How to unequip weapons in Sons of the Forest

Keeping a weapon in hand is a perfectly normal way to explore the woods in Sons of the Forest. After all, cannibals and mutants are lurking everywhere looking for an argument. And a fire axe, in my opinion, offers a succinct retort. But that doesn’t mean you always want to have a weapon in hand while traveling. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to unequip your weapons in Sons of the Forest.

The most reliable way to unequip your current weapon in Sons of the Forest is by hitting the ‘G’ key. It’s a universal ‘unequip’ action that’s even used to exit the golf cart. Whether you’re holding a golden shotgun or a rock you found in the dirt, tapping G moves it out of your hands. Of course, if you want to re-equip weapons or items, there are easy ways to do so.

How to use hotkeys to unequip and re-equip weapons in Sons of the Forest

Cycling a list of items in Sons of the Forest is easy with hotkeys. To set a weapon or item on a key, hit the inventory key (default ‘I’) and hover your mouse over something you want keyed up. Press the key you want to tie to the item, such as ‘1’ or ‘2’, and that’s it! You can hotkey anything from melee weapons to healing items like pills. You can tell the key an item is attached to by hovering the mouse over it and checking the small, white box to the right of the name.

Remember what consumable is on which key. You automatically use the item the moment the key is pressed. And since resources aren’t always common, it’s best to avoid mistakes.

Another way to change your equipped item in Sons of the Forest is to use your backpack. Holding the inventory key allows you to hold out your backpack for a quick item exchange. You can carry things like weapons, flares, consumables, and more in your backpack, but the space is limited. To add things to the backpack, open up your inventory and right-click on it. Click on the items you want to add, and you’re all done. I recommend bringing along an axe, the shotgun, a flashlight, healing pills, and Molotov cocktails if you’re going cave spelunking. I’d also suggest taking the pickaxe along for the ride in case you’re low on the Solafite material and need to grab some more.