Old School RuneScape is filled with powerful skilling upgrades that dramatically improve efficiency, profit, and quality of life. Some of these items quietly save inventory space, others reduce clicks, and a few completely change how certain skills are trained. After examining dozens of skilling tools across the game, this list highlights ten must-have skilling items that provide long-term value for nearly every account. A large number of RuneScape gold will also be very helpful.

Skilling outfits are intentionally excluded here, as they deserve a category of their own. Items like Graceful, Prospector, Angler, and Rogue are already staples. Instead, this list focuses on utility items that often go overlooked.

1. Reagent Pouch

The Reagent Pouch is one of the most versatile skilling items in the game, particularly for Herblore. It allows players to store secondary ingredients, enabling larger potion-making inventories and more efficient training. With recent quality-of-life changes, the pouch can now be filled and emptied directly from the bank, making high-level Herblore methods smoother than ever.

Beyond potion-making, the pouch shines when gathering Herblore secondaries. When paired with a looting bag in the Wilderness, it effectively provides multiple extra inventories per trip without any risk of losing the pouch on death. This makes collecting items like white berries, red spider eggs, snapdragon secondaries, and more far faster than traditional methods.

It even has niche combat uses. Crushed bones, such as superior dragon bones, can be stored inside the pouch to free inventory space and sometimes sell for more than their uncrushed versions. Few skilling items offer this level of flexibility across multiple activities.

2. Log Basket

The Log Basket is best known for enabling extremely AFK Woodcutting methods, including long sessions cutting roots near Moons of Peril. However, its true strength lies in how it improves efficiency across multiple skills.

The basket allows players to carry a second inventory of logs, reducing banking time during activities like Forestry, Shades of Mort'ton, and plank-making. When combined with a plank sack, it becomes one of the fastest ways to convert logs into planks, reaching up to 8,000 planks per hour in ideal setups.

It also has niche uses in activities like Moonlight Antelopes and Farming Guild redwoods, where it enables quick inventory fills and smoother AFK cycles. While not game-breaking, the Log Basket consistently saves time-and those minutes add up quickly over long grinds.

3. Fishing Barrel

The Fishing Barrel significantly improves Fishing training by doubling inventory capacity for raw fish. Common uses include AFK Karambwans, Anglerfish, and Dark Crabs in the Wilderness Resource Area.

Dark Crab fishing, in particular, stands out. The fishing spots never move, provide long AFK periods, better experience than Karambwans, and higher-healing food. Even in the Wilderness, risk is minimal since items stored in the barrel are protected on death.

The barrel is also excellent for Sacred Eels when combined with a deposit box and later processing with a Cooking boost, increasing Zulrah scale yields by roughly 12.5%. Barbarian Fishing near Chambers of Xeric is another underrated use, offering Fishing, Agility, and Strength experience with minimal clicking.

Its only downside is acquisition. While many players obtain it quickly through Tempoross, others go extremely dry. Still, for those who get it, the Fishing Barrel remains one of the best long-term skilling upgrades in the game.

4. Imcando Hammer

The Imcando Hammer is a massive quality-of-life improvement for Construction, Smithing, and multiple minigames. Unlike a normal hammer, it can be equipped, saving an inventory slot in countless situations.

It excels in activities like Mahogany Homes, bolt smithing, Tempoross, Barbarian Assault (where it is best-in-slot for Defender), Wintertodt, and Motherlode Mine. When paired with tools like the Bruma Torch, it further reduces required inventory items.

Obtained from Barronite mining, the grind is relatively short and also contributes to the collection log progress, making this an easy recommendation.

5. Gem Bag

The Gem Bag is an iconic skilling item that stores uncut gems and significantly reduces banking during Mining, Slayer, and Thieving. It is invaluable during Amethyst mining, Shooting Stars, and gem rock mining, where gem drops are frequent.

Beyond Mining, it shines during activities like pickpocketing TzHaar or gem stalls, where it enables long trips and consistent profit. Slayer tasks such as cheap OSRS GP Dust Devils also benefit, as gem drops accumulate quickly.