Zombie-Proof Threads: Dress Smart or Die Stupid in Project Zomboid

Multiple Layers Stack

If you wear more than one item over a body part, their protection percentages add together up to a cap of 100%. For instance, wearing a denim shirt (10% bite) under a leather jacket (20% bite) gives ~30% combined bite protection for your upper arms. Add a bulletproof vest on top, and you tack on another ~30% for the torso, reaching ~60%.

At high tailoring, you can even surpass 100% (which just means as close to full protection as the game allows). It's generally believed that if total protection ≥ 100%, the first hit will always be stopped by the clothing (though it may put a hole in one layer).

Bottom line: Wear layers like an onion! 🧅

Coverage Matters

Protection % is one thing, but if a clothing item doesn't cover a body part, it obviously can't protect it. Check the "Coverage" on the item or in the Protection panel: e.g. a leather jacket covers upper and lower torso, upper arms, forearms and even the neck (most jackets do cover the neck with 50% protection in PZ). A regular T-shirt covers only upper torso.

This means wearing a jacket vs just a shirt is not just higher protection%, but also guards more areas (like your arms). Some surprising things: Long socks will cover your shins and calves, a Scarf covers your neck, and Overalls or Coveralls cover a lot (torso + legs, sometimes arms if it's a coverall) – making them great for adding patches.

Layer Order & Conflicts

You have "inner" and "outer" layers for certain slots. For example, you can wear a T-shirt (inner) and a Jacket (outer) on the torso simultaneously, but you cannot wear two Jackets at once. Similarly, you might wear tights or long johns under your jeans.

Some slots overlap: a bulletproof vest occupies an "under/over" slot of its own (it goes over shirts but under jackets in layering). Generally, PZ won't let you equip two items that conflict (you can't wear a sweater and a hoodie together because both want the same layer).

Mobility and Comfort

Every layer you add makes you a bit bulkier. In PZ Build 41, the devs didn't implement significant movement speed penalties for wearing lots of clothes (beyond a "combat speed" reduction for swinging weapons in heavy gear). For example, the Firefighter Jacket has a "Combat speed: 90%" which means you swing and reload 10% slower with it on.

But there's no big "encumbrance" stat for worn clothes. That said, more layers = more heat (very important – we'll cover insulation later). In practice, you might hardly notice a few layers until you suddenly overheat or get exerted faster.

Protection Panel

Don't forget to frequently check your Protection tab (on the Health screen). It shows each body part and the total Scratch/Bite defense you've got on it, considering all layers.

If you see a red percentage or a suddenly low number on a part that used to be higher, that means one of your clothing items covering that part got a hole or got removed. When a zombie attack is stopped by clothing, that clothing usually gets a hole or tear in that spot, which permanently lowers its protection until repaired.

Example: your jacket was giving 20% bite on forearms, but after a nasty fight it might have a hole in the left forearm – now that arm's protection might drop to near 0% because the jacket no longer counts for it. You'd need to sew it up with tailoring to restore that protection.

Nearly every house has some clothes in dressers or closets. Priority finds:

• ✓ Long sleeves (shirts, hoodies, sweaters) to cover arms
• ✓ Long pants (jeans, trousers) to cover legs
• ✓ Closed shoes or boots to protect feet (no going barefoot)

If you're lucky, you'll find a Leather Jacket early (common in closets or on zombie cops/bikers). Leather Jacket is a huge early win, giving you 20% bite / 40% scratch on torso and arms plus neck protection.

If in doubt, wear layers: put on a t-shirt, then a sweater or hoodie, then a jacket if you have one. Yes, you might get a bit hot in the Kentucky summer, but the protection is worth it until you clear the immediate area.

Some regular items have hidden armor potential:

If I had to pick an ideal realistic early loadout by Day 2 or 3, it would be:

• ► Motorcycle Helmet (often found in garages or on zombie bikers)
• ► Leather Jacket (from a zombie or house closet)
• ► Denim Shirt (under the jacket, patched if I have thread)
• ► Bulletproof Vest (if lucky)
• ► Jeans
• ► Leather Gloves
• ► Military Boots or any Boots (sometimes found on zombie hikers or at the logging factory)

That combo gives head ~70%, neck 20-50%, torso around 50-60% bite (thanks to layers), arms maybe ~30-40%, legs ~10-20%, hands 15%, feet 100% scratch. Good enough to tussle with a few zombies without an instant game over.

Early on, you likely won't have Tailoring skill, but you can start gathering materials. Rip up any spare clothes (not the ones you're wearing unless you have duplicates!). Denim strips and leather strips are what you need.

Even at Tailoring 1 or 2, you can add patches that give a tiny bit of defense. For example, at low level, a leather patch might add ~1-2% bite, 3-5% scratch. That's small, but hey, every bit helps and it levels your skill.

Prioritize patching high-value items: jackets, your pants, etc. Be aware it uses thread – which you get from ripping clothes or looting sewing kits.

In summer, running around in a sweater + jacket + vest will make you hot. You'll see the "Sweating" or "Hot" moodle pop up. Overheating leads to slower endurance regen and can eventually cause health loss (extreme heat).

If you're just fighting a short battle, it's fine to get hot – just cool down after. You can mitigate this by removing an inner layer when not in combat, or periodically resting in shade, drinking water.

Conversely in winter, pile on every sweater you find under your coat – the cold can kill you too, and many warm clothes also double as armor.

You might be thinking, "fire station has great gear, I should go there immediately." Caution! Fire stations in towns (like Muldraugh or Rosewood) often have a lot of zombies (many of them in firefighter outfits which is both good and bad).

The gear there – helmets, coats, pants, boots – is top notch for protection, but also extremely hot and heavy. If you can clear it out early, by all means do and grab that loot. Just remember firefighter gear will make you exhausted quickly if you're sprinting or fighting in it (heavy + hot).

One strategy: use firefighter gear situationally. Wear it when you're going to go loud (clearing a building, fighting a horde), but when traveling long distances, maybe switch to something lighter.

👑 Head

The top dog here is the Military Helmet (sometimes just called Army Helmet). It provides around 80% scratch and 70% bite protection for your head (and some for neck).

That's on par with Firefighter Helmets (which are ~70% bite as well). Military helmet might have a slight edge on scratch defense.

A step below that is the Construction Helmet (~35% bite, 45% scratch) – decent if military isn't available.

Build 42 is adding Football Helmets (we expect those to be similar to construction – some face protection, but not as good as mil-grade).

Important B42 Change: Wearing a helmet now slightly reduces your vision and hearing cones. It's a realism/balance tweak.

😷 Face

There's no "face" armor per se in vanilla (aside from the Hockey Mask which provides minor protection).

The Hockey Mask in vanilla Build 41 gives a small armor to the face (maybe ~10% bite, 20% scratch). It's better than nothing and fits under a helmet. It also looks scary (good for MP intimidation). Wear one if you find one!

Build 42 teased masks like hockey masks and others, which might have slightly improved protection stats.

And of course, Glasses or a Face Shield won't stop zombies, but do wear eye protection if you're doing carpentry/metalworking – sawdust in the eye is a thing in PZ.

🧣 Neck

This is a notoriously exposed spot – many players have lost characters to a zombie getting a lucky bite on the neck from behind.

Vanilla options: Scarves (in winter they're common; a Wool Scarf or even a Fancy Scarf). A scarf actually provides some neck scratch defense and a tiny bite defense, on top of warming your neck.

Another neck-saver is certain jackets: for example, the Firefighter Jacket and Leather Jacket both cover the neck with 50% protection, which is huge.

Some military jackets also cover the neck (the Desert Camo Jacket covers neck 50%).

👕 Torso

The absolute best torso protection is a combo: Bulletproof Vest + a thick jacket over it.

The Bulletproof Vest (Police or Military version) gives you near 100% scratch and around 30% bite on the torso. It doesn't cover your arms though.

That's why you wear a coat over it: Firefighter Coat is the champion with 50% bite, 70% scratch and it covers torso, upper arms, forearms and neck. Its downside is heavy and hot.

Military Jacket (Camo) is the runner up – 30% bite, 50% scratch, covers torso, arms, neck, but with much less insulation.

In summer or if you want to move easier, a Military Jacket is often a better late-game choice.

Build 42 introduces a dedicated SWAT Uniform which presumably includes a ballistic vest and tactical jacket – expect those to mirror the best vanilla gear stats.

💪 Arms

Upper arms and forearms often get hit (zombies love gnawing your arms as you push them).

Jackets are your main arm protection in vanilla. Again, Firefighter or Military jackets excel (both cover arms fully).

If you're not wearing a jacket (maybe you opted for a long-sleeve + vest combo in summer), consider layering as much as possible.

In vanilla, you can improvise by wearing long gloves (they partially cover forearm) and layering long-sleeve shirt + denim jacket, etc.

Build 42's new system explicitly allows separate arm armor pieces like forearm guards. So we might see wearable arm guards (perhaps sports gear like hockey arm pads or crafted metal bracers).

🧤 Hands

The only protection is gloves, and specifically Leather Gloves. By late game you absolutely want a pair.

They give 15% bite, 30% scratch to hands, which is huge – hands get scratched a lot when meleeing zombies.

Without gloves, any broken glass or bush scratch can also cut your hands.

If you cannot find leather, even Fingerless Gloves (Leather) or Riding Gloves give some protection.

Welding Gloves also have good protection but come with huge insulation and a slight reduction in fine motor abilities.

👖 Legs

Best here are Firefighter Pants (20% bite, 30% scratch) or Military Cargo Pants (typically 10% bite, 20% scratch).

Firefighter pants also have high insulation (85%), great for winter but a sauna in summer.

Military Desert Camo Pants have very low insulation (good for summer) and still decent protection.

There's also Police Pants and Denim Jeans. Interestingly, standard Jeans are 10/20 like we said, which is only slightly lower than some "armor" pants.

Build 42 is adding Football Player Pants with pads – those might actually be decent armor. They'll also add knee pads (maybe separate slot).

👢 Feet

The undefeated champions are Military Boots (and their variants: Combat Boots, etc.).

They provide extremely high scratch and bite resistance (often effectively 100% scratch, 100% bite on the feet/ankles), meaning a crawler zombie nibbling your boot has basically no chance to get through.

Boots also increase your stomp damage (when you curb-stomp zombie heads) – you stomp harder with boots than with shoes or bare feet.

The only downside: a tiny bit slower run speed, and they are heavier than sneakers.

Specifically, look for Military Leather Boots or Steel-toed Work Boots. Construction site zombies sometimes have steel-toed boots (great alternative early on).

Motorcycle Armor (Racing Suit)

The full racing suit (jacket + pants) exists in PZ (often found on crashed biker zombies). It's leather and quite protective – almost on par with firefighter for scratch, but slightly less bite perhaps ~30% bite on jacket and 15% on pants.

Aprons and Padded Clothing

There's a Fireman's Poleyn (knee pads) in game, but not commonly found. Also things like aprons (for welding) have some armor. Generally, these niche items don't beat the big ones but can fill gaps.

Spiffo Suit

I mention this only because it's funny – the mascot costume. It actually has decent insulation and maybe a bit of scratch protection (since it's thick). But it's mostly for memes/roleplay. Don't rely on it unless you want to become zombie plushie.

KP Armor Pack

This mod by Krolldar (KATTAJ1) is another collection of armor and tactical gear. It's a bit less expansive than Brita's but has some unique pieces and very cool models.

Many players use it for the looks – e.g. fancy tactical vests, different camo patterns, etc. Stats-wise, KP Armor gear is generally balanced but still better than vanilla.

It might have, say, a "Heavy Trooper Vest" with 40% bite, 100% scratch, covering torso and groin, etc. Or new helmets with night vision.

Authentic Z

Though mainly known for cosmetic variety (zombie outfits, costumes, etc.), it introduces some pieces like Riot Gear (riot helmets, pads) that actually have armor stats.

These aren't OP, but for example a Riot Helmet from Authentic Z might be similar to a military helmet stat. The appeal here is style – you can find SWAT and riot uniforms in a more organic way on zombies.

Medieval/Scrap Armor

There are mods for medieval armor (if you want to be a knight – yes full plate mail, chainmail etc. exist as mods!). Those can give crazy protection but usually at cost of weight and poor insulation/overheating.

There's also a cool mod called Scrap Armor that lets you craft things like scrap metal arm guards or duct-tape magazines to your forearms. Those typically give moderate armor and can be made at a workbench.

KP Armor

Heavy vest and helmet combos, plus cool backpacks with armor plating. Perhaps the "K-9 Vest" or "SpecOps Armor" sets are top-tier.

SWAT Gear Mods

You get black kevlar helmet, SWAT vest (very good torso armor), and shin/elbow pads. Not as heavy as army gear but solid and intimidating.

Stalker Armor Mod

Inspired by the STALKER game, adds sci-fi looking suits. Often these have good ballistic and environmental protection and usually decent vs zombies too.

Authentic Z

Find Riot Police zombies and loot their gear; you can be a riot cop which is roughly like SWAT-level armor in vanilla+ stats.

Craftable Armor Mods

Make Chainmail (very high bite resist, low scratch, heavy), or Scrap Armor (metal plates – high scratch, moderate bite, very heavy and noisy).

Summer Strategy

Emphasize lighter gear. If you have mods that add desert gear or summer weight military uniforms, use them. In vanilla, prefer the Military Desert Jacket or a Police Jacket (they have a bit less insulation than firefighter).

You can also choose denim over leather in summer (denim has slightly less insulation typically). Keep your limbs covered even if it's hot; instead, manage heat by removing one layer at a time or taking more frequent rest/water breaks.

PZ also lets you unbutton or open certain clothing (like you can wear a jacket open) – this reduces insulation a bit. Open your jacket when just traveling, button it when fighting.

Winter Strategy

Pile it on. One popular strategy is wearing a Spiffo Onesie or Puffy Jacket on top of armor for warmth (the onesie is actually decent insulation and goes over some armor).

Firefighter gear shines in winter – you can fight in the snow comfortably in it. Just remember if you go indoors with heating, you might overheat quickly – take off that coat indoors.

Don't neglect extremities: wear a Beanie or Balaclava (knit cap) under your helmet if possible. Wear Long Johns/Thermal Underwear under your pants and shirt if you find them.