Find Leather Before You Start Crafting It
Pick up ready-made Leather from a sewer chest to unlock its recipe, then combine 2 Animal Hides at a Workbench to make 1 Leather. Reserve 1 Leather for building the Workbench itself so you can turn your hides into more.
For the rat-hide crafting chain, the material to look for in your inventory is Animal Hide. Processing a Rat into Raw Meat also gives you Animal Hide. Save that hide for Leather crafting rather than treating the meat as the end of the process.
Collect Your Starting Leather in the Sewers
- Craft a Rope from 2 Vines and 1 Stick in the Crafting menu if you need one for the descent.
- Climb down the rope behind the hub stairs to enter the sewers.
Check the pipe route toward the Hammer for loose Leather. Watch the sewer exploration to follow the pickup along this route.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
Open the small sewer chest containing a Bone Club and 2 Leather. Watch the chest pickup to help identify it during your search.Playing this video connects to YouTube.
- Take the Leather into your inventory to unlock the Leather recipe at the Workbench.
- Build a Workbench through the Crafting menu using 3 Wood Planks, 2 Iron Rods and 1 Leather. This gives you the station needed to process Animal Hide into Leather.
The sewers also have other ready-made Leather, and Leather can appear in other chests and among loose resources. Keep checking these while exploring, especially when you want to save your Animal Hide. Use the chest with the Bone Club as your early target, then build your Workbench before spending your starting supply on equipment.
Turn Rats into Animal Hide and Leather
- Catch a Rat so you have the ingredient needed for the Raw Meat crafting recipe.
- Process the Rat into Raw Meat through the Crafting menu. You also receive Animal Hide, which supplies the Leather recipe.
- Craft Leather at your Workbench using 2 Animal Hides. Each craft produces 1 Leather, provided you have already unlocked the recipe by picking up Leather.
For a passive catching option, craft a Rat Trap from 3 Sticks through the Crafting menu. The trap catches rats; you still need to process the Rat into Raw Meat to obtain Animal Hide. Consider this option if chasing rats keeps interrupting your other plans.
Plan Your Leather Spending
Leather goes into camp stations, bags, armor and weapons, so choose your next project before using your supply. Prioritize the Workbench if you still need it, because it lets you make replacement Leather from Animal Hide. After that, compare the complete material costs below with what you already have.
| Item | Station and Complete Recipe |
|---|---|
| Workbench | Crafting menu: 3 Wood Planks, 2 Iron Rods, 1 Leather. |
| Cooking Table | Crafting menu: 2 Wood Planks, 1 Leather. |
| Backpack | Crafting menu: 1 Leather, 2 Ragged Cloth, 1 Rope. |
| Rug | Crafting menu: 2 Animal Hides, 1 Leather. |
| Pouch | Workbench: 2 Leather, 2 Vines. |
| Crude Leather Armor | Workbench: 1 Leather, 3 Animal Hides. |
| Leather Armor | Workbench: 3 Leather, 3 Ragged Cloth. |
| Padded Leather Armor | Workbench: 3 Leather, 5 Iron Rods. |
| Long Sword | Workbench: 6 Iron Rods, 2 Leather. |
| Wooden Bow | Workbench: 2 Wood Planks, 1 Leather. |
| Long Bow | Workbench: 1 Wood Plank, 1 Iron Rod, 1 Leather. |
| Cape | Workbench: 1 Ragged Cloth, 1 Leather, 1 Vines. |
| Axe | Workbench: 1 Leather, 2 Iron Rods. |
| Great Axe | Workbench: 1 Leather, 2 Iron Rods, 1 Nail. |
Picking up Leather also unlocks Cooking Table crafting. That station prepares dough, wraps and raw pies, and processes carcasses for cooking. Reserve Leather for it when meal preparation is your next priority.
The Pouch adds 3 inventory slots and costs 2 Leather plus 2 Vines. The Backpack provides extra inventory space but is heavy to carry. Choose according to how you want to manage your supplies.
Having the materials does not bypass equipment unlocks. You must have picked up an Axe before its crafting recipe appears, and the Great Axe also requires you to have had an Axe. Save Leather for those projects when you reach their prerequisites.
If the Leather Recipe Is Missing
If you have Animal Hide but cannot see the Leather recipe, pick up ready-made Leather first. Then use the Workbench rather than the Cooking Table or the ordinary Crafting menu. Animal Hide supplies the recipe, while the Leather pickup provides its unlock.
Return spare materials to camp between trips so you can keep your next project's ingredients together. A Backpack stays with you after death, while carried ingredients go into your death pack. If a death pack ends up in water, check the surface; packs that fall below the world return to camp or spawn.