Running out of backpack space is one of the first walls you'll hit in Outbound. The game gives you a 20-item limit right from the start, and every stack counts as a separate slot, so two stacks of 10 resources burns through your capacity fast. The storage system exists to fix this, but the game barely explains where to find it or how it actually works. Here's everything you need to know.
Where is the storage panel on your van?
The storage panel is on the driver's side of the van, sitting right next to the rear tire. It does not stick out visually at all. The panel matches the color of whatever paint job you chose for your van, which makes it blend almost completely into the body of the vehicle. Walk around the back-left corner of the van and look low, near the wheel. The panel only highlights when you're looking directly at it, so slow down and scan carefully.
How to deposit materials into your van in Outbound
Once you locate the panel, the process is straightforward:
- Approach the storage panel near the driver-side rear wheel.
- Look directly at it until the "Deposit materials" prompt appears on screen.
- Press the button shown next to the prompt (it varies by platform).
- Everything in your backpack transfers to van storage automatically.
That last point is worth pausing on. Interacting with the panel dumps your entire backpack at once. You do not get to pick and choose at this stage. If you want to keep specific items on your person, you need to lock them before you interact with the panel.
Lock items before depositing
How do you lock items so they don't get deposited?
Open your backpack and select any item you want to keep. A small options window appears with actions like drop, use, or consume depending on the item type. In the upper-right corner of that window, there is an open padlock icon. Select it. That item is now locked to your backpack and will not be swept into van storage when you hit the deposit panel.
The most common things worth locking, based on the source materials, are Download Vouchers (needed at Radio Towers to get Blueprints) and Bottle Caps (used at Cap-N-Snap vending machines). Both of these require the items to be physically in your backpack to use, not just sitting in van storage.
Crafting materials like Scrap Metal, Everwood, Everwood Planks, Rocks, and Fiber do not need to be in your backpack for crafting. Your building menu and workstation windows pull from van storage automatically, so there is no reason to carry those around.
How do you access items stored in your van?
Here's where players get confused a second time. You cannot retrieve items by interacting with the storage panel again. The panel only deposits.
To access what you've stored, look up from the storage panel toward the small screen hovering above it. Interact with that screen when the "Storage info" prompt appears. This opens a list of your stored materials and lets you pull specific items back into your backpack by selecting them from the menu.
The screen only displays recently acquired materials rather than your full inventory at a glance, so if you're looking for something specific that you stored a while ago, scroll through the full list.
When you use crafting stations or machines attached to your van, they pull materials from storage automatically. You only need items in your backpack for world interactions like Radio Towers and vending machines.
20-slot backpack limit
Why does inventory management matter so much in Outbound?
Outbound sits firmly in the simulation games space, where resource management is a core loop rather than a side concern. The 20-item cap feels tight early on, especially because stacked items each consume a slot. A stack of 10 Scrap Metals and a stack of 10 Everwood fills your entire backpack by themselves, per Prima Games' breakdown of the system. Getting comfortable with the deposit routine early, and knowing which items to lock, removes most of the frustration.
The van is always with you on the road, so the habit to build is: stop at the panel before heading into a new area, lock your consumables and vouchers, then deposit everything else. That keeps your backpack free for whatever you pick up next.
For more tips on surviving the early game and beyond, check out the full Outbound guides collection.