Does every person need their own badge or are attendees allowed to bring a +1?

[Pharmafemboy]

I want to bring my boyfriend with me to defcon but 960 USD is a bit much for me, so is it possible to just buy a badge for myself and bring my boyfriend as a +1, or do I have to buy a badge for each of us?

[number6]

I want to bring my boyfriend with me to defcon but 960 USD is a bit much for me, so is it possible to just buy a badge for myself and bring my boyfriend as a +1, or do I have to buy a badge for each of us?

Each person that attends DEF CON at the DEF CON spaces will need a badge while in attendance.
(There is a line in the FAQ about this, which specifies the ages for getting a badge, and most kids (by age) would need a badge to enter DEF CON too. Once that site is back online, I'll link to the FAQ.)
From FAQ=https://defcon.org/html/links/dc-faq/dc-faq.html

Does my underage child need a badge?
Children under the age of 8 will not need to purchase a badge.

Can I get a discount on DEF CON badges?
DEF CON charges one price regardless of your social status or affiliation. Please know that we depend on attendee income to pay the costs of the conference and don't have sponsors to help defray the expenses.
We sometimes get requests for discounts [students, veterans, children], unfortunately we don't want to try and validate if you are a current student, look at your ID to determine your age, decode military discharge papers, etc.
If you really want to attend DEF CON for free then do something for the con.
You could:
Submit a CFP and be an accepted speaker or workshop instructor.
Work on a contest, event, or village.
Qualify for CTF/Contests that include entry.
Find a team to become a Goon newbie.
Contribute to content, or perform some entertainment.

What is a DEF CON "Black Badge"?
The Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events. CTF winners sometimes earn these, as well as Hacker Jeopardy winners. The contests that are awarded Black Badges vary from year to year, and a Black Badge allows free entrance to DEF CON for life, potentially a value of thousands of dollars.

(Black badge honors are not transferable from a person that earned it to someone else that buys a black badge.)

I've heard of people sharing a badge: (PersonA) takes badge, visits DEF CON, then returns to a hotel room to hand off the one badge to (PersonB) so (PersonB) takes badge to visit DEF CON.

There may be "scholarship" options, but you would need to find those and see if any are available and would apply.
There are some "pre-DEF CON contests" which claim to offer Human badges to winners
* Creative Writing Short Story Contest (Pre-DEF CON contest) https://forum.defcon.org/node/249073
* Phish Stories (Pre-DEF CON contest) https://forum.defcon.org/node/249107

Here is a comment to a post, where I found a few historical examples of ways some people were able to win or earn a badge for DEF CON:
https://forum.defcon.org/node/248358...990#post248994

The above is for all of the official DEF CON stuff in DEF CON spaces.
There are unofficial DEF CON things that have historically not required people to have a DEF CON badge.
The Toxic BBQ (offsite)
The DEF CON Shoot (unofficial, off-site)
Various parties and other social gatherings. (Official social events in DEF CON space parties still require a badge, but unofficial gatherings outside of DEF CON space, not run by DEF CON often do not require DEF CON badge for entry..)

Good luck!

[number6]

I want to bring my boyfriend with me to defcon but 960 USD is a bit much for me, so is it possible to just buy a badge for myself and bring my boyfriend as a +1, or do I have to buy a badge for each of us?

Each person that attends DEF CON at the DEF CON spaces will need a badge while in attendance.
(There is a line in the FAQ about this, which specifies the ages for getting a badge, and most kids (by age) would need a badge to enter DEF CON too. Once that site is back online, I'll link to the FAQ.)
From FAQ=https://defcon.org/html/links/dc-faq/dc-faq.html

Does my underage child need a badge?
Children under the age of 8 will not need to purchase a badge.

Can I get a discount on DEF CON badges?
DEF CON charges one price regardless of your social status or affiliation. Please know that we depend on attendee income to pay the costs of the conference and don't have sponsors to help defray the expenses.
We sometimes get requests for discounts [students, veterans, children], unfortunately we don't want to try and validate if you are a current student, look at your ID to determine your age, decode military discharge papers, etc.
If you really want to attend DEF CON for free then do something for the con.
You could:
Submit a CFP and be an accepted speaker or workshop instructor.
Work on a contest, event, or village.
Qualify for CTF/Contests that include entry.
Find a team to become a Goon newbie.
Contribute to content, or perform some entertainment.

What is a DEF CON "Black Badge"?
The Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events. CTF winners sometimes earn these, as well as Hacker Jeopardy winners. The contests that are awarded Black Badges vary from year to year, and a Black Badge allows free entrance to DEF CON for life, potentially a value of thousands of dollars.

(Black badge honors are not transferable from a person that earned it to someone else that buys a black badge.)

I've heard of people sharing a badge: (PersonA) takes badge, visits DEF CON, then returns to a hotel room to hand off the one badge to (PersonB) so (PersonB) takes badge to visit DEF CON.

There may be "scholarship" options, but you would need to find those and see if any are available and would apply.
There are some "pre-DEF CON contests" which claim to offer Human badges to winners
* Creative Writing Short Story Contest (Pre-DEF CON contest) https://forum.defcon.org/node/249073
* Phish Stories (Pre-DEF CON contest) https://forum.defcon.org/node/249107

Here is a comment to a post, where I found a few historical examples of ways some people were able to win or earn a badge for DEF CON:
https://forum.defcon.org/node/248358...990#post248994

The above is for all of the official DEF CON stuff in DEF CON spaces.
There are unofficial DEF CON things that have historically not required people to have a DEF CON badge.
The Toxic BBQ (offsite)
The DEF CON Shoot (unofficial, off-site)
Various parties and other social gatherings. (Official social events in DEF CON space parties still require a badge, but unofficial gatherings outside of DEF CON space, not run by DEF CON often do not require DEF CON badge for entry..)

Good luck!

[number6]

Details in answer have been revised: access to the FAQ was restored, so elements related to who must buy a badge and the Uber badge exception copied in from the cited FAQ.

Good luck!