Chests are items found in Red Dead Redemption.

Characteristics

Chests frequently contain money, ammunition, and occasionally satchel items.

Locations

Red Dead Redemption

Chests can be found all over New Austin, West Elizabeth, and Nuevo Paraiso, in both the wild and in urban areas, and in nearly all Safehouses.

Generally speaking, most Bounty Hunting locations contain a chest, and chests in the wild or in small settlements tend to be found near some sort of minor landmark near a location; often near walls, trees, rock groupings, or in tents or other small man-made structures. Chests in the wild almost always contain $20–$25 and you will not become wanted for opening them. Chests in urban areas may contain consumables of larger amounts of money, and you may become wanted if you open them, depending on the location. Safehouse chests normally contain ammunition.

Several gang hideouts have chests that contain very large amounts of money ($100–$75) or even new weapons; the only way to obtain the Double-action Revolver in Single Player is to open the chest in the house where the deputy is being held in the Tesoro Azul gang hideout, or to take it from the gang leader.

Once a chest has been opened, it cannot be opened again until around a day has passed in the game, or the player uses fast travel or saves the game before returning to the area. Upon loading a game, all chests will be reset and can be opened by the player.

So far, 136 different chests containing money have been found and listed below. However, with no official total ever released, there is no current way to tell if all have been located. An overview of chest locations is as follows:

• Hennigan's Stead (14)
• Cholla Springs (14)
• Gaptooth Ridge (29) // High payoff with ten chests in Tumbleweed
• Rio Bravo (17) // Highest payoff location is FORT MERCER with 12 money chests (access depending on if Leon is there to help you climb over the wall)
• Punta Orgulla (16)
• Perdido (9)
• Diez Coronas (9)
• Great Plains (9)
• Tall Trees (19)

A detailed breakdown of all the known (so far) chest locations is as follows:

New Austin

Hennigan's Stead - 14

• Greenhollow - inside the shack
• MacFarlane's Ranch - one is located in the building that houses a poker game (opening this chest will cause the player to become wanted), the other is underneath the bridge which lies adjacent to MacFarlane's house
• The Old Bacchus Place - on the jetty
• Pike's Basin - There are seven chests located here; five in the  main camp, one in the campsite on the ridge around the bend to the south of the main area, and one on the campsite on the ridge to the West. This campsite will occasionally spawn another chest, which will disappear after the hideout is complete. Interestingly, the chests in both campsites will occasionally glitch and spawn another chest in the exact same spot - the player will be effectively able to open each chest twice if this happens, being rewarded the standard $20–25 both times
• Thieves' Landing - inside the Shipping Yard & Depository office (the large warhouse structure next to the general store), on the upper floor. The Bollard Twins outfit scap can also be found here
• Coming off the mountain away from McFarlane's Ranch and approaching Armadillo, there is a chest just as the path turns West, on the right hand side, beside a rock. On the map, it is located just meters before the border with Cholla Springs.

Cholla Springs - 14

• Armadillo - two chests inside the bank (merely entering the area behind the bank will cause an eyewitness to tell the local Lawmen; the player will then become wanted)
• Armadillo/Twin Rocks - between Armadillo and Twin Rocks, there is a large hill. The chest can be found on the high point closest to Armadillo
• Coot's Chapel #1 - next to the alter, behind the wall on the right hand side (if looking in from the entrance). This chest also contains the Deadly Assassin Outfit (DLC) scrap, but opening it can give the player a wanted level.
• Coot's Chapel #2 - just behind the damaged building to the North (the closest one to the Chapel)
• Hamlin's Passing - in between two of the wagons on the Eastern facing side of the area
• Jorge's Gap - about a third of the way up the Western ridge, just above and to the left of the 'J' in 'Jorge's' on a fully zoomed map
• Mercer Station - behind the wagon on the opposite side of the road
• Pleasance House - to the South, just inside the fence
• Rattlesnake Hollow - in one of the cave openings
• Rio del Lobo - inside the abandoned house
• Riley's Charge - one chest inside the burnt hut, a second on top of the ridge overlooking it from behind
• Twin Rocks - inside the main building

Gaptooth Ridge - 29

• Cueva Seca - inside the large cave
• Gaptooth Breach - there are three chests scattered amongst the tents leading to the entrance to the mine, and the main treasure chest is located at the bottom of the mine itself (it will be marked if the player has completed the gang hideout)
• Rathskeller Fork - ten chests are located in the rooms along the North-West facing wall (opening them will cause the player to become wanted)
• The Scratching Post - inside the building
• Silent Stead - inside the building. This chest also contains the Treasure Hunter Outfit Scrap
• Solomon's Folly - one chest in the basement of the brick building (which also contains the Walton's Gang Outfit scrap), the other on the upper floor inside the barn.
  • Only applies to Xbox versions with Solomon's Folly mission.
• Tumbleweed - ten chests can be found in the following locations:
  1. Behind the bar inside the Saloon building
  2. Inside what little is left of the damaged building behind the Saloon
  3. Behind a small shack to the East of the town, which is just across the road from the disused general store (will occasionally fail to appear)
  4. Inside the Sheriff building
  5. Inside a small shack just behind the jail
  6. In the small wooden structure (today know as a regis gazebo) just inside the wall of the mansion
  7. In the mansion itself (turn left as you enter through the main doors)
  8. Two chests inside the barn to the South, with a further chest outside the barn's Northern facing wall

Río Bravo - 17

• Del Lobo Rock - the rock is able to be climbed, and there is a chest containing up to $39 at the top, depending on the player's honor level. This is the only known instance of an 'honor based' chest in the game.
• Fort Mercer - this gang hideout has the highest concentration of chests in game; there are 12 in total. Locations as follows, working clockwise from the main entrance, ground floor first:
  1. Behind the set of double doors immediately round to the left after walking through the Fort's main entrance
  2. Inside the large room on the left of the fort, as viewed from the entrance. The chest is acting as a piano stool in the left-most corner of the room
  3. Inside the similarly large room towards the rear-left of the fort, in the corner on the left directly after entering the room
  4. At the rear of the fort, in the third stable from the left
  5. Inside the treasure room (two chests, together containing ~£200 as reward for completing the hideout)
  6. Next to a set of stairs after heading towards the right side of the fort, on the other side of the wall to the room which itself is next to the jail cells
  7. Three chests in the 'bedroom' on the upper floor, which is almost directly opposite the main entrance
  8. One chest behind a crate on the roof of the bedroom, as above - accessible via a ladder to the right of the bedroom door
  9. On the upper floor of the building behind and to the right of the stables, in the corner closest to the middle of the rear wall of the fort
• Plainview - three located in the tents to the West, just below the temporary Safehouse
• Repentance Rock - at the very top of the rock itself

Nuevo Paraíso

Punta Orgullo - 16

• Crooked Toes - under the larger of the two rock formations, facing away from the river. The chest is directly underneath the location Brown's Gold can be found in 
• Nosalida - four in total; one in front of the Southern-most building, another inside the building itself, one in the middle of the area under a canopy (just to the left of the building connected to the jetty), and one next to the chicken coop
• Nosalida/Punta Orgullo - on the far Western shore followed round underneath and rest of Nosalida, just past a small hill overlooking the river
• Plata Grande - two chests (one of these will appear if pursuing a bounty at this location, but will disappear after the player has opened it and left the area, or saved/loaded the game)
• Puerto Cuchillo - next to the bed; the only chest located at a safehouse that gives money instead of ammo.
• Sidewinder Gulch - in the Eastern section, in the middle tent at the halfway up the hill. This chest also contains the Bandito Outfit scrap
• Tesoro Azul - five chests, all located in the buildings, minus one which can be found on the roof of the church
• Frontera Bridge - under one of the bridge supports, next to an abandoned campfire

Perdido - 9

• Agave Viejo - At the base of the large rock column to the South of the area
• Barranca - inside the house
• Barranca - South of the "a" in Barranca across the main road
• Campo Mirada - just behind the outhouse
• Laguna Borrego - inside the tent
• Las Hermanas - one in the upstairs room, in the large building on the Western facing wall
• Hendidura Grande - on the top of the hill, behind a boulder
• Primera Quebrada - inside the house
• Rancho Polvo - inside the house
• Sepulcro - in the middle of and just inside the wall on the south facing side. This chest also contains the Reyes' Rebels Outfit scrap

Diez Coronas - 9

• El Matadero - one inside the stables, on the Southern most side, accessed by climbing a ladder. Three more can be found by heading East, past the Slaughterhouse, and into the canyons behind. The first is through the cave system directly ahead, the second is behind a box in the centre, and the third is along another path to the South which loops round and leads the player back outside, but on a higher ridge overlooking the entrance.
• Torquemada #1 - inside a damaged building on the path leading up to the main settlement (just before the player turns right towards the outpost, it will be on the left hand side)
• Torquemada #2 - inside the small room at the very back of Torquemada itself (player will become wanted upon opening)
• Manteca Falls - almost at the waterfall's edge, if you follow the lower path to the front of the falls (not marked on the map)
• Mesa del Sol - Take trail to campsite. Look behind rock towards cliff's pier
• Between the cliff that El Presidio is located on, and the river below - a chest is located at the base of a large tree, West of the path way to the jetty which is located South of Brittlebrush Trawl

West Elizabeth

Great Plains - 9

• Beecher's Hope #1 - in the attic, accessible from the kitchen (an Avatar Award is also found in this chest)
• Beecher's Hope #2 - just outside Beecher's hope, in the direction of broken tree but on the nearby hilltop
• Blackwater #1 - inside the Tailor's shop (opening will cause the player to become wanted)
• Blackwater #2 - Inside the Doctor's Office (opening will cause the player to become wanted)
• Broken Tree - a few meters from the tree, in plain sight
• Great Plains #1 - if you look at the in game map, it is almost directly above the 'L' in Great Plains, on a small ridge jutting out towards the river. Northwest of Blackwater, on the river's cliff edge about half way to the Tall Trees.
• Great Plains #2 - on the Northern-most riverbank directly above Blackwater on the map
• Great Plains #3 - South of Blackwater, you should see a small ridge marked on the map. The chest is located just south of this ridge, near the water
• Wreck of the Serendipity - on the far side of the small peninsular jutting out from the shore to the East of the wreck

Tall Trees - 19

• Aurora Basin - inside the cabin
• Bearclaw Camp - inside the northern most cabin, and on the cliff overlooking the river, to the West of the southern three cabins
• Cochinay - seven in total; three inside the first group of tents you come to, a further two in the next group of tents, and a final two inside the cave, behind the machine gun (one is behind a large rug covering the entrace to a smaller room)
• Manzanita Post #1 - one inside the tent next to the 'Five Finger Fillet' activity
• Manzanita Post #2 - on the ridge behind the camp, just off the path that runs behind it
• Nekoti Rock - inside the 'bear' cave
• Pacific Union Railroad Camp - one chest on the train 'station' platform, next to the telegraph office (opening will cause the player to become wanted), and three inside the tents on the far side of the camp (opening these will have no effect of the player's wanted status)
• Tall Trees - on a small wooden structure near the mineshaft, which is East of Nekoti Rock and South of Cochinay (an additional location reference is that the mission At Home with Dutch partly takes place in this area)
• Tanner's Reach - inside the cabin

 Random Encounters may give the player a chance to open chests that hold $40–$90, however opening these may make the strangers hostile and begin shooting the player, depending on the type of encounter.

At least two chests appear only when a bounty hunting mission is started, at the target's location. Both Plata Grande and Mercer Station experience this, and will each spawn an additional chest containing $70–80. The chest will vanish again after the mission.

Rathskeller Fork has an unusually high number of chests for a small settlement (10 in total). Killing the 2-5 lawmen that respond to any crime in the area and then opening the chests is a good way to make around $200 in 3 to 5 minutes.

Several outfit scraps are found by opening chests

• Bandito Outfit - Open the Sidewinder Gulch Chest

• Bollard Twins Outfit - Open the Thieves' Landing Warehouse Chest

• Reyes' Rebels Outfit - Open the Sepulcro Chest

• Treasure Hunter Outfit - Open the Silent Stead Chest

• Deadly Assassin Outfit (DLC) - Open the Coot's Chapel Chest

• Walton's Gang Outfit - Open the Solomon's Folly Chest in the basement

Undead Nightmare

In Undead Nightmare chests are only found in settlements that require being saved from the undead. These chests contain ammo that the player can take to survivors that are running low or simply keep for himself. John will also get the U.S. Army Uniform out of a chest at the Army deserters camp at The Scratching Post during the mission "American Imperialism".