I used my companion as a packrat but abandoned them. They ruin sneaking for me. I have 5000 gold in the bank now so I just pick up lightweight items to sell.. no more heavy armors and crap so I can pretty much carry what I need myself. But I do miss them for dragon fights.
Good to know that they can actually die, though I just got some guy named the Bulwark to join me by becoming the thane of Markarth, he has like 320 health compared to Lydia's 158, so he's a little safer to use as a tank (you can enter the console, click on the follower, and type "getav health", "getav stamina", etc. to see their stats, which don't seem to change at all as you level up).
gifh This tells you if the selected NPC ignores friendly hits. sifh 1 This sets the selected NPC ti ignore fiendly hits. resurrect This resets the character, which would be a lot quicker than reloading.
I know they can die. Lydia almost died on me, she actually yielded to the enemy once and I was able to save her just in time before they finished her.
You don't have to save them if they yield, just move the fight away from them, once they yield the enemy ignores them, they only get killed if they remain in the crossfire.
Err you positive - i swear i wasnt anywhere near my companion and she ded - i was too busy swimming around in some ruins and didnt notice there were any enemies - had to reload as i didnt want her to die as she was my characters wife.
Maybe yours died from swimming with 200 lbs. of your loottrash on her back?
I already have 465 carry capacity, and use light armor, so weight isn't an issue. I just worry about them dying/end up nearly killing them with my weapons. Wouldn't mind like a dog/wolf though, found one but it was awful.
IIRC You can have one human(oid) and one dog at the same time.
hmm i think i saw a recruitable dog before but only gave the options wait here or return to home, with lydia in my party. but dunno might not been a party dog lol.
also i think companions die the first hit they get when on their knee's so if 2 enemy's are attacking her its posible she died because 1 npc knocked her on her knee's while the second was just in mid-swing so does the finishing move. just guessing tho ;P