Best Backpacks in Kenshi — Capacity and Penalties
The most room a character can buy is the Large Backpack (240 cells), but it costs combat speed (×0.8) and stealth (×0.25). Thieves Backpack is the biggest with no speed or stealth penalty (140 cells).
- Most room240Large Backpack, 12x20
- No speed/stealth penalty140Thieves Backpack
- Cheapest per cell1.8Scavenger's Basket, cats per cell
- Packs compared138 for characters
The numbers are the ones on the armour database. The table starts on the packs a character can buy.
On this page
All 13 backpacks
Rank by what you need, slide the budget, or switch to the animal packs. Click a column to sort by it.
Rank by
Show
8 of 13 backpacks
| # | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bull Backpack20x20 · for animals | 400 | 6 | 90% | ×0.8 | −4 | ×1 | ×5 | 2,000 | 17 towns | |
 Garru Backpack20x20 · for animals | 400 | 6 | 90% | ×0.8 | −4 | ×1 | ×6 | 2,000 | 17 towns | |
 Shopkeepers goods bag20x20 · not sold | 400 | 100 | 0% | ×0.5 | −10 | ×0 | ×1 | 5,000 | none | |
| 1 |  Large Backpack12x20 | 240 | 8 | 50% | ×0.8 | −10 | ×0.25 | ×1 | 3,000 | 10 towns |
| 2 |  Medium Backpack10x14 | 140 | 4 | 50% | ×0.9 | −5 | ×0.5 | ×1 | 1,500 | 10 towns |
| 3 |  Scavenger's Basket10x14 | 140 | 1 | 30% | ×0.9 | −5 | ×0.5 | ×1 | 250 | 15 towns |
| 4 |  Thieves Backpack10x14 | 140 | 2 | 60% | ×1 | −2 | ×1 | ×1 | 5,000 | 6 towns |
 Traders Backpack Large10x14 · not sold | 140 | 8 | 50% | ×0.8 | −10 | ×0.2 | ×3 | 4,500 | none | |
| 5 |  Small Backpack8x8 | 64 | 1 | 50% | ×0.95 | −2 | ×0.85 | ×1 | 1,000 | 10 towns |
| 6 |  Small Thieves Backpack8x8 | 64 | 1 | 60% | ×1 | 0 | ×1 | ×1 | 3,000 | 6 towns |
| 7 |  Trader's Wooden Backpack8x8 | 64 | 4 | 50% | ×0.9 | −5 | ×0.4 | ×3 | 800 | 15 towns |
 Traders Backpack Medium8x8 · not sold | 64 | 4 | 50% | ×0.9 | −5 | ×0.5 | ×3 | 2,500 | none | |
| 8 |  Wooden Backpack8x8 | 64 | 4 | 50% | ×0.9 | −5 | ×0.5 | ×3 | 800 | 17 towns |
Which backpack for what
Each pick is a rule over the table above, among the packs a character can buy.
| You want | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The most room | Large Backpack | 240 cells; combat speed ×0.8, stealth ×0.25 |
| Room and a clean fight | Thieves Backpack | 140 cells, speed ×1, stealth ×1, combat skills −2 |
| The cheapest room | Scavenger's Basket | 250 cats for 140 cells |
| Stacking trade goods | Trader's Wooden Backpack | stack multiplier ×3, 64 cells |
| Strength training | Scavenger's Basket | removes only 30% of the load's weight, the least of any pack |
Strength training
The wiki says Strength is trained faster by travelling with a heavy inventory, and that a backpack makes what is inside weigh less by its encumbrance reduction. So the pack that removes the least weight, the Scavenger's Basket (30%), keeps the most load counting. The data does not say how fast.
Where to buy them
The wiki lists the vendors for each pack; the towns are the ones the wiki names for those vendors. The wiki adds that Flats Lagoon, Mourn and Squin are good places to find a large selection. To search a single town or shop, use the shop finder.
| Backpack | Vendors | Towns |
|---|---|---|
| Large Backpack | 7 | Admag, Blister Hill, Drifter's Last, Farming Village, Heft, Last Stand, and 4 more |
| Scavenger's Basket | 10 | Black Scratch, Blister Hill, Drifter's Last, Fishing Village, Flats Lagoon, Flotsam Village, and 9 more |
| Thieves Backpack | 5 | Admag, Farming Village, Heft, Last Stand, Sho-Battai, Squin |
| Medium Backpack | 8 | Admag, Blister Hill, Drifter's Last, Farming Village, Heft, Last Stand, and 4 more |
| Small Backpack | 8 | Admag, Blister Hill, Drifter's Last, Farming Village, Heft, Last Stand, and 4 more |
| Small Thieves Backpack | 5 | Admag, Farming Village, Heft, Last Stand, Sho-Battai, Squin |
| Trader's Wooden Backpack | 10 | Black Scratch, Blister Hill, Drifter's Last, Fishing Village, Flats Lagoon, Flotsam Village, and 9 more |
| Wooden Backpack | 10 | Admag, Black Scratch, Farming Village, Fishing Village, Flats Lagoon, Flotsam Village, and 11 more |
FAQ
What is the best backpack in Kenshi?
For room, the Large Backpack (240 cells). For fighting in it, the Thieves Backpack (140 cells and no speed or stealth penalty).
What is the best backpack for stacking?
Trader's Wooden Backpack and Wooden Backpack: the wiki lists a stack multiplier of ×3 for Trader's Wooden Backpack. Animal packs stack too: Bull ×5, Garru ×6.
What is the best backpack for combat?
The Thieves Backpack: combat speed ×1 and stealth ×1. The Small Thieves Backpack has no penalty at all but holds 64 cells.
Can a character wear a Bull or Garru backpack?
They are made for animals ("designed to fit Bulls" and "Gars" in the data). Pack animals carry them; see the animals page.
Pages to keep open
Related pages
Sources
- Kenshi Wiki, Backpacks (CC BY-SA 4.0), dump of 2026-10-13, game version 1.0.68
- Kenshi Wiki, Encumbrance and Strength
PinDrop is fan-made and not affiliated with Lo-Fi Games.