Lately while playing Fallout New Vegas, I've found myself lugging far more equipment than I need. As a result, I'm always either overloaded and can't fast travel or sprint.

When I started playing Fallout 3, I discovered that there was far more junk in the Wasteland than I could possibly carry, and the game changed from A Post-Nuclear Roleplaying Game to A Post-Nuclear Inventory Management Simulator.

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I promised myself that I wouldn't let this happen in New Vegas, but sure enough, I've reached level 7 and I'm consistently running into encumberance problems.

Part of this is because I grew up playing Thief: The Dark Project and I have a kleptomaniacal urge to steal every item from every area, but even without the misc crap, my weapon and armor loadout usually takes up more than 3/4 of my character's max weight. I've started leaving caches of equipment at various locations in the Wasteland (in whatever containers happen to be available) rather than always be slowed by lugging it all.

Is caching equipment the most effective solution (before I get the Travel While Encumbered perk) or is there a better way to avoid encumberance in New Vegas?

  • 2
    If you don't mind breaking the realism, you can always use the console, and increase the inventory weight you can carry. I generally do this, because for me, the absolute realism went out the window when the roboscorpions broke in.
    – Fake Name
    Aug 29 '11 at 7:03
  • I approve of growing up on Thief: the Dark Project. Awesome game, one of the best.
    – shanodin
    Jul 29 '13 at 22:12

The single most important thing to remember is that you do not need most of this junk. And I'm not even talking about the 300 year old Blamco Mac & Cheese or enough liquor to drown the Strip.

I'm talking all those Merc _____ Outfits, the 7 Metal Armors those raiders were wearing, the 9 Tire Irons... you don't need them, and they don't sell for enough caps to make the trip back to town worth your time.

Once you get to the Strip and clean out a few Casinos, you'll never need caps again, and you can focus your looting on things which are useful and hard to buy - rare weapons, Ammo, chems, crafting components (that you actually use), and things which may as well be cash like Pre-War Money, Cigarettes, and other high value, low weight commodities.

Other tricks include: using companions as pack mules, and using Mojave Express drop boxes to ship all your junk to one location (I'm fond of Primm) for later pickup and resale.


Always put a few points in to Repair with each level. This will give you the dual benefit of being able to keep your weapons and armor in top shape while using (and destroying) all the busted/low quality weapons and armor you run across. You can also repair the weapons and armor you'll sell for higher prices.

Pick a couple of weapons to always keep with you (make sure they use different ammo types). These will be your main weapons so make sure you get any mods you find for them as well. Any other weapons you should sell (also sell the ammo if you're playing on hardcore).

Use the best armor (by weight for your play style) that you find. Sell the rest after giving your companions the best they can use.

If you are NOT on hardcore mode:
- dump all your food
- dump all your water

Dump, cache or drink all your Nuka Cola and Sunset Sasparilla. Most other Aid items with a weight may be sold as well (Skill books should be used as soon as you find them and Skill magazines you may want to hold on to). Also, most Misc items with a weight may also be sold.

If you find you've only gotten half way to your objective and you're already hitting your limit then dump all the random stuff you've picked up to that point. There are caps a plenty to be had in the game and if you've found a better weapon or armor you should almost always already be using it.


Back when I was playing, I went and set my Repair skill to 100. This let me pick up a bunch of any weapon or armor and repair it to pristine (reducing my weight burden), and then I sold that item to a merchant for a healthy profit. This also had the benefit of giving me superior firepower to most of my enemies.

After repairing up everything in the area, what I could not carry or could not have my companion carry (they will not carry items they can't or won't use, like uniforms for a faction they hate or being robots they can't wear uniforms) I would find a place to cache the loot and return for it later if I could remember.


You don't have to avoid encumberance. The Travel light perk and speed increase perks increase movement speed while over-encumbered and they synergize well with long haul. Lonesome Road even adds some that work while sneaking, so being over-encumbered and sneaking is no longer that slow.

With all speed perks, you move faster over-encumbered than walking npc's in the game and faster than enemies with crippled legs. Because I also pick up every item I usually have 30-40,000 pounds of gear before even considering a trip home or to merchants. This makes perks like Strong Back, Pack Rat et al are all obsolete when also using the Hobbler perk for easier leg crippling of enemies.

  • 2
    Welcome to Arqade! Could you flesh out your answer some more? Specifically, what "dlc stuff" helps and could you please provide links to what you are talking about on Nukapedia? You can also find more info on how to use this site on at the faq and the help center.
    – CyberSkull
    Jul 31 '13 at 2:37
  • 1
    Wbat are the "DLC stuff" that increase movement speed while over-encumbered? Are those perks or items? I've looked at The Vault wiki's Perks article but can't seem to find those perks (if those are perks). Jul 31 '13 at 4:01
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    A cursory search on the nukapedia shows nothing relevant :(
    – badp
    Jul 31 '13 at 13:55
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    They are speed perks. Any perk increasing movement speed ( including quest reward perks ) work while over-encumbered. On a phone so can't easily post links. Just google fallout new vegas perks and click on the fallout wiki link (now called nukapedia on site). It will list all perks and then just take note of those increasing movement speed. Lonesome Road even adds some that work while sneaking, so being over-encumbered and sneaking is no longer that slow. With the speed boosting perks strong back, pack rat, etc are all obsolete when also using the hobbler perk for easier leg crippling of enemi Aug 2 '13 at 1:22
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    @Mictlantecuhtli Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. I've taken the liberty of integrating your comment in the answer; feel free to edit it further to your liking if and when you have the occasion to do so.
    – badp
    Aug 2 '13 at 19:11

There are a number of ways to improve your carrying capacity.

  • Invest in strength points at the start of the game
  • Get the hypertrophy accelerator implant from the New Vegas Medical Center
  • Pick the Pack Rat and Strong back perks when you level up
  • Use the companions like mules to hold the stuff you don't need quick access to.
  • Take the Hoarder Trait
  • The long haul perk will let you fast travel even when encumbered.

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