PUBG Utility Items: Folded Shield, Zipline Gun & More

In April 2025, Update 35.1 took three gadgets that had launched as Rondo items, the Zipline Gun, the Stun Gun and the Emergency Cover Flare, and put them in the loot pool on every map. KRAFTON's developer comment gave the reason: players shouldn't have to "memorize different item spawn rules per map." The same comment says the patch also improved "several underutilized items."

That is the layer of PUBG this guide covers. Past guns, armour, heals and grenades, the loot pool carries deployable cover, two kinds of flare, a zipline launcher, a stun gun, a smoke launcher, a backpack that eats Blue Zone damage, a mortar and a net you throw over a parked car. Below: what each of those nine does, what it costs you in slot and weight, where it spawns as of Update 43.1 (the latest patch notes as of 30 September 2026), and the patch that changed the rules on it.

Three neighbours have their own pages. The Tactical Pack, EMT Gear and All-In-One Repair Kit are in the tactical gear guide, the Emergency Pickup has its own guide, and the grenades are in the throwables guide.

What each item costs you

Every item here takes something from you: a weapon slot, the throwable slot, your backpack, or bag weight. That cost is the real decision, so it comes first. Slots and weights are KRAFTON's figures from the patch notes cited in each section below. "Not published" means none of the notes checked for this guide gives a number.

Read the slot column before the job column. The Zipline Gun, the Stun Gun and the M79 all compete for the secondary slot your pistol normally sits in, which is also where Update 30.2 put the All-In-One Repair Kit. The Mortar costs a primary weapon slot, the same price as the Tactical Pack and EMT Gear. The Camo Netting takes the melee slot, which means your pan. The Folded Shield costs only bag weight, the two flares ride in your throwables next to your grenades, and the Jammer Pack can cost you nothing at all. More on that below.

Where they spawn, and which are in Ranked

Each row cites the patch note behind it. KRAFTON also stocks several of these in Secret Rooms: Update 40.1 added the Emergency Cover Flare and Jammer Pack to Erangel's, 40.2 added the Jammer Pack, Folded Shield, Mortar, Stun Gun, Zipline Gun and Emergency Cover Flare to Vikendi's, and 42.2 added the same set plus the M79 to Taego's. The Secret Rooms guide has the per-map detail.

Folded Shield: cover you carry and reuse

Update 19.1 (August 2022) introduced the Folded Shield with a developer note that admits the problem it solves: running into enemies with no cover and dying for it "isn't all that good." Three months later Update 20.2 rebuilt it, and no later note checked for this guide changes these numbers:

A few rules carry over from launch or were added along the way. Update 23.1 (April 2023) added it to every Ranked map. It can't be installed on the surface of water. It changes appearance in three stages, at 70% durability and above, 30% and above, and below 30%, so a battered-looking shield is close to breaking. Terrain destruction also wears down any installed shields in range (29.1). Update 32.2 loosened the usage conditions on deployables so they work "in more positions." Since Update 43.1 you can deploy one straight off the ground with H, facing the way you want it, and pick a deployed shield back up with H. The item carrying guide covers those ground controls.

Because it keeps its durability when you fold it, the habit that pays is deploy, fight, fold, move. A shield you leave standing is 30 weight of cover you'll want in the next field, and our cover guide explains why open ground is where fights get lost.

Emergency Cover Flare: cover that falls from the sky

The Emergency Cover Flare arrived on Rondo in Update 27.2 (January 2024) as a throwable. Throw it, it puts out red smoke, and within a few seconds cover drops out of the sky and lands close to where the flare came down. Update 29.1 cut it from three blocks to two, made them slightly smaller, and reduced both the gap between them and how fast they fall.

KRAFTON's launch notes set the rules, and no later note checked for this guide reverses them:

• Gunfire can't damage the blocks. Vehicles and explosives can shove them around.
• They hit hard on landing. They break bamboo and wooden fences, and a player they land on can be knocked out or killed.
• They clear fire and smoke. The impact puts out Molotov flames and clears smoke, and a Smoke Grenade that is still burning refills the gap. Update 42.1 also lists the cover objects among the things that push smoke aside, with the smoke gradually refilling.
• Tight spaces can stop it. It "may not be activated" in confined spaces.

It has also got steadily heavier: weight 15 at launch, 23 in Update 28.1, and 27 since Update 35.1, the patch that put it on every map and into Ranked on all of them (Ranked Rondo has had it since 29.1). The upside over a Folded Shield is that gunfire can't break the blocks. The trade is that it's single-use and you don't choose exactly where they land, so throw it a few metres off rather than at your own feet.

Emergency Support Flare: a supply crate on demand

Update 41.1 (April 2026) added the Emergency Support Flare, which the same notes also call the "Emergency Supply Flare" once. It sits on the throwable wheel next to the Emergency Cover Flare and can be bound to its own key. It's live in Normal Match, Ranked, Arcade and Custom Match.

Throw it and it emits yellow smoke. A supply crate then lands within about 1 metre of where the flare came to rest. It avoids ferries, cable cars and trains. What's inside, per KRAFTON:

• Always: three types of ammunition.
• About 80% of the time: at least one item from each of two categories. Cover means an Emergency Cover Flare or a Folded Shield. Utility means an All-In-One Repair Kit or medical supplies.
• Sometimes: extra rewards at a low probability, or some items left out.

It isn't on the world spawn list. The 41.1 notes give its sources as Care Packages, Secret Rooms, the Loot Truck, Lab Camps and Supply Drops. Update 42.1 later took Pickaxes out of the Sanhok version of its crate. The Blue Chip Tower's Supply Call drops a crate of the same mini size (41.2), which the Recall guide covers. Treat it as a resupply for a squad that has just won a fight: guaranteed ammo, a good chance of cover and a repair or heal, delivered where you stand. The yellow smoke also marks that spot for anyone watching.

Zipline Gun: build your own route

The Zipline Gun came to Rondo in Update 29.2 (May 2024). It takes your secondary slot and fires Zipline Gun Cable, which weighs 2, has a 3-second reload and spawns alongside the gun. Without cable, the gun does nothing. Don't confuse it with the fixed ziplines Update 25.1 built into Miramar. Those are part of the map. This one you string yourself.

How it works, from the 29.2 notes:

• Two shots make a line. Fire cable at two points in sequence. Buildings, terrain and stationary, indestructible objects take it. Characters, vehicles, Care Packages and water don't. It won't install if something blocks the cable's path or the two points are "in opposite directions."
• Each zipline has four uses. You travel in the direction you're facing, speed depends on the slope, and pressing Interact again drops you off mid-line. Several players can ride one, all in the same direction, queuing so they don't overlap.
• Anyone can take the cable back. The Limited Interaction key retrieves installed cable, yours or someone else's. Jumping off a cliff, hitting or boarding a vehicle, swapping or unequipping the weapon, or turning past a certain angle after the first point also pulls it back.
• Vehicles cut it; explosions don't. A vehicle hitting an installed zipline destroys it.
• No vehicle use. You can't fire it from inside a vehicle, but you can store it in a trunk.

Update 35.1 put it on every map, raised its spawn rate and increased its maximum range "by approximately 50%." Update 36.1 added it to Ranked. Since Update 42.3 its crosshair uses the Handgun profile in the crosshair editor. One thing to test before you rely on it: the 29.2 notes say SMGs or handguns can be used while riding, as KRAFTON's own image shows, but Update 33.2 fixed "an issue where firearms could be used while on a Zipline or Ascender." KRAFTON hasn't said whether that narrowed the launch rule.

Stun Gun: three shots of disorientation

The Stun Gun launched with Rondo in Update 27.1 (December 2023), pitched in one line: "When cornered by an enemy or unable to evade a confrontation, the Stun Gun may be your hero." It takes the secondary slot, fires single shots, and each one holds three uses. A hit "temporarily disorients the enemy by impairing movement and vision," and if a teammate gets hit, their status shows on your team status bar. Since Update 30.2, the remaining uses and cooldown show on the item, both on the floor and in your inventory.

Update 35.1 is the one to read closely. It put the Stun Gun on every map and into Ranked on all of them (Ranked Rondo already had it from 29.1), slightly increased its muzzle velocity, and reduced its effective range, "making it more difficult to hit targets at longer distances." That patch deliberately pushed it toward close range. One more niche rule: on Rondo, the Stun Gun is listed among the exceptions that keep working inside an EMP Zone (27.2).

M79: smoke at 400 metres, zero damage

The M79 arrived in Update 14.2 (November 2021), and KRAFTON's notes describe it as a smoke grenade launcher "created to provide quick smoke cover on longer ranges." The launch spec:

• Slot: the pistol slot. It can't be used from a vehicle's driver's seat.
• Ammo: 40mm Smoke Grenade, weight 14, stacks of up to 5, spawning in stacks of 1 to 3, or 2 to 3 next to the launcher.
• Damage to enemies: 0. Max range: 400 m. Reload: 3.5 to 4 seconds.
• The 10-metre rule. A round that hits something more than 10 m away releases one smoke, then a second a few seconds later. A round that hits something closer than 10 m and doesn't burst on impact releases only the second smoke, after 3 seconds.

That range is the whole point. A Smoke Grenade covers what you can throw to; the M79 can wall off a sightline across a field or cover a revive you can't reach. Just don't fire it into a wall right in front of you and expect instant cover, because the 10-metre rule makes you wait. 14.2 put it on "all eight maps" of the time, Update 17.1 added it to Ranked, and it has since appeared in Vikendi's Lab Camp yellow Supply Drops (21.1) and Taego's Secret Rooms (42.2).

Jammer Pack: a backpack that soaks Blue Zone damage

The Jammer Pack is the oldest of the nine. The PUBG Wiki's transcription of Update 8.3 has it arriving as rare loot on Karakin and Sanhok. Its job hasn't changed: it absorbs Blue Zone damage for you. That same wiki transcription describes an energy bar that drains faster as the Blue Zone hits harder, after which the pack is just a backpack. KRAFTON's own notes treat it as a pool that runs down too. Update 20.1 raised "the Blue Zone damage the Jammer Pack receives" by about 27%.

Update 41.1 (April 2026) split it into three levels and renamed the original the Lv.2:

The line that matters is KRAFTON's: "all levels share the same capacity as standard backpacks of the corresponding level." A Jammer Pack at the same level as the backpack you're wearing costs you no space. KRAFTON's own UI points the same way: Update 30.2's Gear Recommendation feature highlights the Jammer Pack when you're wearing a Lv.2 backpack.

KRAFTON's notes name two hazards that switch it off. Update 25.1 says Miramar's Sandstorm makes electronics "such as Jammer Packs" inoperable, and Update 27.2 lists Jammer Packs as unavailable inside Rondo's EMP Zones. Both hazards are still in the game (42.1 retimed them both). Both notes predate the 41.1 levels, but they name the item, so plan on a Jammer Pack doing nothing while you're inside either one.

Mortar: indirect fire from 121 to 700 metres

The Mortar arrived in Update 14.2 as, in KRAFTON's press release, "the Taego-exclusive Mortar." Once looted it takes a primary weapon slot. These are the 14.2 launch rules. No note checked for this guide changes them by name, though Update 32.2 loosened the usage conditions of deployable items in general without listing which:

• Deploy on flat ground outdoors. Not on cement, iron, concrete, water or wooden floors, and not inside buildings. Deploying takes 3 seconds.
• Firing locks you down. You crouch automatically and can't move until you leave firing mode. You need Mortar ammo in your inventory, and there's a 1-second delay between shots.
• Range is 121 m to 700 m. Nothing closer, nothing further.

Hitting anything is on you. KRAFTON's launch pitch says "players must calculate the distance to the target and the expected movement path," and that the reward is being able to hit people "behind ridges where grenades can't reach or when defending specific areas."

Update 24.1 (June 2023) made it a world spawn on "all 8x8 maps" in Normal, Ranked and Custom Matches, Esports mode included. The 14.2 rule that kept it out of Supply Crates and Secret Rooms is gone too: Vikendi's (40.2) and Taego's (42.2) Secret Rooms now list it, and 36.1 put it in Intense Battle Royale's red Supply Drops. Along the way, Weapon Mastery started tracking it (28.2), and it's on the list of explosives that destroy terrain wherever Destructible Terrain is enabled (Erangel was added most recently, in 41.1). Update 35.1 changed its explosion sound "to more clearly reflect distance based on the point of impact." Since 42.1 its blasts briefly clear smoke, and since 43.1 you can deploy it straight off the ground and pack it up again with H.

Vehicle Camo Netting: hide the car, give up the pan

Update 35.2 (May 2025) added the Vehicle Camo Netting, a net that goes over a parked car. It takes the melee weapon slot, and since Update 36.2 it weighs 15 (down from 20). You equip it with the melee key and deploy or remove it with Interact. The rules:

• Four-wheeled vehicles only, and only empty ones. A netted vehicle can't be boarded until the net comes off.
• It hides; it doesn't protect. It doesn't reduce or block damage to the vehicle. Since 36.2 it has more durability, but it's destroyed instantly if the vehicle's durability hits 0, the vehicle moves or tilts, or its tyres are destroyed.
• It changes what a ping says. Pinging a netted vehicle puts down a general marker instead of a vehicle marker.
• Taking damage, collisions or movement can interrupt deploying or removing it. Update 43.1 shortened both.

It spawned on Erangel and Miramar at launch, reached Rondo and Taego in 36.2, and has been in Ranked since 38.1. KRAFTON's own developer comment keeps expectations honest: the net makes tyre positions harder to spot, but "vehicles with camo netting can still be spotted if you look closely." The price is the melee slot, so carrying one means dropping the pan that our melee weapons guide shows can stop bullets.

Which ones earn the slot

This is my read from the slot costs and KRAFTON's stated rules. None of the notes cited here publishes win-rate data for any of these items.

• Jammer Pack: take it whenever it matches or beats your backpack level. Same capacity, plus Blue Zone protection. Just remember it goes dead in a Sandstorm or an EMP Zone.
• Folded Shield: carry one almost everywhere. It costs bag weight only, it's reusable, and it keeps its durability when you fold it. It matters most to a solo player crossing open ground with no teammate to cover them.
• Emergency Cover Flare when you need cover now. Bullets can't break the blocks, but you get one throw and less control over placement than with a shield.
• Pick one secondary for how you're about to fight. Stun Gun for close quarters, which is where 35.1 pushed it. M79 for smoke at range. Zipline Gun when the ground gives you height to use. In a full squad, the tactical gear guide's case for the Repair Kit in that slot still stands.
• Mortar: only for a held position. A primary slot for a weapon that can't hit anything within 121 m only works when someone else covers the close range.
• Camo Netting: when you park and plan to come back. It hides a car you've left. It does nothing for one you're driving, and it costs the pan.
• Emergency Support Flare: keep it when you find one. It's a crate in your pocket.

What KRAFTON hasn't published

None of the patch notes checked for this guide gives these, so treat any confident number you see elsewhere as a player's test, not KRAFTON's figure:

• Mortar damage, blast radius and ammo weight. The 14.2 notes give range, deploy rules and controls only.
• How long a Stun Gun hit lasts, and its effective range. 35.1 says the range was reduced, not what it is.
• The Zipline Gun's range. 35.1 raised it "by approximately 50%" without giving a base figure.
• How much Blue Zone damage each Jammer Pack level absorbs. KRAFTON rates them Low, Medium and High.
• Weights for the Stun Gun, Mortar, Zipline Gun and Emergency Support Flare.
• Whether you can currently shoot from a zipline. See the 29.2 and 33.2 lines above.

Quick Action Checklist

• Remember the Zipline Gun, Stun Gun and M79 all fight your pistol for the secondary slot, the Mortar costs a primary, and the Camo Netting costs your pan
• Swap to a Jammer Pack whenever it's the same level as your backpack or higher; its capacity matches a standard pack of that level
• Don't count on a Jammer Pack inside Miramar's Sandstorm or a Rondo EMP Zone
• Fold your Folded Shield back up after the fight; it keeps its durability
• Throw an Emergency Cover Flare a few metres away, not at your feet; the falling blocks can knock you
• Hang on to Emergency Support Flares; the crate always brings three types of ammo
• Use the Stun Gun up close; 35.1 cut its effective range
• Don't fire the M79 at a wall inside 10 m if you need smoke now
• Deploy the Mortar on flat ground outdoors, and only for targets between 121 m and 700 m
• Net a car only when you're leaving it; a netted car can't be boarded and a moving one tears the net