or something like that while you're wearing that thing. If you are going to use that approach to make scale armor, please use something a little thicker and clean up the edges somehow. Tin snips and aviation snips can leave some pretty jagged edges on metal if you're not careful.

If you don't want to go into your first game without any armor, I'd recommend asking around at your local chapter to see if you can borrow some armor for a game or two. If you're going to play at SoMN or Chicago, I've got both leather and chain armor I can loan out depending on body size and all that.
 
KyleSchmelz said:
I work with sheet metal for a living and we have to wear gloves and cut-resistant safety sleeves when we handle it. You could easily cut yourself if you have any exposed skin around it and I don't want to see what would happen if someone fell into you at a bad angle or something like that while you're wearing that thing. If you are going to use that approach to make scale armor, please use something a little thicker and clean up the edges somehow. Tin snips and aviation snips can leave some pretty jagged edges on metal if you're not careful.
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I didn't even consider that. Thank you, that actually sounds quite dangerous and hurting people is the last thing that I want
 
nothingtoseehere said:
My typical suggestion on armor is to wait until after your first game (you probably won't die, promise). After seeing what other people wear, it may change your mind about the kind and type you want to wear. Armor is an expensive prospect and making yourself a suit only to discover- OH NO! It doesn't count for the points you want, it's too heavy, it's too light, it doesn't match the general theme, etc. is something I've seen many, many times.

That all being said, that instructables link looks decent. If you're planning on using the imitation leather for straps or for the leather the plates are mounted onto I would recommend against that. Imitation leather is pretty weak, and over time (especially when exposed to the weather or strenuous movement, which for some reason seems to happen a lot in LARP) it will start peeling. I suggest picking up a real leather jacket (to take apart and use for the under cloth) and some real leather belts from a thrift store- not only will they be cheap, they'll also come with buckles!

A two handed axe sounds excellent. Here's a basic axe tutorial (just make sure to stay within Alliance size rules, and add a little more padding on the top of the core): http://www.dagorhir.com/gear/content/weapon_tutorials/ryker_axe.php
And my all time favorite weapon finishing tutorial: http://www.dagorhir.com/forums/index.php?topic=15445.0
Click to expand...
I think I might just take your advice on the good costume and get advice and ideas at the event. Also thanks for the tutorial link its super helpful!
 
The problem with not bringing your own suit your first game is that you don't get tags after your first game. :( Same thing with not bringing a sword or bow rep your first game when you have one handed edge or archery. You miss out on having those weapons later unless you find a blacksmith that is very generous (Armor isn't cheap).
 
Depending on the chapter, there may not be a decent armor kit for MC to loan out. :(
 
Another tip. If you do make or even buy armor. Wear it around a bit before your event. Unless you are getting armor for you it will probably needed some gentle bending for it to fight right. But you will not know this until you wear it a bit.
 
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