Most players buy the wrong boat
Half of every Rust map is water, and the highest-tier loot is out there. So the moment a group has 300 scrap burning a hole, it buys the RHIB.
For most trips that is the wrong call.
| Motor Rowboat | RHIB | |
|---|---|---|
| Buy price | 125 scrap | 300 scrap |
| Extra cost | — | +175 scrap |
| Fuel burn | ~6 / min | ~12 / min |
| Full 500 tank | ~1 h 23 min | less than half that |
The RHIB earns its premium in exactly three jobs: Cargo Ship runs, the Large Oil Rig, and group PvP. In each of those the extra HP, the 36-slot box and the speed genuinely matter.
For solo and duo coastal fishing, the Small Oil Rig and river runs, the rowboat does the job and the fuel saving is worth more than the speed.
Buy the boat for the job, not the one that sounds better.
Every boat in Rust
| Boat | How you get it | HP | Seats | Storage | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayak | Craft at WB1 | 200 | 2 | None | None — paddle |
| Motor Rowboat | Fishing Village, 125 scrap | 400 | 4 | 12 slots | 6 / min |
| RHIB | Fishing Village, 300 scrap | 500 | 6 | 36 slots | ~12 / min |
| Solo Submarine | Fishing Village, 200 scrap | 500 | 1 | 12 slots | 3-6 / min |
| Duo Submarine | Fishing Village, 300 scrap | 700 | 2 | 12 slots | 3-6 / min |
| PT Boat | Captured in the Deep Sea | High | 7 | — | LGF |
| Player-built boat | Boat Building Station + plan | Depends on build | Any | Sails and engines | — |
| Tugboat | Spawn disabled since 5 Feb 2026 | 3,000 | Crew | Player-placed | LGF |
All motor boats and submarines run on Low Grade Fuel and hold up to 500 in the tank. Every boat you buy spawns with 50 LGF already in it.
Kayak — the free one
| Cost | 50 scrap for the blueprint, 25 scrap for the paddle blueprint |
| Craft | 200 wood + 75 metal fragments + 50 cloth at Workbench Level 1 |
| HP | 200 |
| Seats | 2 |
| Fuel | None |
Alternate left and right click to paddle. Both paddlers help it reach full speed.
It is slow, but it is silent and nearly undetectable, which makes it the best tool for a quiet approach to a monument and for cheap wipe-day river crossings.
Skip it the moment you can afford a rowboat — and stay within about 200 m of shore.
Motor Rowboat — the workhorse
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Price | 125 scrap |
| HP | 400 |
| Seats | 4 — driver at the stern, two in the middle, one at the bow |
| Storage | 12-slot box under the bow seat |
| Fuel | 500 tank, 6 / min → ~1 h 23 min |
| Decay | ~3 hours from full if left unused |
| Item ID | 1878053256 |
A full 500 stack covers more than a whole loop of a 4,000-size map. Carry a spare stack anyway.
It is slow — noticeably worse than the RHIB, especially loaded.
RHIB — the combat boat
300 scrap buys you 500 HP, six seats, a 36-slot box and a bulletproof windshield, at roughly twice the fuel burn.
It is the essential pick for Cargo Ship boarding: approach from a low waterline to stay out of sniper fire, and dock at the side ladder.
Submarines — the monument tool
| Solo | Duo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 200 scrap | 300 scrap |
| HP | 500 | 700 |
| Seats | 1 | 2 |
| Storage | 12 slots | 12 slots |
| Armament | Torpedo tube | Torpedo tube + gun port |
These are specialist boats for Underwater Labs. The duo sub also has an internal control panel with sonar for mapping the ocean floor.
Submarines decay after 180 minutes submerged or 240 minutes above water without roof coverage.
PT Boat — the one you take, not buy
Added in the Naval Update (February 2026), the PT Boat has 7 seats and high HP, and the only way to get one is to capture it in the Deep Sea.
The Tugboat is gone
The Tugboat had 3,000 HP and doubled as a floating base you could build a Tool Cupboard inside. It was the only vehicle that was also a base.
Its spawn was disabled on official servers on 5 February 2026, as part of the Naval Update.
The vendor trap
Since the Boat Vendor update in September 2020, boats no longer spawn along beaches. You buy them from the boat vendor at a Small or Large Fishing Village.
And then this happens:
The vendor only sells one boat every 5 minutes per spawn point. If your boat is still sitting on the ramp when the next player buys one, yours despawns to make room for theirs.
Drive it away the moment it appears on the ramp. Not after you sort your inventory, not after you say goodbye.
Other vendor notes:
- Larger villages reliably stock the full lineup; the smallest may not sell the RHIB.
- Prices can drift a little with demand on the server.
- Sources disagree sharply on the numbers — one guide lists the Rowboat at 250 scrap and the RHIB at 500. The 125/300 figures are the ones two of three sources agree on, but check your own vendor.
The Naval Update (5 February 2026)
This was the largest ocean expansion Rust has shipped, and it changed the whole water game:
- Player-built modular boats — built at a Boat Building Station with a Boat Building Plan
- Mounted cannons and boat-to-boat naval combat
- A new Deep Sea biome beyond the map edge
- Ghost Ships — wrecks holding locked crates
- AI PT Boats
- Tropical islands
- The Floating City safe-zone monument
- Removal of the Tugboat
The classic vessels above all still work the same way — the update added to the water, it did not replace it.
Picking one
| Job | Boat |
|---|---|
| Wipe-day river crossing, cheap recon, stealth approach | Kayak |
| Solo/duo coastal fishing, Small Oil Rig, river runs | Motor Rowboat |
| Cargo Ship, Large Oil Rig, group PvP, loot ferrying | RHIB |
| Underwater Labs, ocean treasure, quiet escape | Submarine |
| Naval combat in the Deep Sea | PT Boat |
Keeping it alive
- Boats decay about 3 hours from full health if left in open water. Store them indoors or on a sheltered dock.
- Carry a hammer and metal fragments. Minor damage is repaired with a hammer.
- A rowboat dies to one torpedo, one HV rocket, one satchel or one C4. It is not a fighting vehicle.
- Low Grade Fuel is cheap to make: 3 animal fat + 1 cloth = 4 LGF, with no workbench needed. Bulk route is crude oil through a Small Oil Refinery at 1:1.
Related guides
- Rust Horses and Vehicles — the full vehicle lineup
- Rust Cargo Ship Guide — the run the RHIB is for
- Rust Oil Rig Guide — the other one
- How to Fish in Rust — what a rowboat is best at
- How to Get Low Grade Fuel Fast in Rust — keeping the tank full
- How to Open a Locked Crate in Rust — the Ghost Ship crates
- Rust Monuments Guide — finding a Fishing Village