Boffer fighting

A foam weapon, also known as a boffer, padded weapon, or latex weapon, is a padded mock weapon used for simulated handheld combat. Such weapons are used in simulated battles called battle gaming and in some live action role-playing games (LARPs).

In the United States there are four major kinds of foam mock weapons in use in medieval combat sports, battle gaming, and LARPs. They can be defined as:[1] boffer weapons – The term "boffer" refers to a particular construction of weapon that involves a single piece of PVC pipe, with one layer of pipe foam around it, and covered with duct tape. This type of mock weapon, although it has padding, is not suitable for unarmored high impact fighting. It is commonly used by live action role-playing games where participants must perform touch combat by pulling back on their strikes at the last moment. heavy boffer weapons – These mock weapons are similar to standard boffer weapons, but they are reinforced on the core pipe with strapping tape. They are used in full power combat with the participants wearing a significant amount of safety equipment (armor). This type of mock weapon is primarily used by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) in their youth combat program. latex weapons - Throughout Europe, almost all modern sword-fighting games use molded foam swords of latex rubber. These weapons are often airbrush painted with a slick latex covering. The weapons are only lightly padded and require players to use only touch contact and pull back on their blows before striking. The weapons have little support at the tip and do not lend themselves to thrusting. These mock weapons are starting to be used in United States LARP games. padded weapons – The padded weapon sometimes just called the "foam weapon" is the creation of the American battle gaming movement. Padded weapons typically have at least twice the padding found in traditional boffer weapons. They also tend to be lighter than traditional PVC boffers as they are almost always built on fiberglass or carbon fiber cores. All striking surfaces are covered with cloth to prevent the weapon from scratching uncovered skin. The combination of more padding, lighter weight, and cloth covering make these weapons ideal for the unrestrained fighting that is found in most American battle gaming groups (Amtgard, Belegarth Medieval Combat Society, Dagorhir, Darkon Wargaming Club, and High Fantasy Society). In Europe and the UK, the terms latex weapon and LARP-safe weapon are more common, and combat is usually referred to as LARP combat. Non-latex foam weapons are primarily used in Jugger and in the Finnish LARP community.

The primary concern in designing a foam weapon is safety; a pulled blow with a foam weapon should not hurt the target, and in systems that allow it, even a full-strength blow should not cause injury. Combatants who consistently fail to pull their blows are liable to be ejected from an event, or at least pulled out of the fighting for safety reasons. The weapon should be durable, to withstand the stresses of combat. A secondary issue is aesthetics; often, a foam weapon is designed to look something like a real weapon such as a sword or an axe, sometimes with detailed adornment. The weighting and balance of a foam weapon can also affect how easy it is to use in combat. Normally there are several main features of a foam weapon: A core, padding, thrusting tips, various forms of functional and artistic flourishes, and an outer coating or shell. Core[edit] The most important piece of a foam weapon is its core, which acts as the shaft of the weapon and gives it its initial shape. Cores made out of PVC, graphite,[2] fiberglass, carbon fiber,[3] bamboo or aluminium[4] are used, with standards varying between groups and countries. Graphite golf club shafts and PVC tubes are presently the cores most commonly used in the United States, whereas solid fiberglass or carbon fibre rods are the cores most commonly used in Europe.[citation needed] Some core materials can be bent into a number of shapes to give variety and uniqueness to a weapon. A common way to bend a PVC core is with a blow torch or kitchen stove; however, heat guns or boiling water are preferred by some as these methods deliver even heat, to prevent burning or weakening of the core. Rattan is generally soaked in water and then moulded to fit a shape. Some groups wrap tape around the core as reinforcement and to limit damage should the core break.