The Ultimate Anime Convention Survival Kit Guide for Cosplayers (2024)

Cosplay convention is a fun event to participate as a cosplayer. But remember that you must have a convention survival kit in your backpack to supercharge your experience.

Yes, you just saw that’s having a survival kit is a “must.” Not bringing a convention survival kit in my first con is my biggest mistake I ever did as cosplayer by myself.

if this is your first cosplay convention as cosplayer, have a time to read my article on how you can survive your first anime convention. This article is very crucial for beginner cosplayers!

Key Takeaways

Essential Convention Survival Kit: A comprehensive checklist of items every cosplayer needs to survive and thrive at conventions. 

First Aid Must-Haves: Be prepared for unexpected injuries with band-aids, bandages, antiseptics, scissors, and a cold compress.

Cosplay Repair Kit: Sewing materials are a must for quick fixes to costumes, wigs, and props.

Hygiene Essentials: Pack toiletries like napkins, toothpaste, toothbrush, microfiber cloth, soap, tissue, and hand sanitizer.

Notebook and Pen: Capture autographs, track expenses, and jot down memorable experiences.

Stay Hydrated: Bring a water bottle to avoid dehydration, and the dreaded “con crud.”

Having a well-prepared survival kit can supercharge your convention experience to its fullest!

Things That Your Convention Survival Kit Must Have.

Not having a proper convention survival kit is a life or death situation for a cosplayer, especially if this is your first convention in your life. Without further ado, let’s get started!

First Aid Kits

Physical injuries are very unpredictable. There’s no place on the earth that is 100% safe. There is some physical harm that you can encounter in the con, such as sharp cosplay props, getting stumbled on the wet floor, etc.

Make sure that you have these following items in your convention survival kit:

• Band-aids: This item is one of the crucial part of your survival kit in case of unwanted physical injuries. 
• Bandages: It’s unlikely to have a severe injury inside of the con but it might also happen. Bandage can be helpful for major physical damages.
• Antiseptic: In case of minor wound, Antiseptic might prevent a further infections.
• Scissors: Can be used to cut tape, dressings, and bandages, remove dressings, and cut through clothing to access wounds
• Cold Compressor: Mild to Severe bruises might happen everywhere, including con venues. Cold compress might be helpful to lessen the pain in cause of bruise injury.

Portable Repair Tools

There is a possibility that your cosplay costume, wigs, or props could suffer damage within the venue. It’s way too embarrassing that you will call the staff just to fix it for you.

Imagine this situation, you are wandering the convention venue and you noticed that your costume got stripped so badly. Someone approached you for the picture. You agreed despite of your costume damage. You saw in the picture that your damage costume is very visible. That’s a big photography disaster! 

Make sure to prepare for this weird scenario. Wearing a broken cosplay materials in the venue is the best way to embarrass yourself to other cosplayers. In order to mitigate the risk of unexpected cosplay damages, make sure to bring all of your sewing materials on your convention journey. It might also rise a risk of getting harassed inside of the venue.

Cosmetics/Make Up (Optional)

If you are a cosplayer that utilizing makeup, it’s advisable that your makeup kit is on time, your side always. Make up wears off in a short period, especially if the venue has a bad air conditioning system. Maintaining the freshness of your makeup is a good way to improve your cosplay.

Bring all the materials that you’ve used for your cosmetic needs. These cosmetics are crucial for your convention survival kit. These include eye liner, makeup kits, small mirror, lipstick, file, fingernail polish, etc.

Toiletries/Hygiene Kits

Some conventions don’t have a toiletry like tissue. It’s uncomfortable if you go to the comfort room and later to realize that there’s no tissue or hand soap inside of the comfort room. 

To avoid this hygiene issue scenarios, I advise that you should bring include these things in your convention survival kit:

• Napkin (for girls): I’m a male cosplayer, so I cannot give a depth explanation about periods. My general advice for beloved female cosplayers is to bring a sanitary napkin, whether you are in red days or not.
• Toothpaste and Toothbrush: If body odor is enough to destroy someone’s day, a bad breath can supercharge their frustration! It’s crucial to bring a toothpaste and toothbrush. Cosplay convention is a whole day event, so it’s likely that your breath will smell bad if you don’t brush your teeth.
• Microfiber Cloth: If the character that you are cosplaying has a glass, I think that bringing a microfiber cloth might be helpful. This can be used to clean your eye glasses.
• Soap – Convention’s bath room doesn’t give you a free soap. It’s way better if you bring your own soap.
• Tissue – This is one of the important thing in your kit. Tissue can help you to clean up something efficiently.
• Hand Sanitizer – In the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizers are a must in your convention survival kit! This minimizes the risks of airborne virus transmission.

Notebook and Pen (MUST!)

I don’t say that you should do your homework or school project during your convention journey. Cosplay convention is not a place to do your school stuffs!

You cannot predict who are the people that you might encounter while wandering the convention venue. What if the person that you passed by is your favorite cosplayer that has a thousand of followers in Instagram?

You approached that cosplayer, and they respond to you. They are so happy that you are supporting them. Now, this is the most painful part after you meet your favorite cosplayer. You have an urge to ask for a nice autograph just to realize that you don’t have a notebook.

In my own perspective, if this happens to me hypothetically, I will cry out loud inside of the venue. I cannot imagine that I will miss an autograph from favorite cosplayer. This not actually happened to me and hoping that this will not be real. 

So, bringing a notebook is a must include in your convention survival kit if you have some favorite cosplayers that you wish to meet in the conventions.

Bonus: Notebooks are not just for autograph hoarding. This might be helpful to jot down your expenses. If you are a blogger like me, this might be helpful to write down your experience and turn it to a full-pledged article content.

Water Bottle

Dehydration is one of the most common reason of sickness after convention or also known as “con crud.” Make sure to include a plenty amount of drinkable water in your convention survival kit.

Water is essential to stay hydrated. Walking all day inside of the venue will make you thirsty in several minutes. Some convention booths are selling an overpriced bottled water, so it’s more economical to bring your own tumbler.

Conclusion

The Convention Survival Kit for Cosplayers is a package of essential items that every cosplayer needs to survive and thrive at conventions. It includes first aid must-haves, such as band-aids, antiseptics, scissors, and a cold compress.

 Cosplay repair kit, hygiene essentials like napkins, toothpaste, toothbrush, microfiber cloth, soap, tissue, and hand sanitizer. A notebook and pen to capture autographs, track expenses, and jot down memorable experiences. A water bottle to avoid dehydration and the dreaded “con crud.” 

A well-prepared convention survival kit can supercharge your convention experience. Cosmetics/makeup kit, including eye liner, makeup kits, small mirror, lipstick, file, fingernail polish, etc. are crucial for cosmetic needs.