A few suggestions to newbies from a near-newbie

[Ultimateauthority]

I've been playing TLD for a few weeks now, and I have made my share of mistakes, so I hope you can learn a thing or two from me about what NOT to do.

RIFLES and AMMO

I hate to admit it, but I actually recycled an extra rifle I found, thinking that by some magic I would be able to harvest ammo from the second rifle.  Well, gotta tell you friend - it doesn't happen that way.  When you find a rifle, it is empty and it probably needs cleaning anyway before you can even use it.  So, if you have been collecting bullets along the way, you can finally load your rifle by pressing the "R" key = "reload".  And NEVER recycle a second rifle.  Why is this important?  Well, just today I was attacked by a wolf I was shooting at, and after I recovered from the ensuing battle, the rifle was nowhere to be found.  It wasn't in my pack and was not on the ground.  I sure I wish I had that second rifle now...One more thing - don't waste your ammo making long shots unless you are very certain of your target and have advanced your shooting skill.  You will just waste ammo that way.

OVERLOADING your PACK

Ya, I know - you want to carry everything you can when you are moving from point A to point B.  The result is that you will be walking very slowly and will have trouble walking uphill.  So, next time, take only what you really need and then come back for the rest when you can.  I might be wrong about this, but I've noticed that when I carry a lot of weight, my nice trail boots seem to need a lot more repairs than usual.  So, if you really need to carry a bunch of extra weight, be sure to carry extra cured leather to repair your boots.

I recently followed my own advice to collect coal from a mine (coal is pretty heavy, if you have not tried carrying much of it yet).  After I had already traveled and set my my base in a new location, I dropped everything non-essential and went back and collected all the coal.  That coal really makes the fire burn hotter and longer. 

LOOK before you EAT

Have you done this yet (lol)?  Grabbed a piece of meat and mistakenly ate it before you cooked it?  Did that once - ha ha.  Good thing I had plenty of drugs to heal myself.  Also, some canned food is not necessarily good to eat.  Peanut butter is probably the most filling found food, but I got sick once from a jar of it - must have been rancid or something.  Also, if you run low on water for some reason, remember your canned peaches if you have some.  They are good for the water they provide in a pinch.  Also, forget eating the salty crackers, unless you have extra water on hand.  Speaking of water...remember that you can get water from toilets if you have not already drained the toilet tank.

One more thing, someone mentioned in an earlier post that if you are low on food, remember that if you have rose hips and the mushrooms in your pack - they will provide a little bit of food value.

HAND made clothes DO wear out

I thought I was in hog heaven when I finally make a wolf hide coat, deer hide pants, rabbit mitts and the boots.  Oh goodie I thought, no more need to collect cloth and leather for repairs.  BUT, you will need to grab some more animal pelts eventually to make repairs on your hand made clothes.

FLARES do not chase away BEARS

Yes, they will often chase away wolves if they are lit and you "brandish" them in their face, but they have absolutely NO effect on bears.  You should have seen all the blood on the ground after the bear corrected my dumb move (lol).  And yes, it was MY blood. 

[Jolan]

Good advice - I've had the rifle disappear during a wolf attack too.  I no longer keep the rifle full loaded.  That way you don't also lose all your ammo.  I usually take empty rifles to places I will be staying for a bit and will want to hunt and leave them there with a few bullets. That way you save yourself 8 lbs of weight.  I'll only pull them out of a region if I have no intention of coming back.  

And with overloading yourself - I hadn't paid attention to wear, but it makes sense.  I know you burn more calories, get tired quicker and its something taken into consideration when a wolf is deciding whether to jump you or run away.

 

[Ultimateauthority]

Good point on not loading up your rifle with all your bullets.