Cosplay Rules

The following guidelines and rules take the German Weapons Act (Waffengesetz), along with its implementing provisions and annexes, into account. Prohibited weapons don’t belong at the convention and should stay at home, since they can’t be accepted at the cosplay check or stored for the duration of your stay.

These types of weapons and props are banned at HanaCon:

• Real firearms, airsoft guns of any kind, gas pistols and blank-firing guns (loaded or unloaded)
• Irritant spray devices, as well as replica firearms and decorative firearms made of wood/metal
• Gel blasters of any kind
• Ammunition of any kind
• Pyrotechnics and explosives (firecrackers, rockets, etc.)
• Throwing weapons (e.g. throwing stars, throwing darts and throwing knives)
• Knuckle dusters, blackjacks and steel batons
• Strangling weapons (e.g. nunchaku)
• Cutting and thrusting weapons with a sharp or blunt metal blade or points (e.g. katanas, swords, sabres, spears and morning stars)
• Knives of any kind (except for crew carrying out their duties)
• Crossbows and functional bows (bows with a real bowstring)
• Arrows that can be fired, with or without a point
• Symbols that are unconstitutional or classified as extremist
• Spikes and studs over 5 cm that are pointed
• Official uniforms and insignia (police, fire brigade, THW and paramedics are of course not affected)

Flagged props and weapons can be handed in at the cosplay check and stored for the duration of your stay in the convention building. You’ll get a receipt for this, which you show at the cosplay check when leaving the convention to reclaim your props.

You must hand in these weapons/props at the cosplay check when entering the building:

• All props over 1.5 m in length (swords measured with their scabbard)
• Cutting and thrusting weapons with a blade substitute made of solid wood, hard plastic etc. (e.g. katanas, swords, sabres, knives)
• Rods or tubes made predominantly of wood, metal, fibreglass, hard plastic or combinations thereof, including multi-part ones (e.g. kendo equipment, bamboo swords, lances etc.)
• Arrows that can be fired, for LARP
• Riding crops and hand whips over 1 m
• Stock whips with a stock over 1 m and an overall length over 1.5 m

Permitted props may be carried on your person in the convention premises for the duration of the event. They will be marked to show they’ve been checked by the cosplay check. This marking must still be shown at the entrance check! The owner of the item is liable for any damage that occurs to it. HanaCon e.V. accepts no liability for this.

You must show these weapons and props at the cosplay check to have them marked:

• Weapon imitations made of foam, rubber, cardboard, soft plastic and Worbla
• Rods that are clearly recognisable as serving only for stabilisation
• Nerf blasters without ammunition, provided the specific model isn’t listed under the banned weapons (e.g. gel blasters, the Rival series)
• LARP weapons (generally foam or latex replicas with a stabilising core, for “Live Action Role Play”)
• Weapons and rods made from a combination of light wood (e.g. plywood) and/or cardboard/plastic/soft material, as long as wood doesn’t make up the majority
• Rods under 1.5 m
• Non-functional bows and crossbows (without a functional bowstring, or that can’t be drawn)
• Non-firable arrows without a point (arrows without a nock at the fletching end)
• Riding crops and whips (unless already listed under the flagged weapons)

Geglättet gegenüber der alten Fassung:

• Bei den markierungspflichtigen Props stand „foam” doppelt (im Deutschen „Schaumstoff … und Foam”). Ich habe es einmal gelassen.
• „Firable arrows” ist jetzt „Arrows that can be fired”.
• Maße stehen mit Leerzeichen („5 cm”, „1.5 m”).