Carrying more stuff in FO76 can be a big problem early on. Thankfully there are quite a few different things you can do to remedy this. I’m going to show you everything that I’ve done up until this point and we’ll exclude power armor because even though it can dramatically increase your carry weight (+100 I believe for Excavator version), it might not be available for everyone.
But certainly get it and mod it for even more carry weight when you can!
At that point you won’t need this guide anymore.
Chems & Consumables
These are temporary. But basically anything that increases your strength SPECIAL will yield more (temporary) carry weight capability. I wouldn’t really count on this because it requires a lot of micromanagement, but if you’re just slightly overweight and you need to fast travel, it can save you for sure. There are crafted food items that give extra carry weight in addition to drinks and chems.
Backpacks
Getting the standard version of a backpack is really difficult sometimes. It mostly depends on the game having mercy at giving you the right mobs to complete the pioneer scout challenges (for me it failed completely so I gave up there).
But there is a small backpack plan you can get from the overseer’s cache at Morgantown Airport Terminal (watch my video for exact path).
This one can be modded just like the standard one, the only difference is that it provides half of carry weight bonuses compared to the normal one.
Backpacks also scale in terms of their bonuses based on their level, so keep that in mind – you should definitely re-craft the highest level when you can.
Invest into Strength Points
Simply putting more points into strength will give your character more carry weight capabilities plus the option to apply certain perk cards we’ll mention now.
Perk Cards
Strong Back is not a bad perk card later on, but it costs a lot of points. It simply expands your carry weight. Pack rat is good for reducing the weight of junk (probably the most important one) and there are also perk cards for chems, food & drinks weight reductions as well. These would be the most needed ones in my opinion.
Secondary priority would be perk cards that reduce weight of armor, weapons & ammo. You don’t ‘really‘ need these if you optimize what you’re carrying but if for example you find yourself carrying a lot of ammo, then it might make sense to get that one etc.
Pocketed + Lighter Version Armor
When you craft leather armor, you can put a pocketed trait to give yourself +5 carry weight per piece. Certain armor can also be made to weigh less so keep that in mind. Ideally you’d combine these two traits and then you don’t need the armor weight reduction perk card because you’re already fully optimized.