How can I find BadgePirates at an event?
When we attend a conference, we set up in the Solder Village — the area of the con dedicated to hardware tinkering, soldering kits, and live electronics demos. If a con doesn't have a Solder Village, we'll be in whatever the nearest equivalent is (Hardware Hacking Village, Maker space, etc.).
What we usually have at the table
- Current and recent badges for sale
- Learn-to-Solder kits in multiple difficulty levels — we'll often help you build one on the spot
- SAOs to add to your badge collection
- A reflash station — bring an old BadgePirates badge and we'll update it with the latest firmware
- Demos and works-in-progress — we like showing off the latest experiments
Solder kits at events
Many of our recent conference badges have been build-it-yourself solder kits with two difficulty modes:
- Easy mode — through-hole and surface-mount mix, approachable for beginners
- Hard mode — all surface-mount, for the steady-handed and brave
If you've never soldered before, don't worry — we'll walk you through it. The Solder Village is the friendliest place at any conference.
Where we've been
We've attended events including BSidesKC, CactusCon, DEF CON SecKC events, BSides STL, BSides CHS, BioHacking Village (DC30/DC31), OzSec, ToorCamp, SANSHackfest, and SecKC meetups. The full archive of badges by event is on our GitHub.
How to know where we'll be next
Follow us on X / Twitter or sign up for the monthly newsletter — we announce upcoming cons there. You can also just ask in the Discord.