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Red Dead Redemption 2 Satchel upgrades: How to increase carry capacity

If you're hoping to carry around more tonics and potions, you'll want to invest in some satchel upgrades.

A Red Dead Redemption 2 menu showing crafting upgrades for the Satchel.
Image credit: VG247/Rockstar Games

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive game with so many places to explore, so it makes sense that you'd want stuff your satchel with all the loot in sight.

But this isn't a Fallout game, so there's no need to become a hoarder. Here's everything you need to know about how to upgrade your satchel, how to access your horse satchel, and what to do when your satchel is full, so you can maximise your inventory and carry exactly what you need.


Red Dead Redemption 2 Satchel Ugrades guide

Your satchel in Red Dead Redemption 2 is your bread and butter to an extent. It'll hold all the tonics and food items you could possibly need, as well as consumables for your horse or setting up camp. It'll take a while to become full, but once it does, you'll want to consider investing in satchel upgrades.

Here's everything you need to know about Arthur Morgan's satchel in Red Dead Redemption 2.

How to open your satchel in Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2's controls are complicated, there's no doubt about it. So to open your satchel, press and hold right on your d-pad. Make sure that you're away from your horse as well as any NPCs, because this can open different menus.

Inside your inventory menu, your items are grouped under different tabs depending on the kind of item. Most are self-explanatory, but if you've cooked specific meals using meat, they are all packed into one location depending on what meat they were cooked with.

For instance, if you've cooked thyme beef to help with health core regeneration as well as beef with a stamina core regenerating herb, they are both found under beef in the provisions tab of your bag.

How to use the horse satchel in Red Dead Redemption 2

Your horse satchel is accessed by pressing and holding right on the d-pad (or LB) while stood next to, or riding, your horse.

This is where large items that you collect hunting are stored, including carcasses and pelts. So if you're trying to donate a carcass to Mr Pearson at camp, the horse tab is where to look when you're talking to him. You'll also find items for horse care here, including food for your horse and a brush.

How to unlock Satchel Upgrades in Red Dead Redemption 2

At the start of the game, you can only carry a small number of common types of items. The amount you can carry differs depending on the type of item - for instance: you can only carry three bottles of bourbon, five of each type of saleable valuable, and five pieces of uncooked game meat.

Because these items - especially booze - appear a lot in the game, most of the time when you're getting a message that says your bag is full, it's because you've hit your limit for that particular type of item.

To be able to carry more of each kind of item, you need to get Mr Pearson to craft a new one for you at camp. Each upgrade requires three different types of perfect pelt, so here's where you can find some Legendary animals to do just that.

You also need to have unlocked Person's tools from the Camp Ledger, which we go into more about in our guide on how to upgrade your camp in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Some upgrades are locked behind a task that has to be completed as well as needing the correct materials.

The list of all the upgraded bags that you can craft are as follows:

  • Tonics Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Buck, Perfect Elk
  • Ingredients Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Badger, Perfect Squirrel, you must also have donated 5 carcasses to Pearson
  • Kit Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Elk, Perfect Panther
  • Provisions Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Bison, Perfect Raccoon, but you will also need to have upgraded the Provisions Wagon twice
  • Materials Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Boar, Perfect Iguana, but you also need to have crafted 3 recipes at the Scout Fire
  • Valuables Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Beaver, Perfect Rabbit
  • Legend of the East Satchel: Materials needed are Perfect Deer, Perfect Cougar, Perfect Wolf, and you will need to have crafted every other type of satchel first

If you're new to Red Dead Redemption 2, then check out our guides on how to upgrade your bows and arrows, and where to find the best horse.

On top of that, here's our guide to the best weapons in Red Dead Redemption 2, and where to hunt legendary fish.

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Red Dead Redemption 2

PS4, Xbox One, PC

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About the Author
James Billcliffe avatar

James Billcliffe

Guides Editor

With 7 years' experience, James (he/him) suffers so you don't have to, creating expert guides for the toughest games and reviews for the biggest blockbuster releases. He has a Master's degree in Journalism and a BA in Linguistics that he never got a chance to flex until Wordle came along.

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