Carrying weapons

Nobody pulls a rifle out of thin air. Every weapon you carry rides somewhere on your body, other survivors can see it there, and it takes time to bring it into your hands. How long depends on where it rides.

Where things ride

• Rifles, shotguns and snipers hang on a sling: one on your chest and one on your back. A third can be strapped to a proper backpack (a field pack or bigger) or carried in a Rifle Case. A long gun can never go in a pocket or inside a bag.
• Pistols ride in a Pistol Holster on your hip, and with a second holster, another on your thigh. You can see the holster on your belt or leg while a pistol rides there (unless you wear a scarf or chain, which takes the same spot). Without a holster, a pistol goes in your pack.
• SMGs and compact guns hang on your chest with a Weapon Sling. Without one, they go in your pack.
• Knives go in a pocket. Machetes, hatchets and hammers hang on your belt, and bats, big axes, sledges and spears go across your back.

Hover a weapon in your inventory to see where it's carried. Right-click it and use Carry to choose, for example, the back sling instead of the chest, or the thigh instead of the hip.

How long it takes

• A pocket knife comes out in under half a second, a holstered pistol in about two-thirds of a second, and a rifle off the chest sling in about the same.
• Reaching over your shoulder for a rifle on your back takes about a second and a half.
• Digging something out of your pack takes about three seconds, down on one knee. Getting hit, sprinting or walking off stops you.

Putting a weapon away takes just as long, and switching puts one away before the next comes out. You can't aim or fire until the weapon is up, but pressing another hotbar key mid-reach changes your mind straight away. Weapon handling gets a little quicker as your Firearms skill grows.

Arms full

If you pick up a long gun and both slings are taken, you carry it in your arms. You can't sprint or jump, you can't draw anything else, and once it's in your hands you can't put it away. Drop something, leave it in a stash, or put on a bigger pack.

In a vehicle

There's no room to bring a rifle up inside a vehicle. A driver can only draw a holstered pistol, and passengers can draw a pistol or a compact gun.

There's no weapon wheel. Your hotbar keys are the only way to change weapons, so keep the ones you need most in your first slots.