The November 5, 2026 “Printed and Polished” update gave sheep farmers two new things to make: Shears, a cheap tool that takes more wool off a sheep without hurting it, and the Wool Armour Insert, a plate made from that wool that slots into your armor and keeps you warm. One feeds the other, so this guide covers both in one place.
You will find the craft costs, how much more wool Shears really give, how the new insert compares with the wooden, metal, lead and asbestos inserts, which armor it fits in, and when it is worth a slot. Every number comes from the official devblog and the Facepunch commit log for the update.
What Did the November 2026 Update Add for Sheep?
Sheep arrived with the livestock update on October 1, 2026. You could shear them for wool with any blade, but there was not much to do with the wool apart from selling it to the livestock vendor. The November update fixed that from both ends. Shears make shearing faster and safer, and the Wool Armour Insert gives you a reason to keep a flock running.
The same patch reworked livestock ownership (you own an animal once you buy it or it eats at your trough), removed old age deaths, added petting and a Potential stat for animals raised in captivity, and added the Crocodile Pie that keeps animals away. The full list is in our Rust November 2026 update breakdown.
| Item | Shears | Wool Armour Insert |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tool (melee) | Armor insert |
| Workbench | Workbench 1 | Workbench 1 |
| Blueprint | Default, already known | Workbench 1 tech tree, 1 Blueprint Fragment |
| Recipe | 2 Metal Blades | 20 Wool |
| Main job | 25% more wool per sheep | +4% cold, +2% melee, +1% projectile |
| Added | November 5, 2026 force wipe | |
Rust Shears: Craft Cost and Stats
Shears are a default blueprint, so every player knows them from the moment they spawn. You do not need to research them or spend anything on a tech tree. All you need is a Workbench 1 and 2 Metal Blades, which you get from roadside barrels, crates and recycling. The devblog calls them a weapon, but they are really a farming tool.
| Stat | Shears | Compared with a knife |
|---|---|---|
| Recipe | 2 Metal Blades | – |
| Workbench | Workbench 1 | – |
| Blueprint | Default | – |
| Wool per full sheep | 12 to 13 | 10 (25% more) |
| Durability | 200 | 2x a knife |
| Damage | 4 slash + 4 stab | Half a knife |
| Hitting the sheep’s skin | No damage, does not startle it | Hurts the sheep |
The low damage is on purpose. Shears are not something to fight with, and they still do a small amount of damage to anything that is not a sheep. Keep a real weapon on your belt when you walk into the pen, because rams and bulls can still charge you.
How Much Wool Do Shears Give?
A sheep stores wool on its body and grows it back over time, and the sheep shows how much it is carrying. When you shear a fully grown coat:
- Shears take about 12 to 13 wool.
- Any other blade (bone knife, combat knife, butcher knife, machete and so on) still takes 10 wool, exactly as before the update.
- Both numbers are before the Yield gene, so a well bred sheep gives more with either tool.
That 25% adds up fast on a flock. Ten full sheep give about 125 wool with Shears and 100 with a knife, which is the difference between six Wool Armour Inserts and five. The bigger win is safety. With a knife a missed swing hits the sheep’s skin, hurts it and scares it off. Shears do nothing to the sheep if you miss the wool, and lambs take less damage from stray hits too, so you can shear a pen quickly without spooking anything.
What Is Wool Used For in Rust?
Wool now has two real uses:
- Craft Wool Armour Inserts. Each one costs 20 wool. Three inserts for a fully slotted piece of armor cost 60 wool, which is about five full sheep with Shears.
- Sell it to the livestock vendor. The vendor takes a minimum of 25 wool, and selling 400 wool at once gets the top rewards. If you bring too little, the vendor now tells you how much more you need.
Sheep also give mutton, leather, cloth, bone fragments and fat when harvested, but a living sheep that you shear every time its coat grows back is worth far more than one harvest. Our livestock guide covers pens, troughs, breeding and genes.
Wool Armour Insert: Craft Cost and Stats
The Wool Armour Insert is the fifth armor insert in Rust. Like the others, it is a plate you drop into an open insert slot on a piece of armor, and its bonus stacks on top of that armor’s own protection.
| Stat | Wool Armour Insert |
|---|---|
| Recipe | 20 Wool |
| Unlock | Workbench 1 tech tree, 1 Blueprint Fragment for the node |
| Workbench | Workbench 1 |
| Cold protection | +4% per insert (raised from 3% before release) |
| Melee protection | +2% per insert |
| Projectile protection | +1% per insert |
| Three inserts | +12% cold, +6% melee, +3% projectile |
Since the November 2026 blueprint rework, every node on the Workbench 1 and Engineering trees costs 1 Blueprint Fragment instead of scrap, so the insert is cheap to unlock once you find a few fragments in barrels and crates. See our Rust blueprint update guide for how fragments, pages and books work now.
Facepunch’s own summary is the honest one: a small buff to melee and projectile protection and a large buff to cold resistance. It is not a combat insert. It is the insert that keeps you alive on a long night in the snow.
Wool Insert vs Other Armor Inserts
| Insert | Bonus per insert | Cost | Workbench |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wool | +4% cold, +2% melee, +1% projectile | 20 Wool | WB1 |
| Wooden | +2% projectile, +2% melee | 150 Wood | WB1 |
| Metal | +4% projectile, +2% melee | Loot only | – |
| Lead | +5% radiation, +1% projectile and melee | 4 HQM | WB2 |
| Asbestos | +8% explosion, +1% projectile and melee | 50 Metal Fragments | WB2 |
Against the Wooden insert, wool gives the same melee protection, 1% less projectile and adds 4% cold. If you are fighting in a temperate or desert biome, wood or metal is still the better slot. If you live in the snow, roam the Arctic monuments at night, or keep losing health to the cold, wool is the only insert that helps. It also costs no wood or metal, so a sheep farm makes them for free.
Which Armor Takes the Wool Insert?
The Wool Armour Insert follows the same slot rules as every other insert. Armor rolls a random number of insert slots, from 0 to 3, at the moment it is crafted. Most chest, leg and full body pieces can roll up to three. The Metal Facemask, Coffee Can Helmet and Road Sign Kilt only ever get one. Our armor inserts guide has the full list.
- Arctic Suit and other full body suits. The natural home for wool. Three wool inserts push an already warm suit further for long trips through the snow.
- Metal Chest Plate and Road Sign Jacket. One wool insert next to two metal or wooden inserts gives a fighting kit a little cold resistance without giving up much projectile protection.
- Wood Chestplate and Bone Armor. Early game pieces that can roll slots. Wool fits them on day one of a wipe, since the insert only needs a Workbench 1.
Inserts are not destroyed when you take them out, so you can keep a set of wool inserts in a box and swap them in only when you head north. The Snow Jacket and the rest of our Rust clothing guide cover the other ways to stay warm.
Shears and Wool Insert Tips
- Craft Shears on day one. They are a default blueprint and only cost 2 Metal Blades. Even if you do not farm sheep, they take 25% more wool off any wild sheep you find.
- Wait for a full coat. The sheep shows how much wool it is carrying. Shearing a full coat is the best use of each trip into the pen.
- Breed for Yield. The Yield gene multiplies wool on top of the Shears bonus, so keep your best wool sheep for breeding.
- Use wool where it matters. Put wool inserts in a snow kit, not your main PvP kit. In a fight, a metal or wooden insert is worth more.
- Mix inserts. One wool and two metal inserts in a chest plate is a solid all round kit for cold biome bases.
- Sell the spare. Once your kits are slotted, stack wool to 400 and sell it in one go for the vendor’s best rewards.
Sheep pens take time to build up, so the start of a wipe is the best time to get one going. Check when the next one lands on our Rust force wipe countdown.
Rust Shears and Wool Armour Insert FAQ
How do you craft Shears in Rust?
Shears are a default blueprint. Craft them at a Workbench 1 from 2 Metal Blades. You do not need to research them or unlock them on a tech tree.
Do Shears give more wool in Rust?
Yes. Shears take about 12 to 13 wool off a full sheep, 25% more than the 10 wool you get with a knife or any other blade. Both numbers are before the Yield gene bonus.
Do Shears hurt sheep in Rust?
No. If you miss the wool and hit the sheep’s skin, Shears do no damage and do not startle it. Other blades still hurt the sheep.
How do you get the Wool Armour Insert in Rust?
Unlock it on the Workbench 1 tech tree, where each node costs 1 Blueprint Fragment, then craft it at a Workbench 1 from 20 wool.
What does the Wool Armour Insert do in Rust?
Each Wool Armour Insert adds 4% cold protection, 2% melee protection and 1% projectile protection to the armor it is slotted into. Three inserts in one piece give 12% cold, 6% melee and 3% projectile.
Is the Wool Armour Insert better than the Wooden Armor Insert?
Only in the cold. Wool gives 4% cold, 2% melee and 1% projectile, while wood gives 2% projectile and 2% melee. For fights in warm biomes the wooden or metal insert is better.
When were Shears and the Wool Armour Insert added to Rust?
Both were added in the Printed and Polished update with the November 5, 2026 force wipe, alongside the blueprint rework, the Uzi and the livestock rework.
What can you do with wool in Rust?
Craft Wool Armour Inserts for 20 wool each, or sell wool to the livestock vendor. The vendor takes at least 25 wool, and 400 wool gets the top rewards.