Is it possible for you to overburden a chest with items to the point in which it can't hold anything longer, and simply respawns?

Shouldn't happen, but stuff can disappear if you put too much in, especially 125% repaired armour, should all reappear if emptied. Chests either respawn or they don't, your stuff should be safe even in clams or grain sacks.

Not really. The only problem with stuffing too much into one container is that they have an unpredictable tendancy to not display everything that is in them. This makes finding stuff hard. Emptying the container can find the items that won't display but it is a pain. This problem seems to be aggravated if the container includes items that have been repaired to 125% (high level armoror perk).

Edit: Oops, ninja'd. :tongue: