Cosplay is a wonderful hobby, and it never fails to amaze a lot of audiences with its colors, awesome craftsmanship, and creativity. While you go around in portraying your favorite character, it’s inevitable that you will encounter some malfunctions: a part of your weapon fell off, your wig falls off, a part of your costume gets a tear, and so on.
The solution for this is to have your own Cosplay First-Aid Kit, where you can fix the small tears and broken parts on the spot, and you will able to enjoy the convention again.
Anything can happen in big anime and hobby conventions, which means you have to be prepared for anybody who wants to have your picture taken as well as video shoots during the day. Having a cosplay first-aid kit lessens your worries of those sudden cosplay prop disasters and wardrobe malfunctions because you have the essential stuff needed with you to get them fixed.
Getting the needed things for this kid isn’t even hard, as the important stuff that you need during the convention can be easily bought in stores. So, we are going to breakdown the needed things for your cosplay first-aid kit.
1. Thread and Needles – This is important most, especially if your cosplay is mostly made out of cloth material. Usually, dress shops or sewing stores sell threads in a set containing various colors. This is great especially if you will be cosplaying different characters for the whole convention weekend.
2. Adhesives – Shoe glue and the related adhesives should be in your cosplay first-aid kit. This is very important, most especially to armored cosplayers or those who bring cosplay props and weapons.
3. Masks and gloves – This is in relation to 2. Remember that you are already in the convention hall and you have no choice but to fix the damage on the spot. Having protective gear like face masks and gloves would prevent you from inhaling the fumes and getting the adhesive into your hands.
4. Extra cloth – No cosplay first-aid kit is complete without some extra fabrics that match the colors and patterns of the cosplay that you are bringing to the con. If you are making the costumes by yourself, be sure to have some extra material at least so that you can use them in case of wardrobe malfunctions.
5. Zip ties and Velcro – There are some props and weapons that might be too heavy and take time to use adhesives. This is where zip ties and Velcro come in. They are safer to use and they are sure to keep your props and weapons in place until the end of the convention.
6. Extra Batteries – If your cosplay props, weapons, and armor use electronics and lights, then you have to make sure that you bring extra batteries with you. The number of batteries that you placed in your cosplay should also be the same number of extra batteries that you’ll bring. It’s better to have more than bringing less.
7. Extra EVA foam – Most of the time, cosplay armor and props are usually made out of rubber or EVA foam. It’s inevitable that they would tear or broke that more you move around the convention. So have some EVA foam with you to patch up the damage.
8. Extra lights – Lights can possibly malfunction too. You should have some extra lights with you so you can easily replace the broken ones while you’re in the con.
9. Portable soldering tool – In relation to numbers 6 and 8, you might need a soldering tool to help you connect the wires or detach the dead lights.
10. Water – The convention can really drain your energy, so you must make sure to keep yourself hydrated all throughout the day. Some conventions might prohibit bringing outside food and drinks but it doesn’t hurt to ask the con organizers regarding this. After all, you don’t want to faint or completely stressed out.
11. Mini-fan – Sometimes due to the massive amount of people in the con, the air conditioner might not be enough to give you enough air to cool. Have a mini-fan handy with you. You can have those standard fans or those battery/USB rechargeable fans. A similar case to number 10, we don’t want to see a cosplayer fainted due to the heat.
12. Basic hygiene things (e.g., body spray, deodorant, etc.) – If you can afford to buy a convention pass, then you have absolutely no problem to buy stuff for your hygiene. Having a small hygiene pack into your cosplay first-aid kid is also important especially when you are sweating a lot and you need to prevent yourself from not smelling. Having an extra shirt with you also helps.
So these are just some of the basics stuff you need for your cosplay first-aid kit. We hope this will help you get prepared for your next upcoming convention. Have fun and stay safe!