Tier List ranking the best armor in Project Zomboid. Let’s take a look at the best clothes you can wear for the highest protection.
Armor Tier List
Below is a list of common clothes you can find in vanilla Project Zomboid that offer protection without tailoring. Let’s take a look at their stats and how they rank.
| Tier | Armor | Body Part | Bite Protection | Scratch Protection | Bullet Protection | Insulation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S |  Army Coat (0.95MS) | Torso Arms Neck Groin Thigh | 20% | 40% | 0% | 70% |
| S |  Long Leather Jacket (0.93MS, 0.97AS) | Torso Arms Neck Groin Thigh | 20% | 40% | 0% | 65% |
| S |  Overalls (0.95MS) | Torso Groin Thigh Shin | 10% | 20% | 0% | 65% |
| S |  Military Green Camo Pants | Groin Thigh Shin | 10% | 20% | 0% | 45% |
| S |  Long Denim Shorts | Groin Thigh Shin | 10% | 20% | 0% | 45% |
| A |  Military Green Camo Jacket (0.94MS, 0.97AS) | Torso Arms Neck | 30% | 50% | 0% | 45% |
| A |  Military Helmet Can't be repaired | Head | 100% | 100% | 0% | 25% |
| A |  Scarf | Neck | 0% | 10% | 0% | 50% |
| A |  Leather Gloves | Hands | 15% | 30% | 0% | 75% |
| A |  Military Boots (0.85MS) Can't be repaired | Foot | 100% | 100% | 0% | 55% |
| B |  Leather Jacket (0.95MS, 0.97AS) | Torso Arms Neck | 20% | 40% | 0% | 40% |
| B |  Police Deputy/Ranger Jacket (0.93MS, 0.98AS) | Torso Arms Neck | 20% | 30% | 0% | 60% |
| B |  Denim/Baggy Jeans (0.98MS) | Groin Thigh Shin | 10% | 20% | 0% | 65% |
| B |  Denim Shirt | Torso Arms | 7% | 15% | 0% | 45% |
| B |  Diamond-pattern Sweater | Torso Arms Neck | 0% | 10% | 0% | 55% |
| B |  Shoes (0.95MS) Can't be repaired | Foot | 10% | 20% | 0% | 25% |
| C |  Police Bulletproof Vest Can't be repaired | Torso | 30% | 55% | 100% | 65% |
| C |  Firefighter Jacket (0.87MS, 0.90AS) Can't be repaired | Torso Arms Neck | 50% | 70% | 0% | 85% |
| C |  Firefighters Pants Can't be repaired | Groin Thigh Shin | 20% | 30% | 0% | 85% |
| C |  Sneakers (1.10MS) | Foot | 0% | 10% | 0% | 45% |
| D |  Varsity Jacket | Torso Arms Neck | 10% | 20% | 0% | 60% |
| D |  Welder/Hockey Mask Can't be repaired | Head | 30% | 50% | 0% | 25% |
| F |  Hoodie | Torso Arms | 0% | 10% | 0% | 60% |
| F |  Denim Shorts | Groin Thigh | 10% | 20% | 0% | 30% |
| F |  Police Deputy/Ranger Pants | Groin Thigh Shin | 0% | 10% | 0% | 55% |
| F |  Shell Suit Jacket Can't be repaired | Torso Arms | 0% | 5% | 0% | 45% |
S-Tier Armor
The best armor in Project Zomboid are clothes that have high protection, cover multiple areas but low insulation, that way you can wear more layers for more protection.
Army Coat is the best armor for your torso and arms. It protects your vulnerable neck and unlike with other jackets also comes with groin and thigh protection. Its slightly better than the Long Leather Coat which has a bigger move and attack speed penalty.
Unfortunately Army Coat cannot be worn with the Bullet Proof Vest or Diamond-pattern sweater therefore when layering for maximum protection wear a Long Leather Coat instead.
Overalls provide some of the most protection for the pants slot and they also protect your Torso. However they do come with a movement speed penalty as well as higher insulation than Military Pants/Denim Shorts.
Leather Trousers provide more protection (20% Bite and 40% Scratch) however are quite rare to find.
Military Camo Pants and Long Denim shorts don’t provide the extra Torso protection however have lower insulation.
The torso, arms and legs are the biggest parts of your body hence why its important to have these areas protected.
Tip: Camo Pants and Military Boots come in Military Desert variation with lower insulation.
A-Tier Armor
Military Green Camo Jacket provides very good protection for your upper body (almost as much scratch and bite protection as a bullet proof vest!) and has lower insulation than long coats. However doesn’t provide any additional thigh/groin protection.
Military Helmet (or any other helmet without a movement/attack speed penalty), Scarf, Leather Gloves and Military boots are the best items you can get for each respective area.
Only reason they aren’t in the S-Tier is because they either don’t give much protection or protect areas that are much less important.
Tip: Hard Hat and Blue Scarf has the lowest insulation.
B-Tier
Leather Jacket and Police/Ranger Jackets provide a bit less protection than the Military variant. Denim/Baggy Jeans on the other hand is just disadvantaged by its movement penalty.
The Denim Shirt is the only shirt type clothing that provides protection. As such it innately has the lowest insulation. It’s a staple and you’re probably just going to be wearing this during the warmer months.
Diamond-pattern sweater is good because it provides neck protection, however the overall amount of protection this clothing gives is very little.
Shoes will be your first upgrade after your sneakers.
Both the Denim Shirt and Diamond-Pattern sweater can be worn together with a jacket.
C-Tier
Whilst Bulletproof Vests provide a lot of torso protection it doesn’t protect the arms. The Military Green Camo Jacket provides almost the same amount of protection (plus your arms) for less insulation. It would really make more sense if the Bulletproof Vests provided 100% Bite and Scratch protection.
The Firefighters Jacket and Pants provide some of the highest protection in Project Zomboid. However the insulation is so high its not really usable. Plus they can’t be upgraded or repaired. Again you’re better off just layering up.
D-Tier and F-Tier
These pieces of clothing provide some of the lowest protection in the game. There are just better alternatives.
Bonus Tip
Aprons are S-Tier clothing with Tailoring. With Lv. 10 tailoring you can add leather strips for 10% Bite and Bullet protection plus 20% scratch protection for your torso and thighs. Best part is it costs no insulation!
You can do the same with Long Johns for full body protection however these are probably better left for cooler months.
There’s a whole bunch of clothes that normally provide no protection that can be used with tailoring for maximum protection. Try out this layered clothing set.
