I used to play a dwarf in every campaign we played back in the day. Even when we used to LARP in the forests and fields of my childhood neighborhood, I still played a dwarf, despite being quite a bit taller than the rest of my party (except for the barbarian). I remember spending several days crafting an enormous battle axe out of PVC tubing and foam rubber. That thing was massive, and when you got hit with it—it hurt! (But not as much as getting hit by our barbarian; later we found out he used to hide a broomstick inside the pipe of his PVC sword!)
I made myself a real chainmail armor from about 500 metal rings I found in my dad's shed (he never did realize where they disappeared to), and I had a pretty cool-looking helmet made out of cardboard. The only thing I didn't have was a beard. You try walking around for 6 hours with a fake beard while fighting off thieves and monsters.
