I've been working on a data-driven way to rank clothing in The Long Dark Survival Mode and wanted to share it with the community.

Instead of ranking items based on personal preference, I built a Survival Index (SI) that scores every clothing item using its in-game stats.

Methodology

• Compared items only within the same clothing slot (e.g., hats vs. hats, boots vs. boots).
• Separated Head, Torso, and Legs into Outer and Inner layers to reflect the game's layering mechanics.
• Final categories: (Climbing Socks and Thermal Underwear were excluded because they're essentially the best choice in almost every situation.)
  1. Head (Outer)
  2. Head (Inner)
  3. Torso (Outer)
  4. Torso (Inner)
  5. Sweaters
  6. Gloves
  7. Pants (Outer)
  8. Pants (Inner)
  9. Boots
• Created three ranking profiles:
  • Balanced: Roughly equal emphasis on overall survivability.
  • Explorer: Prioritizes warmth, windproofing, and mobility.
  • Hunter: Prioritizes protection while still considering warmth, weather resistance, and mobility.
• Normalized each stat using min-max normalization, allowing °C and percentages to be compared on the same scale.
• Applied a modest weight penalty to heavier items:
  • k = 0.0 for hats
  • k = 0.2 for sweaters, gloves, pants, and boots
  • k = 0.5 for outer torso clothing

Spreadsheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TVx4U7rHdW_3LsC1ZyMQ0x69Hjzlxe4j/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106043169496244915462&rtpof=true&sd=true

Some interesting results

• The top four head items never changed regardless of profile: Cougar Hide Wrap, Technical Balaclava, Wolfskin Hat, and Aviator Cap.
• Outer Torso produced the most interesting results. The Expedition Parka dominated the Explorer profile as expected, but dropped to 6th for Hunter, where the Moose-Hide Cloak and Tactical Jacket took the top spots. The Mariner's Pea Coat finishing 4th in Balanced was my biggest surprise. Unless warmth is weighted very heavily, the Bearskin Coat falls behind several lighter options simply because of its weight.
• Inner Torso also had an interesting outcome. My favorite, the Urban Parka, finished 2nd behind the Expedition Parka. Since you can only obtain one Expedition Parka, I'll probably keep using the Urban Parka as my second outer layer.
• No surprises with Fisherman's Sweater and Cowichan Sweater taking the top two sweater spots.
• Tactical Gloves came out on top. The next three places were very close, making a good case for Gauntlets, even though I've always preferred Ski Gloves and Rabbitskin Mitts.
• Pants: Snow Pants dominate for exploration, while Deer, Wolf, and Combat Pants lead for protection-focused builds.
• Boots: Mukluks and Deerskin Boots came out on top for Balanced, Combat Boots and Deerskin Boots for Hunter, while Explorers may prefer Mukluks, Insulated Boots, or Chemical Boots depending on priorities.

I'm not claiming these are the definitive rankings. The weighting choices are subjective, and I'm more interested in discussing the methodology than arguing over individual items.

I'd especially appreciate feedback on:

• The weighting schemes for the three profiles.
• Whether mobility and weight should have more or less influence.
• Any clothing interactions or game mechanics that aren't adequately captured by this model.

Curious to hear what everyone thinks.

Fishing at the Short Lake today by the downed airplane and this bear would just not leave me alone. Both shots were intended just to scare it but it so happens that the 2nd revolver shot took him down outright. Luckily I had my travois with me to get back with a full meat/fish load back to the base :).

P.S. total accident that I forgot to stop recording earlier in the game and it recorded for 40 minutes to allow me to catch both encounters without knowing...

Finally made it back to the Airfield to complete the tales. Almost left to go to Black Rock but decided to stay and to work my safehouse. Wanted the best centralized location and not to feel like I live at Costco (Main Hangar looking at you...). This is great location but I got to admit that glitter fog is nearly daily. Nevertheless I will be back here some time and will cozy back up in my bear hide bed. For now, feel free to join me for dinner if you are in the area. Today we have assortment of porridges, last resort soup with bannock, and some rose hip pie for dessert.

I used to hate coming to Bleak Inlet. That has changed. This is prime location with 1min walk to a fishing hut, 2 min to bear hunting, deer spawns literally in the pond behind the house. Not to mentioned unlimited ammo and tool sharpening. The house is also away from timber wolf patrols. heading back to Milton to repair the last radio tower and then back to the Airfield to finish up the last two tales.

Truly enjoying safehouse customization. Making my way back to the Great Bear and setup this little cozy spot at the Transfer Pass inside the Vacant Depot. Not shown is the 180 cattails I stocked up as there is no fishing in this area but then there is no predators either...

One of the things I love about TLD is the unpredictability. You leave for a short hunting trip and end up half across the zone lost in the blizzard. I never planned to stay almost 100 days straight in ZoC but here I am on day 285 and I really don't want to leave. And yes, I did find 6 hammers in ZoC which is more then I found on the rest of the map combined (yet to hit BI or BR but rest are 100% cleared). Probably staying for another week and then camping out at the Transfer Point.

Me trying to carry (sneak) 25kg of meat through two packs of timber wolves... :)

Last two trips were peaceful and undetected but I had a feeling this one wouldn't be so great.

This was a very close but safe encounter as the wolf was stuck inside :)
Happened just west of Poacher's Camp in FM.