About Boffer Weapons

Merchant’s Wares weapons are made to meet or exceed the specifications of NERO gaming systems. Most items are available in three levels, PVC, Light and Ultralight.

If you have specific requirements for a Non-NERO game, please include them with your order so that your weapon is adequate for your particular venture.  I will be happy to customize your weapon to match your LARPing requirements.

PVC weapons have a PVC core, and are made with duct tape. They are relatively heavy and but more durable as well as the least expensive.

Light Weapons are made with duct tape and a lightweight kitespar core. They are lighter than PVC, and fairly durable, and are moderately priced.

Ultralight weapons are made with a kitespar core and kite tape, a very light and durable fabric tape. These weapons often are weighed in ounces. Kite tape is very light, smooth looking, quite expensive and is durable overall, except when subjected to changed in temperature. While no foam weapon should be left in direct sunlight or extreme heat or cold, kite tape does tend to wrinkle faster than duct tape.

With normal use, almost any weapon should last through 10 or more events. The weapon tip is the most abused part of the weapon and can be removed easily to allow for field repair, rather then rebuilding. The blades are separate and can be removed for easy field replacement.

Long weapons may require extra shipping. Light staves (staffs) and polearms are made of aluminum core. Ultra lights staves and polearms are made with 3/4" kitespar.
Replacement parts are available through the Weapon Supplies link.

Our material specifications include:

Foam - all pipe foam used is 5/8" wall thickness, unless otherwise requested by email.

Cores - all PVC is Schedule 40, small weapons may be made with 1/2" CPVC, long sword/spear/two-handed sword sized weapons with 3/4" PVC and Polearms and staves with 1" PVC. PVC polearms are heavy and tend to whip over time and are not recommended unless necessary. All bows are made with 3/4" PVC bent to shape.

Cores - all Kitespar is ".505 inches" or larger diameter. No ultra-thin rods are used, no fishing poles, golf clubs or other materials - unless requested by email.

Boffer tips - all cores are taped at the ends, and the pipe foam is capped with a 1/2" of closed cell before an open-cell foam 2" or larger tip is added to your weapon. All one handed weapons and staves come with a 2" tip at each end. All two handed swords have a thrusting tip of 2.5" or larger, and all polearms have a 3" tip. Boffer bows have two 2" tips, one at either end. Spears have at least 2.5" of padding incorporated into the spear head unless otherwise noted.

Protrusions from the blade - any protrusion such as the blade of a polearm or a mace or axe head is made with open-cell foam.

Tip reinforcement - all thrusting tips are reinforced with extra tape to make sure they are not prone to "tipping" or shearing off the tip.

Please note that these boffer weapons are made specifically for light contact LARP games. If you feel that you need extra reinforcement for your weapon, please contact us - we want you to have a weapon that fits your needs!