Convention Packing List (Don't Forget These)

You will forget something. This list exists so it's not your badge.

I've done the parking lot panic at Dragon Con, realizing my spirit gum was sitting on my bathroom counter 400 miles away. I've watched someone at Anime Expo hold their pauldron together with masking tape from a hotel front desk because they forgot contact cement. At a ren faire in Texas, I once saw a guy in full plate armor drink from a garden hose because nobody in his group packed water bottles.

Convention packing is its own skill. You're not just packing clothes for a trip. You're packing costumes, repair supplies, comfort gear for 12-hour days on concrete, and enough snacks to avoid $6 convention center water bottles. And the list changes depending on whether you're hitting an anime con, a ren faire, a furry con, or a LARP event.

I've refined this list across 30+ conventions. Every item earned its spot by being the thing someone desperately needed and didn't have.

Convention day bag essentials

These go in your backpack or crossbody bag every single day of the con. Not in the hotel room. On your person.

• Badge and lanyard. Clip it to your bag, not your costume. Costumes change. Bags don't.
• Phone, charger, and portable battery pack. Bring two battery packs if you can. Convention centers are dead zones for outlets, and you'll burn through battery taking photos and checking schedules. A 10,000mAh pack from Anker runs about $20 and lasts a full con day.
• Cash. Artist alley vendors often prefer cash or charge fees for card payments. Withdraw your dealer room budget before the con. ATMs inside convention centers charge $3-5 per transaction.
• ID and any required cards. Some cons check ID at badge pickup. If you're 21+, you might want your ID for evening events.
• Hand sanitizer and wet wipes. Convention halls are petri dishes. 50,000 people touching the same escalator rails for four days. Bring the good stuff, not the hotel lobby bottle.
• Refillable water bottle. A 32oz Nalgene or collapsible bottle saves you $15-20 in overpriced venue water across a weekend. Most convention centers have water fountains or refill stations.
• Snacks. Granola bars, trail mix, fruit. Anything that won't melt or crush. Convention food lines are 30-45 minutes during peak hours, and a $4 granola bar from home beats a $12 convention center sandwich.
• Small first-aid items. Bandaids (specifically moleskin for blisters), ibuprofen, allergy meds if needed. Your feet will hate you by day two.
• Deodorant. I shouldn't have to say this. I'm saying it anyway.
• Pen and small notepad or phone notes app. For writing down commission artist booth numbers, panel times, or phone numbers when your battery dies.

Cosplay-specific packing

This is where convention packing diverges from normal travel. If you're wearing a costume (even a simple one), you need repair supplies.

Costume pieces

Lay out your entire costume the night before and photograph it. Every piece, every accessory, every prop. If it's not in the photo, it's not packed.

• Full costume laid out and checked. Every armor piece, every fabric layer, every belt, every buckle.
• Shoes specific to the costume. And comfortable backup shoes for walking the floor when you change out.
• Wig (if applicable) on a wig head or in a wig bag with tissue paper to hold the style.
• All accessories. Jewelry, belts, gloves, bags, weapon props. These are the most commonly forgotten items.
• Contacts or glasses that work with the costume.
• Undergarments specific to the costume. Dance belt, strapless bra, compression shirt, skin-tone bodysuit. Whatever the costume needs that your normal underwear doesn't cover.
• A comfortable "hall costume" or regular clothes for when you're done being in costume but still want to walk the floor.

Emergency repair kit

This kit has saved me or someone near me at every single convention I've attended. Pack it in a gallon ziplock bag.

• Hot glue gun (mini) and extra sticks. The single most important repair tool for armor and prop cosplay. Some hotels will let you use an outlet in the lobby. A cordless hot glue gun (Surebonder makes one for about $15) is even better.
• E6000 or Barge contact cement. For bonds that need to hold through a full day. Hot glue is fast but can fail in heat.
• Super glue (gel formula). Loctite gel for small fixes. Gel won't run down your armor piece.
• Safety pins. A card of assorted sizes. These fix more costume emergencies than any other single item.
• Needle and thread. A small travel sewing kit with black, white, and one color matching your costume.
• Fashion tape and body tape. For keeping fabric where it should be and skin coverage where you need it.
• Zip ties. Assorted sizes. For armor attachment points, quick structural fixes, and strap replacements.
• Gaffer tape (not duct tape). Gaffer tape removes cleanly and comes in multiple colors. A small roll of black and one matching your costume.
• Velcro strips. Self-adhesive. For quick attachment points when a buckle or snap breaks.
• Scissors and a craft knife. Small ones. TSA won't let craft knives in carry-on, so pack these in checked luggage or buy at destination.
• Spirit gum and spirit gum remover. For prosthetics, elf ears, facial hair, and anything that needs to stick to skin. Bring the remover too, or you're peeling adhesive off your face with hotel soap.
• Sandpaper (fine grit). A small sheet for smoothing rough spots on foam or Worbla repairs.

Wig and makeup supplies

• Wig cap(s). Pack two. They tear.
• Bobby pins and wig clips. More than you think you need.
• Got2b Freeze Spray or similar strong-hold hairspray. The only product that reliably holds styled wig spikes through a full convention day.
• Setting spray for makeup. Urban Decay All Nighter or NYX matte spray. Convention halls are warm. Your makeup will slide without setting spray.
• Makeup remover wipes. For touch-ups and end-of-day removal.
• Full makeup kit for the costume, plus touch-up items you can carry on the floor.
• Mirror (small, portable). Convention bathrooms are crowded. A compact mirror lets you do touch-ups anywhere.

Ren faire and LARP additions

Renaissance faires and LARP events have different needs than indoor anime cons. Most of these are about weather and terrain.

• Sunscreen. SPF 30 minimum. Ren faires are outdoor events, often in open fields with minimal shade. Reapply every 2 hours, especially if you're in a low-cut bodice or short sleeves.
• Bug spray. Outdoor events in summer means mosquitoes. DEET-based sprays work best, but keep them away from costume fabrics (DEET can damage certain synthetics).
• Rain plan. A compact poncho or water-resistant cloak. Getting caught in rain at a ren faire in full garb without a plan is miserable. Check the forecast, but pack for rain anyway.
• Sturdy, broken-in shoes or boots. Ren faire grounds are uneven grass, dirt, mud, and hills. New boots will destroy your feet. Break them in at least 2-3 weeks before the event.
• A drinking vessel. Many ren faires sell drinks in disposable cups, but bringing your own tankard or leather mug is part of the experience (and some faires offer discounts for bringing your own).
• Cash. Even more important than at indoor cons. Many ren faire vendors are cash-only, and cell service for card readers can be spotty in rural locations.

Furry con additions

Furry conventions have specific needs around suits and cooling that other cons don't share.

• Cooling vest or fans. If you're suiting, a cooling vest is not optional. EZ Cooldown vests run $25-40 and are the difference between a fun hour and a medical emergency. Battery-powered fans that mount inside the head help too.
• Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol. For sanitizing the inside of your fursuit head between wears. Isopropyl alcohol (70%) kills bacteria and dries fast.
• Extra base layers. You'll sweat through at least one set per day of suiting. Pack more base layers than you think you need.
• Handler supplies. If someone is handling for you while you're in suit, they need water (with a straw for drinking through the head), a phone for photos, and awareness of the nearest headless lounge.
• Lint roller. For keeping fur clean between outings.

Artist alley and vendor supplies

If you're vending, your packing list is a different beast entirely. For a full breakdown on what to bring and how to price for profit, see our convention vendor profit guide. But the basics:

• Tablecloth, risers, and display materials. Test your full table setup at home before the con.
• Square/card reader plus backup. Convention wifi can be unreliable. Have a mobile hotspot or be prepared for cash-only periods.
• Price signs and business cards. People forget business cards constantly. Print more than you think you need.
• Bags for customers. Small paper or plastic bags for prints, stickers, and small items.
• Change. Bills and coins. Start the day with at least $50-100 in small bills and quarters.

Comfort and survival gear

Convention days are long. 10-14 hours on your feet, often in uncomfortable costumes, in crowded halls with aggressive air conditioning or no air conditioning at all.

• Comfortable backup shoes. Even if your costume shoes are comfortable, bring shoes you can walk 15,000+ steps in. Your feet will swell by day three.
• Compression socks. Not glamorous. Genuinely life-changing for multi-day cons. Your legs and feet recover overnight instead of carrying yesterday's swelling into today.
• Layers. Convention halls oscillate between meat locker and sauna. A light hoodie or flannel that fits over your costume (or works as a hall outfit) covers both extremes.
• Earplugs. Hotel parties run late at cons. If you want to sleep before 2 AM, earplugs are essential. Foam ones from the drugstore work fine.
• Eye mask. Hotel blackout curtains are never as blackout as they claim.
• Melatonin or sleep aid if you use one. Convention excitement plus unfamiliar beds plus hotel noise is a recipe for terrible sleep.

Hotel and travel

• All booking confirmations printed or screenshotted. Don't rely on email loading in a crowded convention center with overwhelmed wifi.
• Luggage that fits your cosplay. Hard cases for armor, garment bags for sewn costumes, wig boxes for styled wigs. Throwing everything in a duffle is how armor gets crushed and wig styles get destroyed.
• TSA-friendly packing if flying. Prop weapons in checked luggage, clearly labeled. Craft knives, scissors, and spray adhesives in checked bags only. Spirit gum containers under 3.4oz for carry-on or pack in checked. For detailed guidance on convention travel costs, check our convention trip budget guide.
• Hotel snack run supplies list. Hit a grocery store the night you arrive. Bread, peanut butter, granola bars, fruit, and a case of water. This $15-20 grocery run replaces $60+ in convention center snacks and overpriced water bottles.
• Hangers. Hotels never have enough, and you need them for costumes. Pack 3-4 extra or buy cheap ones at destination.

The packing checklist you'll actually use

I built this list from experience, but reading a blog post and checking items off while you pack are two different things. We built an interactive version that lets you check items off, saves your progress, and lets you share the list with your con group.

Use the convention packing checklist to customize this list for your next con. It covers categories for armor, sewing, wigs, props, and survival gear, and saves your progress in your browser so you can come back to it. If you're also tracking costs, the convention budget calculator pairs well with it.

The "I always forget" tier list

After polling friends and con-goers, these are the items people forget most often, ranked by how painful it is to not have them:

Devastating to forget:

• Badge/registration confirmation
• Phone charger and battery pack
• Spirit gum remover (you glued prosthetics on, now what?)
• Comfortable backup shoes
• Cash for artist alley

Annoying to forget:

• Deodorant (the hotel gift shop has it for $8)
• Bobby pins (always buy a new pack, they evaporate)
• Snacks (you'll spend $40 extra on venue food)
• Safety pins
• Sunscreen (for outdoor events)

Survivable but frustrating:

• Lint roller
• Garment bags
• Business cards (if vending)
• Earplugs
• Extra wig caps