so ive been meaning to do this for like two years and after that storm last month that knocked out power for three days i finally got serious about it. i put together what i think is a decent go-kit but im not totally sure if i have everything i actually need or if im just hauling around a bunch of stuff that sounds good on paper.

right now i have my FT-857D, a 40ah lifepo4 battery with a decent charger, about 30 feet of RG-8X, some random connectors i threw in a ziploc, my basic toolkit, a notepad and pens (yes actual paper lol), and ive been messing around with a buddipole for the antenna situation. also threw in a copy of my license and some local repeater freqs written down because i dont fully trust my memory under stress.

what im not sure about is the power management side of things. like how long can i realistically run HF at low power on that battery, and should i be thinking about solar as a backup for the backup. also not sure if i need a second radio or if thats overkill for most situations. anyone been through an actual deployment or just has their kit dialed in, id love to hear what you actually use vs what just sits in the bag

your list is pretty solid honestly, a lot of people forget the paper freqs thing and then wonder why theyre scrambling when their phone dies. the one thing i dont see that i would consider pretty critical is a headlamp or at least a decent flashlight IN the kit itself, not just somewhere in the house. you will work in the dark at some point if things go sideways and having to dig around for a light defeats the whole point.

on the battery question, 40ah lifepo4 at low power HF you can realistically get a lot of hours, like if youre running 25-50 watts and not transmitting constantly you might be surprised. i ran a similar setup during a training exercise a while back and was fine for most of a day with moderate use. solar panel is worth it if you have the space, even a 100w panel and a basic charge controller doesnt add that much bulk and the peace of mind is real. i went back and forth on the second radio thing forever and eventually added a small handheld just for local comms/monitoring when my main rig is busy. not overkill in my opinion, its a different tool for a different job.

one thing that always gets me is people pack the radio gear perfectly and then realize they have no way to actually mount or hang an antenna in whatever weird spot they end up at. like some paracord and a few tent stakes or whatever for the antenna situation, sounds dumb but ive seen deployments where someone is holding the feedline up with their hand for an hour. also maybe a power strip or distribution thing if you end up somewhere with shore power available, being able to charge the battery while operating is nice. anyway looks like youre way more prepared than most people who show up to these things