Skyrim:Carry Weight

Carry Weight is the maximum weight of all weapons, armor, and other items that you can carry. It is the equivalent of the Encumbrance attribute in Oblivion. All characters start with a Carry Weight of 200. Choosing to increase Stamina when leveling up increases your maximum Carry Weight by five points. If you try to carry a combined weight that is greater than your Carry Weight, you will not be able to run or sprint; instead, your movement speed will be substantially decreased to an almost unbearably slow crawl. You will also be unable to fast travel while overencumbered unless on a horse.

Your current Carry Weight is displayed in the bottom right of the inventory screen. This number can be increased by 100 through the Extra Pockets perk in the Pickpocket tree. The spell effect provided by the Steed Stone also adds 100 points to your total, as well as completely negating the weight of any equipped armor. Carry Weight is only controlled by your base Stamina, and therefore temporary changes to Stamina, such as Fortify Stamina, do not have any effect on Carry Weight; this is also why you do not become overencumbered every time you swing a weapon or do other activities that deplete your Stamina.

Circumventing Overencumbrance

• Moving faster. You can walk at a faster pace while overencumbered if you repeatedly do forward power attacks or use the Whirlwind Sprint shout.

• You can also walk at a slightly faster pace if you draw a bow and move forward while aiming (though this is not ideal if you have the Steady Hand perk).

• Potions. You can drink a Potion of Strength (or a better quality version), and fast travel before it wears off, provided the weight you are carrying does not exceed your increased carrying capacity.
• Enchantments. You can carry gloves, boots, and/or pieces of jewelry enchanted with Fortify Carry Weight, and equip them when you exceed your limit in order to fast travel. Clothing such as the zero-weight shoes are particularly useful for this.
• Transform. Werewolves using their beast form have their carry weight limit increased by 2000 points.

• Transforming into a Vampire Lord^DG will also allow you to avoid being overencumbered and travel faster.

• Horses. Horses will take you where you want to go regardless of overencumbrance. You can also fast travel after mounting a horse. Arvak^DG is especially handy for this, as he can be summoned when you need him, then released when you don't.
• Low Weight Dead Bodies. You can store items in a LWDB, such as a Skeever, and then hold the Activate key to pick it up. You can then run around with it by carrying it in front of you. Note that you can't carry a body through a load door.

Notes

• You cannot execute a sneaking forward roll (ordinarily usable with the Silent Roll perk) when overencumbered.

Bugs

• In most of the cases when your follower's Carry Weight limit is exceeded (e.g. by ordering them to pick too heavy/too many items), they will not suffer any apparent overencumbrance effect. See the Followers article for details.
• When overencumbered and slowed, your speed moving with a drawn arrow is unaffected and significantly faster.