My advise is to only carry what you need.
The armor you give them has to be better than their 'default' for them to wear it which means you will need to Smith upgrade or Enchant upgrade to get them to use light armor over their default heavy in some cases. They don't seem to benefit from armor extra carry perks so give them light armor and light weapons.
Get a follower that can carry your extra crap. Get a house ASAP so you can put your unused, heavy, don't want to sell items safely in chest or special display (book shelves, weapon racks, or mannequins) You can get +40 on each of those once you have 100 enchantment, use a grand soul, and Enchanter's Philfer. Qualifying equipment that can be worn at same time includes Gloves, Boots, Necklace, and Ring. Upgrading your Stamina gives +5 carry weight (equipment with +stamina doesn't)Įquipment enchanted with Carry Weight gives +x carry weight. Steed Stone active gives +100 carry weight I find that getting the light armor perk also applies to heavy armor (favorable bug in my X360 version) Light Armor perk similar to Cushioned for same effect for light armor. Heavy Armor perk of Cushioned allows worn heavy armor to weight nothing (and no movement penalty) Pickpocket perk of Extra Pockets allows +100 carry weight
