larp chairs

Chairs? Really?
Yup, chairs. Comes within “ambiente”. Even the best- equiped nobleman is lodged somewhat inadequately on a plastic folding- chair. Something better suited is called for.

Fortunately larpers don´t have to be considerate about minor irrelevancies like “say, did these things really exist?”
Because in reality “chairs for everybody” are a quite modern invention- and the widely popular bog- or stick chair (also called “viking- chair”) although admittedly medieval is from the african middle ages (mind you- I like them, but they´re not “authentic”).
Who didn´t have a throne just sat on the floor or used benches, so- called “scissor chairs”  or footstools (1-, 2- or 3-legged. Exclamation mark! Ever tried to relax on a one-legged footstool? If you´ve got dry ground as an alternative, spare yourself the experience).

However- I for myself don´t need that much reality: I like it padded with a backrest. Especially a backrest- nobody will like to go without for a few days.

That´s why I woluld recommend the“viking- chairs” for larp: they break our modern viewing pattern for “chair” and suggest “this comes from the past”. They are also comfortable (even more when padded), eat up little transport space and are fitting furniture for most of our characters.

So whoever would like to sit comfortably InTime should be more conscious of “does it fit into the setting” than “is it authentic”?

01Stuhl1St10 p_stuhl_(19)

And ´ere we go. The plastic folding- chair above left just serves as a bad example and is a no-go. Things like this can ruin the “feeling” of a gameworld same as empty plastic cola- bottles lying around in a scene. Terminate both on sight- it´s for the common good.

The magnificient specimen on the right (a richly carved “scissor chair”) by contrast is worthy of a prince but alas it can´t be folded and needs a separate car for transport.

The truth as always in life might be found somewhere in between and could look like this:

p_stuhl_(20)

Above: a low- budget wooden folding chair has been poshed up with an equally low- budget cover that in it´s turn was improved with cloth leftovers, acrylic paint an some attachments- in this case feathers. Under the dark blue seat surface hides a padding made of camping sleeping mat. Does its job and can easily be adapted to other settings, but still strongly reminds the eye of a modern chair.

This “modern look” is why I´ve chosen other approaches on building fantasy chairs which from here on I´ll show on separate pages.

09Stühle-fertig
p_stuhl_(1)

Old kitchen chairs turn into decent fantasy- sitting accomodations by way of applying resin attachments and acrylic colour.
An improvement in every respect, if you ask me.

Link to “kitchen- chair tuning”: chair tuning

But for effective regeneration after the battle´s exertions one needs something really comfortable.
That says “fantasy”. And has enough seat height to allow for getting up fast (even when wearing armour). It should be broad enough to stand firm. A backrest would be nice; high enough to support the head also. Foldable of course, but able to be carried around easily in the camp without having to dismantle it first. Did I mention “padded”? It should have feet for a better stand on uneven surfaces but shouldn´t occupy too much space (no long cantilever astern). The backrest should be positionable in various angles from “upright for conference” to “relax”. Where to put my pole-arm? And is there something to drink? And I weigh (without armour) over a 100 kg (hey- I´m not xactly fat and pudgy only in some places) which means stability is a vital point. Expensive on the other hand is unwanted. And I`m no carpenter but a hobbyist- which means that I´ve got a jigsaw and absolutely no respect for the material.

Now that is quite an FSD, isn´t it?

And this is what I came up with:

Link to scratch- building a foldable fantasy- chair with pole- arm- holder and built- in drinking bladder: folding chair

last edit oct 2016

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