Since you're saving cash on gym fees, you could also hit up Amazon, Lowe's or Home Depot and buy some padded mats to donate to your work gym and use for your deadlifts to protect the floor and plates.

I doubt people would have an issue if they see you're going out of your way to compromise.

Once you go coily you never go back.

That isn’t actually my floor. It’s foam flooring (you probably had it in your kindergarten class) which is sitting on top of my hardwood floor. You can find it here.

http://www.amazon.com/BalanceFrom-Puzzle-Exercise-Quality-Interlocking/dp/B013A4ATCQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1459108961&sr=8-5&keywords=puzzle+foam+mats for example

Ok it’s an alright start but there’s some glaring issues here from safety that need addressing.

1. Mouthguards. Mistakes happen, and you are going to pay a lot less for even the most expensive mouthguard than you are to get your teeth reassembled after someone shatters half your molars with a poorly aimed kick. It’s not worth the risk. If you cannot afford mouth guards, you cannot afford to safely spar. Period.
   
   
2. Mats. Again, mistakes happen and people have died from falling onto hard surfaces and hitting their heads. Even if you don’t go to that extreme, you can break hips, compress disks, and cause all kinds of nasty injuries that will put you out of training or give you lifelong nagging injuries. Mats are expensive, but you can get 24 sq ft for 20$ here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013A4ATCQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YjqqDbWQDRV37
   
   Aside from that, I personally would recommend just punching to the head and with control. We did bareknuckle sparring at my dojo and made contact to the face.
   
   I also would recommend that you either allow elbows to land to the head, or rule them out completely. Faking it will cause you to train in bad habits from both the receiving end and the delivering end.

How about just a couple of these

They're 1/2 Inch thick

I would suggest getting a pack of interlocking foam mats, and putting those down between your bedroom door and your bed, and in the hallway to the bathroom.

I would also advise your landlord that this is what you’re going to do, because then you have fulfilled your part of the bargain, where are you make an effort to accommodate your unreasonable neighbours

Here’s a link to the product I am referring to, on Canadian Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/BalanceFrom-Puzzle-Exercise-Interlocking-Tiles/dp/B013A4ATCQ?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duc12-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B013A4ATCQ

They also sell them at Walmart, in various colors. I have a bunch of them, because my apartment has really hard floors (vinyl on cement) and it’s hard on my knees and heels. They are a bit thicker than a rug, so if anything they offer a bit better sound dampening.

If your neighbour complains again, you can just tell your landlord you’re gonna put down a second layer of them – it’s by no means too soft to walk on (I have two layers in my kitchen right now) – and your neighbours really shouldn’t be able to hear anything through that.

Plus, if you own a pet, the foam tiles semi-impermeable and therefore much easier to clean; and worst case scenario, you can just throw out the affected mat if something truly disgusting happens on it. Much, much cheaper than replacing a rug.

Best of luck; this situation sounds really stressful and unpleasant, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with that.

(Edit: fixed link)

Safety first. No cosplay project is worth serious injury, death, or shortening your lifespan. The safer you are, the longer you'll live, the more time you'll have to make cool nerdy Halo shit. Complacency kills.

All the armor/prop building tutorials you'll ever need. For now, just look over the pepakura and foam tutorials in section 2. Or read them all. I'm not your boss. Plus, everything you learn here builds a foundation towards a better-looking build and a more enjoyable experience. Pepakura stuff is just more pertinent to what I'm discussing right now.

Amazon Shopping List:^*

• EVA foam: Yeah, they're just foam exercise mats that you can buy at Home Depot, but they're cheaper on Amazon. EVA foam comes in all sorts of thickness, but 1/2" will probably be what you use the most. I use 1/2" thickness for the larger pieces and 6mm for detail work.
  
• Barge Contact Cement: Hot glue is easy to work with, but it's messy and burns your fingers while you hold pieces together waiting for the clear adhesive lava to cool down. This is what professional prop-makers use. Use nitrile gloves with this stuff. Trust me. (You'll find more info in the very last link below)
  
  ^* ^(These two items will probably be the least familiar to most people, but they're the most important. Of course, there are other tools that come into play, but you'll figure that out once you read/watch the tutorials.)
  
  

  Downloads and Tutorials:
  

  Free Pepakura Designer v4.1.6 download - You'll be using this program a lot. It's very easy to use, especially if you know anything about 3D modelling, which I don't. Plus, it's free. And if it's free, it's for me, unless it's an STD.
  
  Every Halo-related pepakura file in existence so far. Most of these are taken straight from the game. Some were painstakingly modeled from scratch by talented 3D artists, with only high-res reference photos for guidance. Definitely the most detailed way to build your projects. There are files intended for foam, but most are made for paper. Be sure to make the distinction. Even though the files designed for paper can be used to make foam armor (with some modifications, of course), a lot of the templates you print will go to waste. If it's unfolded for paper, the intention is to line it with fiberglass.
  
  The fiberglass and bondo method is the most detailed and the most durable, but it's also the most expensive and the most time-consuming. I would not recommend this for a beginner on a budget, but if you have the money to spend, it can be a great lesson in patience. I made an ODST helmet using this method for my first attempt years ago. It's not a good-looking helmet, but I still have it. It's currently hanging in my workshop to serve as a reminder of the lessons I learned along the way and that I have the ability to jump straight into a project without any prior experience and finish with a prop that's... well, at least it's recognizable. Maybe one day, I'll gift it to someone who can bring it to its full potential.
  
  This Instructables tutorial is probably the easiest one to follow that I know of. This is a great place to start if you've never touched pepakura, fiberglass, or even cardstock. I wish this tutorial existed when I built my first attempt 9 or 10 years ago.
  
  Here's an ODST helmet you can make out of foam - cheap and easy, but not as detailed. These usually come out looking more angular than curved, so you'll have to get creative to solve that issue.
  
  Bonus cardboard tutorial - fastest, easiest, cheapest, and quite honestly the best tutorial I have ever seen. This kid is a legend.
  
  The best advice I can give to someone starting out is:
  
  

• Start with something simple, and continue to improve upon it. No piece is ever truly "done." You'll always find something new you want to add or fix. Armor building is an ongoing project.
  
• Develop your skills by using a medium that's easy to work with (like EVA foam) or what you're familiar with. Delve into the more complicated stuff later, when you're more confident in your abilities. Some cosplayers have previous experience with things like sculpting clay, then they mold it in silicone and slush-cast it with resin. There's more than one way to skin a Spartan, so stick to what you know while learning more skills along the way.
  
• Do not start with a complicated armor piece like a helmet. It's too easy to get in over your head (no pun intended) and your project gets tossed aside because you're stuck, discouraged and frustrated. I started with the smaller pieces like hip plates, belt buckle, butt plate, etc. - escalating in difficulty and growing in skill with every piece until my torso was complete. If a helmet is all you want, then jump right in. Just be prepared to fail. Everyone fails the first time around. Don't be discouraged by that. Take it as a learning opportunity, and apply the lessons you learned to your next attempt.
  
• Learn how to make props like the pros. Hollywood propmakers use EVA foam all the time because of its balance of affordability, durability, versatility, and ease of use. I found myself referencing and rewatching this video from Adam Savage's Tested a lot. He talks about how to cut EVA foam, line it up with other pieces using registration marks, and glue them together using Barge contact cement.
  
• Ask questions and be a detailed as possible. Provide some photos if you can. As I've mentioned before, previous cosplayers have encountered the same issue you've just stumbled across. If you google your problem, you'll more than likely find the solution. If not, sign up on the forums and ask away. The community is extremely helpful. Remember, we do this as a hobby, so we enjoy the time we spend doing it. It's fun! We want to share our passion for building characters with anyone and everyone who is interested, so helping a noob brings us joy. It makes me feel good knowing I helped someone fix a problem, so don't be shy!
  
• Above all, (second only to safety) have fun with it! Experiment with techniques, paint schemes, materials... whatever! You're building more than armor; you're building a character. Tell the story using nothing but your craftsmanship. Is this character a new recruit in shiny, brand-new armor, or a battle-hardened veteran with the scars to prove it? Maybe you want to be the character, like I did. You'll notice that's my real last name on my chest piece, and below that, the rank I earned before finishing my time in the military. The character you build is limited only by what decisions you make out of infinite possibilities.
  
  I hope this helps get you started, and if you decide to join the 405th, send a message to SGT Razor. I'll gladly watch your career with great interest.

Got it on Amazon. BalanceFrom Puzzle Exercise Mat with High Quality EVA Foam Interlocking Tiles, Black https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B013A4ATCQ?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Idk cant think of a time i've ever been on my knees in vr, and why not just use something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/BalanceFrom-Puzzle-Exercise-Interlocking-Tiles/dp/B013A4ATCQ

I am using that type setup and it works pretty well. Thanks for the idea of drawing the rings on it. Here is what I used to cover the MDF.

It was mostly taking my time and finding deals on Ebay/Facebook marketplace.

OptiShot II: Ebay, $200. They can be had new on Ebay around this price pretty easily. Brand new from Optishot is $300.

Impact Screen: $200 on Facebook Marketplace. It is a home-made setup with metal poles and connectors. I have no idea how much it cost the previous owner to put together. It happened to come with the Turf as well (which is probably the cheapest possible fake grass you could find)

Projector: $40 on Facebook Marketplace. This was probably my best find. The guy had dropped it and cracked off one of the sides to the projector so he said no one would buy it. It still works perfectly fine - score!

Hitting Mat: $38 Amazon (and turf that came with the impact screen). Bought 2 sets of these for 12 total tiles: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013A4ATCQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Arranged them in 2x6 layout 2 tiles high and cut out the slot to snugly fit the OptiShot . Technically, you don't even need to wrap them in turf, but you will still be about .3-.5" short of being level with the OptiShot without it and wouldn't look as cool, but it's manageable. IMO, the OptiShot is pretty much useless without getting close to level with it because you'll learn how to top a ball really well.

​

Its also fairly important to have extra turf/carpet up under the impact screen because otherwise the ball bounces all over the place after hitting the screen. For anyone wanting to do this on a budget, you could skip the impact screen and projector in favor of a net. As long as you have a large TV nearby to plug your laptop into, and you can skip the turf for something that is just functional - it will still be fun. When i first used it I didn't have a net or screen at all, I just hit the foam balls and went chasing them around my house lol.

OptiShotII: $200-300, we'll say $250

Basic hitting mat described above to make you level with the OptiShot: $~40

Hitting net: Can be had on Amazon for ~$75

Total: ~$365

​

Someone made a post here a few days ago showing them using EVA foam exercise floor mats as a makeshift enclosure. They're light weight, inexpensive, interlocking, sound deadening, and very well thermally insulated.
I just bought some to try printing with ABS/PETG

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013A4ATCQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&th=1

The tiles are 2ft x 2ft each. the 24sq ft pack comes with 6 tiles, enough to fully enclose a printer.

You can find eva foam almost anywhere Wal Mart, Target, Amazon. Its that Interlocking Foam Mats you see at preschools or the Black foam mats you see in so Mechanic shops
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013A4ATCQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473752584&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=black+foam+mat&dpPl=1&dpID=510eduZrpFL&ref=plSrch

Thanks for your input. I was thinking about making the liner just a smidge bigger so that the knots go on the outside of the grids, since I won’t be using coroplast. I plan on using puzzle mats as the base. Do you think a boarder is necessary or no?

BalanceFrom Puzzle Exercise Mat with EVA Foam Interlocking Tiles, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013A4ATCQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_uWcLBb90KQ0NC. This is EVA foam. Well the simpliest way to get it. You can find it cheaper just and example. If you watch youtube videos on most cosplayers they use EVA for armor and weapons. Simply because its cheap and easy to work with. Just an exacto knife and hot glue gun are all the tools you need. Heck im sure you can find a sub on here that is more knowledgable than myself. To answer the rigid question there are ways to make it harder.

i use a set of these for blocking, i just assemble them in whatever shape/configuration i need on the bed/floor

BalanceFrom Puzzle Exercise Mat with EVA Foam Interlocking Tiles, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013A4ATCQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_alSwDb9YKK1NP

I am about 6'1 and 200 lbs so a little overweight but not terribly and my hips started hurting. I found that it was that our floor was too hard and I wasn't wearing any shoes being in the house and all. We placed some of these on the floor and it helped quite a bit. Other than that I am not quite sure what the answer would be. Maybe a swiveling rolling chair?