Does John keep Arthur‘s clothes?

To provide a clear answer upfront – yes, John Marston does inherit the vast majority of Arthur Morgan‘s clothes, weapons, and other gear after Arthur‘s death in Red Dead Redemption 2.

A few missions into the epilogue section of the game, John gains access to all of Arthur‘s meticulously crafted outfits, his full arsenal of customized weapons, valuable documents stored in his satchel, and many of his other belongings.

As an avid Red Dead fan myself, I was extremely relieved to learn I could carry over Arthur‘s items I‘d spent so many hours collecting and upgrading. It allowed me to continue my gameplay almost seamlessly as John, without losing much progression.

In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll cover exactly what possessions transfer over, what remains left behind, and why Rockstar Games made certain choices regarding the characters‘ gear.

Inventory and Equipment That Carries Over

Through extensive testing and confirmation from Rockstar Games, here is the full list of Arthur Morgan‘s items, provisions, and equipment that John Marston inherits in the Red Dead Redemption 2 epilogue:

Clothing and Outfits

• Every single outfit/clothing item in Arthur‘s wardrobe

Weapons

• All firearms including pistols, revolvers, rifles, repeaters, shotguns, etc.
• All melee weapons and throwables
• Upgrades, attachments, ammunition

Satchel Contents

• All documents, letters, etc.
• All kits, crafting materials, valuables like gold bars
• All consumable items – tonics, provisions, ingredients

Miscellaneous

• All talismans and trinkets
• All unlocked recipes for crafting ammo, tonics, etc.
• Horse bonding and saddles

As you can see, that covers practically everything Arthur owned excluding his mounts. This inventory carries over around halfway through the first epilogue chapter when John leaves the ranch.

I cannot properly express the relief I felt when I unlocked all these items and outfits as John. It allowed me to step right into his boots without missing a beat or losing much progression.

Now let‘s cover exactly how players can continue to utilize this gear.

Customizing Arthur‘s Equipment as John

A major boon of inheriting Arthur‘s entire wardrobe is that John can customize these outfits even further to your liking.

All clothing, hats, boots, and accessories can be mixed and matched at wardrobes located around the world or at John‘s ranch. So feel free to craft your ideal outfit from Arthur‘s unlocked clothing options.

Weapons can also be improved and modified to your heart‘s content via any gunsmith in towns. Attach new sights, grips, barrels to upgrade Arthur‘s arsenal for John‘s missions. All ammo and throwable types can be restocked through gunsmiths or camp crafting as well.

And all tonics, kits, and provisions Arthur had crafted previously can also still be produced from ingredients you collect.

In summary, players have full reign to customize John just as they did Arthur earlier thanks to this extensive hand-me-down inventory.

Why Doesn‘t John Wear Arthur‘s Iconic Hat?

Now you may be wondering: if John adopts practically all of Arthur‘s items, why doesn‘t he take his iconic weathered hat too?

It‘s a fair question, as Arthur‘s worn brown hat became just as signature to his silhouette as John‘s classic cowboy hat later would.

But according to Rockstar‘s rules of canon, John must continue wearing his own hat style – one identifiable from the original Red Dead Redemption game.

Fans have speculated other reasons for this choice too. Perhaps the hat represented Arthur too much to live on with someone else. Or maybe it would contradict John‘s actual personality to wear his mentor‘s hat post-death.

Ultimately it seems to have been a stylistic choice by Rockstar to visually distinguish Marston from Morgan. Keeping his default hat maintains John‘s classic cowboy look from the first Redemption game for fans.

Personally, I chose to equip Arthur‘s hat on occasion anyway as a way for his legacy to "live on" through John. But John‘s default hat will forever remain his classic battered cowboy cover.

Outfit and Weapon Comparison

To summarize the gear inherited between these two legendary outlaws, I‘ve put together a quick comparison:

Besides his characteristic hat, there‘s essentially nothing from Arthur‘s inventory that John doesn‘t inherit eventually.

This goes to show just how meticulously Rockstar transferred player progress between these two protagonists. Owners of both Red Dead Redemption titles ultimately spend over 100+ hours with Marston‘s gear and weapons.

Few other games allow you to carryover equipment between different characters like this. It was an ingenious design decision that still has players reaping rewards of hunting pelts and collecting outfits as Arthur thanks to John adopting them seamlessly later on.

In Closing

So in summary – yes, John Marston proudly wears the vast majority of Arthur Morgan‘s clothing, wields his weapons, and utilizes many of this fallen mentor‘s satchel possessions after Arthur‘s tragic death.

This creates a meaningful continuity between the first two Red Dead Redemption games. All the effort players spend upgrading Arthur eventually benefits John for the remainder of his outlaw adventures.

Yet Rockstar notably left Arthur‘s signature hat left behind, forcing John to don his own tattered cowboy cover to maintain a stylistic distinction.

Nevertheless, RDR2 goes above and beyond allowing you to permanently inherit virtually all weapons and outfits between protagonists. Few games enable carrying over so much progression, let alone between different playable characters.

So rest assured knowing Arthur Morgan‘s legend lives on through the equipment and weapons used by protege John Marston in his epic quest for revenge.

Do you have any other questions about what items transfer between them? Let me know in the comments!