so ive been meaning to do this for like two years and after the storms we had last month i finally got serious about it. got a decent Pelican case from a garage sale and started throwing stuff in but now im second guessing basically everything i put in there.

right now i have my Yaesu FT-60 HT, a spare battery pack, some coax, a mag mount antenna, copy of my license, and i threw in a little notepad and pens. also have a small DC-DC converter thing in there. my main question is what do people actually USE when things go sideways, like what have you pulled out of your kit that saved the day vs what just takes up space and you never touch.

also not sure if i should be including anything for HF capability or if thats overkill for a basic go-kit. i do have a KX2 but it feels like a lot to drag along. anyway curious what setups people are running.

honestly the thing i use most that i never expected to need is a small spiral notebook and a couple sharpies, not just regular pens. when youre outside in rain or weird conditions fine point pens skip and you look like an idiot trying to write down traffic. also zip lock bags, i have a whole stack of them in mine. sounds dumb but they save everything when it rains.

as for HF, depends what you want the kit FOR. if youre doing ARES or RACES work locally the HT and a spare battery is probably fine, but if you ever want to be self-sufficient for more than a day or if local infrastructure is down and you need to reach someone further out then yeah having some HF capability is worth it. the KX2 is a great choice for that, it doesnt add that much weight honestly. i run a KX3 in my kit and yeah it adds a bit but ive used it when repeaters were down after a bad ice storm and it was the only way i was getting through to EOC.

one more thing — dont forget a way to charge everything. usb power bank is fine but think about how youll recharge THAT if powers out for 3 days. solar panel even a cheap one is worth having somewhere in the kit or at least in the car.

im kind of in the same boat as you, been licensed about 8 months and started my kit recently. one thing my elmer told me that stuck was to actually USE the kit before you need it, like set it up in your backyard or something and pretend youre activating. i did that and realized i had no way to mount my antenna without going back inside for a tripod lol. learned a lot from that little exercise.