Clothing, armor and backpacks

Make and wear clothing

Build a Tailoring bench, add a clothing bill and choose its material. Cotton yields cloth, butchering yields leather and sheep yield wool. Research unlocks additional equipment.

Colonists automatically look for useful clothing. Their Gear tab shows what they wear and lets you control it. Material, quality and wear affect how useful a garment is. Clothes protect different body parts, so one item does not cover every injury.

Choose both the garment and its material at the tailoring bench. This example uses wool for a batch of warm parkas. View full screenshot

Dress for the weather

Parkas and warm headwear help with cold. Wool is especially warm, while cloth is better for hot weather than heavy insulating materials. A colonist’s actual safe range depends on their outfit; check it before winter or a heat wave.

In Auto dress mode, colonists favor comfort and suitable temperatures. Combat mode favors protective armor while still respecting safe temperatures. Armor can slow movement. Forced clothing choices can prevent a colonist from making a better automatic choice, so review them when the season changes.

Check Gear after dressing a colonist. Its comfortable and safe temperature ranges reflect the outfit actually being worn. View full screenshot

Equip weapons

Select a colonist and right-click an available weapon to equip it. Equip hunters and defenders before sending them into danger. The item catalog lists weapon damage and range; research and crafting provide upgrades.

Weapons and clothing wear out. Gear left outside also deteriorates, faster in rain. Tattered or tainted clothing can hurt mood. Store replacements under a roof and use salvage bills to recover materials from unwanted gear.

Use backpacks

Tailor a Backpack and let the colonist put it on. A basic backpack holds three stacks, with material affecting capacity. Auto-pack keeps food for eating away from the stockpile and supplies medicine for doctors.

The Gear tab lists backpack contents. Store returns a stack to storage; Store all empties the pack. Storing automatically packed supplies switches Auto-pack off so the colonist does not immediately pack them again. Turn it back on when needed.

Expand the backpack in Gear and scroll down to its contents. Store returns one stack; Store all returns everything. Review Auto-pack after emptying it. View full screenshot

Food still ages in a backpack. Taking a backpack off spills its contents, as can death or capture. Backpacks are useful for distant work and treatment, but are not a separate world-travel system.