Permafrost Clothing: Cold Resistance and Armor Sets
Updated:
Quick answer: clothing provides your cold resistance rating — the number the weather tests against (for example −29 °C). The reported set ladder runs: animal-head hats → tribal → hybrid → insulated mountain → military → the legendary lunar "Permafrost" set.
Cold resistance vs armor
These are separate attributes. Cold resistance decides how low the temperature can go before your body warmth drains; armor mitigates damage. Some sets — notably the Moon Cult clothing found as loot — offer both.
The set ladder (reported)
| Set | Key materials | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Animal-head hats | bear head hat: 2 bear pelts; fox: 4 fox pelts | craft |
| Tribal | 2 blueprint points to unlock | blueprint tree (early quest asks for it) |
| Hybrid | lots of cloth + treated hide | schematics from Anna's "Breaking the Radio Silence" reward chest |
| Insulated mountain | processed plastic | crafting |
| Military | quality metal | crafting |
| Lunar / "Permafrost" | moonrock ingots + quality metal | crafting — or found: the full set lies on a corpse at the solar facility, with a pattern nearby |
Naming trap: the quest objective "Craft Utility Boots" refers to the hybrid boots recipe.
The hybrid set chain runs through the tailoring bench: pelts + animal fat → treated hide at the tanning rack, hide → cloth, then the bench. The military and lunar tiers need quality metal.
Insulation by set (game files, build 0.44.2)
Insulation per piece (boots/gloves shown; other slots scale similarly):
| Set | Insulation | Frost armor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casual / Survivor | 26 | 26 | starter tier |
| Tribal | 29 | 29 | first real set, 2 blueprint points |
| Hybrid | 32 | 32 | Anna's reward schematics |
| Insulated Mountain | 46 | 46 | warmth-first set, needs processed plastic |
| Military | 45 | 45 | armor-first: 44 light armor per piece |
| Lunar ("Permafrost") | 50 | 50 | best of both; 50 light armor, ~8–9% damage reduction |
The warmest full outfit in the data totals 255 insulation. The 82 clothing pieces span 8 slots including backpack and tactical rig.
Backpack carry slots (game files): casual 15 → survivor's 20 → utility 25 → scavenger 35 → mule 40 → mountain 45 → military 50.
Repair and wear
Clothing wears out with use. Repair it at a repair bench (10 flint + 10 wood to build your own; free benches exist in Horizon and house camp) before it breaks — replacement is far more expensive than maintenance.
Practical advice
- Your combined rating is what matters — check it before heading into blue-fog cold zones (which run far below any early-game rating).
- The free Permafrost set corpse at the solar facility is the single biggest gear shortcut in the current build; getting there alive is the hard part.
- The wolf-head hat from the Skinwalker's "Hour of the Wolf" challenge (7 wolves) is a solid early cold-resistance bump.
FAQ
Does armor help against the cold? No — cold resistance is its own attribute. Check the tooltip.
The lunar set: craft it or find it? Both paths reportedly exist: found at the solar facility, or crafted from moonrock + quality metal.
Related: Stay warm · Tailoring bench · Quality metal
Related guides
- Permafrost: How to Stay Warm and Survive the ColdThe cold is the real enemy. How body warmth, gear ratings, cold zones, campfires and heaters interact — and how to loot cold zones without dying.
- Permafrost Tailoring Bench: Unlock, Build and UseThe tailoring bench blueprint comes from Skinwalker's reward box at Hunter's Glade. It costs 3 copper ingots to build and crafts the clothing sets.
- Permafrost Quality Metal: Smelting Chain and UsesQuality metal is smelted from iron and scrap — it gates the military and lunar gear tiers. Here is the full chain from boulder to bar.
- Permafrost Walkthrough: Main Quest Route (Early Access)The full main quest route through the Early Access region — Horizon, the bone cave, New Home, Hunter's Glade, House Camp and the Solar Fields — with quest-gating gotchas.