“You can tell what you're carrying, on your back mostly, and in the way you walk, honestly.”
Anyone who survives in Level 0 learns early that carrying is a decision, not a formality. The inventory is the survivor's body with their clothes, their backpack and the weight all of it adds up to, and not an endless list.
The screen
When you open your inventory, you see three columns. One holds your body, one what you're wearing, and the third what's in your pockets and backpack. There are nine body slots (what you hold in your hands, what you wear and what hangs off you). All the remaining room comes from your clothing.
Pockets belong to the garment
Each garment brings its own pockets. A jacket with big pockets gives you room, and a T-shirt almost none. There is no fixed number of slots on the character. If you take the garment off, you lose the room.
And there is a consequence every wanderer learns the hard way. The contents leave with the garment. If someone tears off your jacket, or you drop it, whatever was inside goes with it. That is why people say the valuable stuff goes on the body and the expendable stuff in the backpack.
Five sizes
Every object falls into one of five sizes, from tiny to bulky. Size determines how much room it takes in pockets and backpack. The world's own objects almost never stack: one slot, one object, as on a shelving unit. The exceptions are few and involve very small things.
What weighs and what doesn’t
Weight never stops you from picking anything up, it only slows you down. How much, and from what point, is explained in Backpacks and Weight. What really limits you is space, and space is given by clothing and backpack.
Why it works this way
Rationing holds up the whole loop. If you could carry everything, there would be no expedition, just a move. Pockets force you to choose between one more bottle and room for the metal from any Scrap Piles you find on the way back. And since clothes tear and get patched (see Wounds and Body Zones), your carrying capacity wears down too.
Survivor tips
- Keep the essentials in the pockets of the garment you're least likely to lose. Spares go in the backpack.
- Before entering a new chunk, empty out whatever you don't need. You may not come back for it.
- See Consumables and Almond Water to decide what deserves a pocket.
What people report
- It is often repeated that certain garments found in Level 1 have pockets you can't see from the outside.