Last updated:
Build an outfit that protects the body regions you need. Find armor and clothing sources, fill compatible equipment slots, and compare protection before replacing a piece.
19 objects
Find clothing and armor by body region, individual protection and acquisition route.
Browse the 19 armor and clothing pieces by type, body region, protection, and acquisition route. Open More details on an entry for its additional properties and crafting requirements.
For a first outfit, start with craftable Burlap Headwrap and add looted clothing and wooden armor. If you already have equipment, compare pieces covering the same body region and keep compatible clothing layers equipped.
Stitched Legs is a collectible component, not wearable leg armor. See events and seasonal collectibles for that item’s role.
The equipment area separates HEAD, SHIRT, PANTS, CHEST, LEG ARMOR, FEET, and BACKPACK. A body region can have more than one relevant equipment slot: SHIRT and CHEST both contribute to torso protection, while PANTS and LEG ARMOR cover the legs.
While a loot or storage container is open, hold Alt and click an armor item to wear it directly. Equipping a replacement in an occupied slot returns the previous piece to Inventory; it does not create another layer in that slot.
Choose upgrades for the region you want to protect. These comparisons use individual item protection and compatible clothing layers.
| Body region | Choice | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Coffee Can Helmet: 24%; Burlap Headwrap: 10% | If you have both, choose Coffee Can Helmet for 14 percentage points more individual Head protection. Headwrap is a useful craftable starting option. |
| Torso | Road Sign Jacket: 25%; Wood Chestplate: 15% | Choose Road Sign Jacket over Wood Chestplate for 10 percentage points more individual Torso protection. |
| Torso clothing | Burlap Shirt: 10% | Fill an empty SHIRT slot even when you already wear chest armor. The shirt uses a separate position. |
| Legs | Burlap Trousers: 10%; Wood Armor Pants: 12% | Wear trousers and leg armor together. This combination can give 22% Legs protection. |
Prioritize an empty compatible clothing slot before replacing a useful piece just because you found another armor item. A shirt or trousers can improve coverage while letting you keep the armor already worn over that region.
Once your outfit is ready, use the combat guide for cover, reloads, and healing, or compare weapons and their acquisition routes to complete the loadout.
Use an item’s tooltip to read its individual protection. Use the PROTECTION panel beneath your character to read the current outfit’s result for each body region.
Adding a layer and replacing armor have different effects. For example, an Oil Rig outfit with 28% Torso protection reached 38% after adding a Burlap Shirt: a gain of 10 percentage points. Replacing that outfit’s existing chest equipment with a Road Sign Jacket then changed Torso protection from 38% to 35%, a loss of 3 percentage points. The jacket’s own value remained 25%.
Judge a swap by the before-and-after value for the affected region. If it falls and your goal is greater protection there, switch back to the previous piece.
Head, Torso, Legs, and Feet are separate readings; do not add them into one overall damage-reduction percentage. Likewise, a loadout showing 38% Head protection while wearing Metal Facemask gives an outfit result, not a standalone specification for the facemask.
Burlap Headwrap is a practical first craft: it gives 10% Head protection and requires no workbench.
Crafting also includes Burlap Shirt, Hide Hood, Hide Vest, Hide Pants, and Hide Boots. Select their recipes to view the required materials. Bone Helmet requires Workbench Level 1, shown as WB1. The crafting queue holds up to eight entries; clicking a queued entry cancels it and refunds its materials in full.
Use nearby clothing and wooden armor opportunities to fill empty slots, then pursue more demanding loot sources when you are equipped for the trip. The items below are possible finds, not a fixed bundle from every container or enemy.
| Loot source | Armor and clothing you can find |
|---|---|
| Wooden Crates | Wood Armor Pants at Trainyard; Burlap Trousers at Oil Rig |
| Military Crates | Wood Chestplate at Dome, Oil Rig, and a tower location; Wood Armor Pants at Dome and an elevated industrial location |
| Oil Rig Guards | Burlap Headwrap, Burlap Shirt, Burlap Trousers, Burlap Shoes, and Wood Chestplate |
| Military Tunnels Soldiers | Burlap clothing, including Headwrap and Shoes, plus Wood Chestplate |
| Elite Crates | Riot Helmet at Oil Rig; Wood Armor Pants |
| Caravan Strongbox | Coffee Can Helmet, Riot Helmet, Wood Chestplate, and Metal Facemask |
| Oil Rig Locked Crates | Road Sign Jacket, Riot Helmet, Heavy Plate Pants, Metal Chest Plate, Metal Facemask, and Combat Pants |
Approach closely enough to use E OPEN or E LOOT, then take individual items or choose TAKE ALL with inventory space available. If a Strongbox reports that you are too far away, move closer. A Locked Crate must finish unlocking before you can loot it; see loot crates and hacking for the opening process. See the NPC guide for fighting and looting Guards and Soldiers.
Dropped player backpacks provide another route to clothing and armor, including Hide pieces and Road Sign Kilt. Their contents depend on what the player carried. Store useful spares in a base equipment box so you can open it with E and re-equip after respawning.
On modded servers, owned kits can be claimed through KITS every 6 hours. Starter Kit includes burlap gear, Survivor Kit includes wood armor, Soldier Kit includes road sign armor, and Warlord Kit includes metal armor. Warlord Kit cannot be used during the first 2 hours after a wipe. Compare kit contents and claim rules before choosing a kit.
