so i finally passed my general last spring and been meaning to put together a proper go-kit ever since. my club does ARES stuff occasionally and theres been a couple times i showed up basically with just my HT and felt kinda useless compared to guys who had full setups ready to roll out of the car.

i know the basics, radio, power, antenna, but im not sure how far to take it. like do most people actually run a full HF setup in their go-kit or is it mostly VHF/UHF for local emcomm? and whats the battery situation look like for most of you, are you doing sealed lead acid or have people moved to lithium stuff. i looked at a couple videos online but they all feel like sponsored content half the time and i cant tell whats actually useful vs just someone selling stuff.

also curious how you have everything organized, like bags, pelican cases, just a rubbermaid tote? i dont want to overthink this but i also dont want to show up to an actual emergency and be fumbling around for a coax adapter for 20 minutes.

been doing ARES for about 12 years now and honestly the best advice i can give is dont try to build the perfect kit all at once. you'll end up with a $2000 pelican case full of stuff you never tested together and then wonder why nothing works when you actually need it.

my main kit is VHF/UHF focused because thats what 90% of local emcomm actually needs. i run a Yaesu FT-891 for HF when i need it but thats a secondary bag i only bring if the activation specifically calls for it. for battery ive been using a 40ah lithium iron phosphate for a couple years now, the weight savings over SLA is real, especially if youre hauling stuff any distance. had a sealed lead acid before and lugging that thing around got old fast.

the organization thing matters more than people think. i put a laminated card inside the lid of my main case that lists everything thats supposed to be in there. that way after an activation i can check off whats there and replace anything i used or forgot to pack back. learned that the hard way when i showed up somewhere without a single PL-259 because i borrowed it for a previous event and never put it back.

rubbermaid tote guy here lol, dont let anyone tell you it has to be fancy. mine is a big blue tote from walmart and it works fine. i did put some foam in the bottom for the radio and taped a little pouch inside the lid for adapters and fuses and stuff.

the one thing i'd really say is whatever you build, actually deploy it in your backyard or driveway a few times before you need it for real. i thought my kit was solid until i set it up one afternoon just to practice and realized my power cable was too short to reach the battery with everything positioned the way i wanted, and i had the wrong connector for my antenna anyway. took like an hour to sort out all the little dumb stuff that seemed obvious when i was packing it at home.