How do you collect items that wash up? (beachcombing)

[ZorTheCruel]

Ive tried to approach them,(like alongside the ocean in Coastal Highway) but i get weak ice warnings way before getting to the items, so I dont understand how you are supposed to get the items.

Do you just strip down naked, bolt for it and hope to grab it before falling through the ice? Then put clothes on, start a fire or go inside to warm up and cure the hypothermia? Seems awfully risky for a piece of fish or a single fir or cedar log, etc. Maybe im missing something obvious with this.

[SBlack]

There is a little bit of time before the ice breaks

[Xeph]

You don’t have to be naked, some people do but just make sure you aren’t carrying much at all and you can sprint in and grab it then out again.

And of course if it’s worth the risk anyway. I wouldn’t bother for just a bit of wood.

[jswilliams]

Zor, the one thing I guarantee you is beachcombing, aside from the fun/challenge, is for late-game (particularly Interloper) where you literally have very little cloth, saplings, whatever left and you need whatever is out on the surf.

Okay, maybe also very early game where a fish might be out there for free, easy calories. But a dunking with hypothermia can really throw your day off, and if a wolf comes wandering by between you and home...

[Xeph]

Agreed, usually I don't bother on stalker unless it's a box of rifle shells or something good.

[H34VY_R41N]

I beachcomb everything except for cattail heads.

[Nil Desperandum]

I approach the item very carefully and wait/watch for the cracking ice sound and on screen warning ("Weak Ice") if I get that warning I back up, exactly the way I came in, knowing that that way is safe. I then try again from another direction. However I don't bother with beachcoming unless I'm desperate for loot, there rarely is anything worth going to the trouble for.

[ZorTheCruel]

does it take longer for thin ice to break if you are carrying a lot less than usual? (For instance if i got down to like 20kg or so total weight. I usually am around 25kg or so with crafted gear, tools, and a bow, etc.) I get that the item needs to be worth it, of course.

not just for beachcombing but thin ice in general.
Yes, I'm looking at you, Forlorn Muskeg.....

[Nil Desperandum]

I usually carry around 30kg, with satchel 35kg, but as I follow my own rules on thin ice, FM or elsewhere - that is see "Weak Ice" warning and retrace my footsteps, I have never tested whether carrying a heavier load makes any difference at all to whether you will break through the ice or not, as my char never gets it's feet wet. Maybe someone else has tested it: ANYBODY?