Barbarian LARP costumes and outfit sets for the warband traveller, mountain raider and clan-warrior character builds. Heavy textured fabrics, faux fur trim and tough leather built for cold, wet fields and long weekends in the field.
Forget the off-the-shelf barbarian
The shoulder-pauldron-and-leather-skirt look from costume catalogues is fine for a Halloween bar crawl. It falls apart on the second night of a wet event. The barbarian build that survives a long weekend is heavier, warmer, and structured around layering you can take off when you're sat by the fire and put back on when the wind turns.
What works in cold weather
The base of a cold-weather barbarian costume is a fur-trimmed panel piece or a heavy textured layer. Both add bulk to the silhouette without trapping sweat the way a sealed leather jerkin would. Over the top, a faux fur mantle across the shoulders. The mantle does the most for the look. It reads barbarian from across the field and adds insulation you can feel. A woollen wrap finishes the head and neck, and the wider it is, the better it sits over a wig or hair tied back for combat. The full range sits in LARP Hoods & Mantles.
What works in warmer events
Drop the mantle. Keep the panel piece open. A linen layer under instead of a heavy wool one. Vambraces or leather bracers from the LARP Leather Armour range still carry the look without the heat penalty. Most of the barbarian character can be built up or stripped back depending on the weather forecast, which is why layering matters more than a single statement piece.
One piece, four characters
A faux fur mantle bought for a barbarian works for a viking warband member, a fighter coming down off a snowy pass, or a druid in winter. Chow has been making cross-character LARP garb since 1994, and the range is built around pieces that travel between characters as your faction or system shifts.
Pick the heaviest layer first, then build down
That's the practical buying order. Faux fur layer first, head and neck wrap second, body layer to match, then arm and leg accessories. The body layers come from LARP Coats & Waistcoats and LARP Tunics & Viking Shirts. All Chows Emporium products are one size, with measurements on each individual product page if you have a question about measurements before ordering.
Worn at Empire, Lorien Trust, Curious Pastimes, Bicolline, Drachenfest and ConQuest of Mythodea.