Do You Even Larp, Bro?

Ever since I can remember, I have been obsessed with History. I mainly enjoy ancient and medieval European history. But, as I have gotten older, I have started to branch off a bit more and appreciate US and world history. I loved researching about warriors such as knights, Vikings, Spartans, and Samurai. I imagined to myself how awesome it would be to save up my money and one day buy historically accurate armor and weapons from around the world to reenact. Thus, it became a newfound hobby of mine called Live-Action-Role-Play, more commonly known as Larping.

What started as a joke with a few of my closest college friends became a passion that I didn’t know I wanted. I have had so many memorable experiences larping by myself, family, and friends. I definitely have made a fool out of myself from time to time. And I didn’t care because I had so much fun. So, I saved some money and started buying a Viking armor set. During this time, I immersed myself in Old Norse (Viking) culture. I researched armor and weapons that were historically accurate and purchased items online that fit my small budget. I don’t have all of the pieces I need for my Viking set, but it started to come alive when I donned my helmet, leather armor, Ulfberht sword, and massive round shield.

I had some rad experiences wearing my nearly full Viking armor. I had the cops up in Utah come up to me to see what I was doing. I went to Yellowstone National Park chasing a herd of deer and sparred with my friends at Lake Mead in Nevada to name a few. My family and friends thought it was so awesome seeing me walking around in my armor. Unfortunately, I ran out of money to buy random miscellaneous parts to my armor and was crazy busy looking for a higher-paying job after I graduated college, so I had to put Larping on hold. After a several-year hiatus, I am ready to get back into it!

Larping tends to bring a nerdy vibe to it. Most people think of larp as a bunch of nerds in a field who hit each other with foam sticks and start shouting phrases from a fantasy game. I don’t associate with that. I’m more into reenactment. What would be a dream come true for me is to join some kind of history reenactment club either here in the US or somewhere in Europe. Ideally, it would be epic to bring my armor and travel somewhere in Denmark, Norway, Iceland, or Sweden and join like-minded individuals who share the same passion and interests in the hobby that I have.

I look back at those times, and I had an absolute blast. As cheesy or cringey as you may think it is, I really could care less. It is something that I am passionate about. It is something that brings genuine joy and adventure into my life. My plan is to in the near future get back into larping and even buy armor and weapons from other warriors I love such as Templar Knights, Samurai, Spartans, Gladiators, Roman Legionnaires, etc. My next major purchase will be a two-handed Dane axe and maybe even another sword since my old one rusted and had to be thrown away.

Even as I look at some of the photos I am going to add to this blog post, I feel a sense of nostalgia and longing to get back into the hobby. I have had so much fun doing this. Sure, it is random and may seem like a bizarre hobby to get into, but like I said before, I don’t care. If it is something that I genuinely enjoy, then I am going to devote more resources to it. I am so excited to get back into it and I can’t wait to get more pictures and make more memories embracing something that I love.

P.S. I have so many pictures from my adventures, here are just a few. I will add more to a photo gallery section soon. Enjoy!

My Beloved Family

“So, you want to get to know me, eh?”