LARP Shields

LARP shields are made by cutting the shape out of cardboard or plastic and padding it. It is essential that the shield be sturdy and free from damage or defects that could cause someone to be injured by it.

Shields with stripes of brightly colored tape represent shields that have magical properties.

Shield Check

Before any game/session, you must check your shield:

  1. The edges must all be protected with pipe insulation all the way around, with no gaps or significant rips/tears.
  2. The side that faces toward your opponent must be padded. Foam rubber floor matting works well.
  3. The shield must have a handle (and possibly also an arm strap) that are in good shape and are free from damage. (Pull against them to make sure they aren't loose, frayed or partially torn, and that the slots that they go through aren't broken.)

Building a LARP shield

First, decide what shape you want:

Medieval Shields

  1. Cut the basic shape out of plastic. A “saucer sled” works well for a buckler—these can be found during winter from department stores (e.g., Target or Wal*Mart) or hardware stores (e.g., Home Depot or Lowe's).
  2. Cut two pieces of Velcro for the enarmes.
  3. Cut slits in the plastic for the Velcro and pass the velcro through.
    1. For the enarme that will be the handle, put the Velcro through a short length (about 4-5“) of 1/2” PVC and fasten it on the front (enemy-facing side) of the shield.
    2. For the enarme that will go around your arm, fasten it on the back (the side that faces you) of the shield.
  4. Cut foam rubber matting to the same shape as the shield. (You can buy it from WeSellMats.com.) You can heat it gently with a heat gun to help it curve into the same shape as the shield, but be careful not to melt it.
  5. Coat the plastic and the back side of the matting with contact cement.
  6. Let the contact cement dry for about an hour before sticking it to the shield.
  7. Put weight on the shield to make sure the rubber and shield are making good contact for about 24 hours while the contact cement dries.
  8. If you will be using the shield to push someone back, the shield needs a boss in the center. The boss should be at least 1/2“ thick closed-cell foam (such as pipe insulation) or 1” minimum open-cell foam (like the kind used for thrusting tips). This will also need to be attached with contact cement.
  9. Cover the edges all the way around the shield with pipe insulation.
  10. Cover the shield with duct tape, using brown to represent wood and silver to represent metal.