Archery is one of the more dangerous parts of LARPing if it’s used inappropriately. A LARP bow or crossbow is still a fully functional weapon; only the fact that the arrows you’re using have soft foam heads keeps them from being highly dangerous or even lethal. Even with those foam tips, they can easily cause painful bruises or permanent injuries if they are used improperly.

As an archer, it is your responsibility to never use your bow unsafely, and to always place the safety of your fellow players (PCs and NPCs both) above your character’s success in battle.

Players under the age of 18 are not allowed to use bows or crossbows in combat situations; practice or competition shooting is still allowed, with a parent or guardian’s supervision.

Construction Requirements

• The draw of a bow or crossbow must be less than or equal to 30 pounds at full draw.
• Bows and crossbows must not have hooks or sharp points on them that might harm you or any other player should they make incidental contact during combat.
• Arrows and bolts must have a flat foam head of at least 2 inches diameter and 2 inches thickness.
• Arrows and bolts must have a teflon or hard plastic cap on the tip of the shaft, within the arrow head, to prevent the tip of the shaft from punching through the foam head and into a target.
• B3 Imagination Studios is our go-to source for arrows and bolts that meet our safety requirements. Their crossbow bolts can be found here and their arrows here.

Safety Checks

You must bring your bow and all of your arrows to weapons check at the start of every event that you intend to fire it/them at. Any that have not been checked over and approved by staff at the start of an event may not be used during that event.

You must perform a Full Check of your bow and every arrow or bolt each time you bring them with you into a skirmish or battle.

You must perform an Essential Check of every arrow or bolt each time you are about to fire your weapon, before you nock the ammunition to the string.

Full Check

When you are about to go on a Skirmish or Battle, you must perform a more rigorous check of your ammunition to ensure that they are all in good shape and safe to use. You must perform this check before each Skirmish or Battle you go on.

• Feel the foam on the face of the arrow to check that it is free from debris and that the foam is not waterlogged.
• Feel the soft foam to check that it is still firmly attached to the arrow head and that the head is securely attacked to the shaft.
• Flex the arrow’s or bolt’s shaft to ensure that it has not cracked or split.
• Gently tug at and flex each flight/fletching to check that none are missing or loose.
• Examine the nock to ensure it is not loose or split, attempting to gently wiggle or twist it to check that it is still securely attached and undamaged.