For combat protection (bash/cut), leather gear is pretty good in this respect, and it’s not too hard to get.
“Survivor” gear is usually a bit better than the leather equivalent. Usually you get that stuff by killing survivor zombies.
I emphasize low encumbrance first, high storage second, and high protection third.
If you are willing to put up with some encumbrance:
MBR vests are all very high protection. The ceramic version has 15/37 protection for just 1 encumbrance.
Steeltoed boots.
2-by-arm guards and 2-by-shin guards.
For environmental protection, survivor gear is very good, and firefighter gear (“turnout”, “flame-resistant”, etc) is almost as good.