Fallout New Vegas: Max weight that can be carried
Your base weight carry weight (without perks and items) is calculated with:
Carry Weight = 150 + (Strength x 10)
With max Strength at 10, your base carry weight will be 150 + (10 x 10) = 150 + 100 = 250. You can acquire perks and consume items to increase your carry weight further:
- Strong Back (perk): +50
- Burden to Bear (perk): +50
- Hoarder (perk): +25
- NCR Courier Duster (equipment): +25
- Buffout (consumable, if your Strength is <10, increases by 2): +20
Which, in total, increases your carry weight limit to 400. There are also other perks you can take that won't change your carry weight, but allow you to carry more items for the same encumbrance or allow to do things despite being encumbered.
- Pack Rat (perk) reduces the weight of any lightweight item (<= 2 lbs) by half
- Long Haul (perk) allows to fast-travel even when encumbered (great for switching bases)
You can also give items to your companion to carry, effectively extended your carry weight limit even more.
The absolute maximum weight you can carry is 400 pounds, which requires that you have a strength of 10 and you have taken the strong back perk as well as the Burden to Bear and Hoarder perks. You will also have to wear the NCR courier duster. All this combined leaves you with a total of 400 pounds carrying space. The strong back perk requires an initial strength and endurance of 5, and can be taken when you reach level 8. The two other perks require that you have the Lonesome Road and Old World Blues add-ons.