so I've been meaning to do this for like two years now and I finally just ordered a Pelican case and I'm going to stop procrastinating and actually build a proper go-kit. I'm a general class, been licensed about three years, mostly do HF from home but I'm also on the local ARES team and honestly every time we have a drill I'm showing up with like a bag of random stuff that barely works together and I feel like an idiot next to the guys who have these nice organized setups.

right now I'm planning to put in my FT-891 for HF, a little 40ah LiFePO4 battery, a power pole distribution panel thingy, and my comet antenna and some coax. also throwing in a small notebook and pencil obviously. I feel like I'm forgetting something obvious though. like I know food and water is important but thats more the personal deployment bag. this is just the radio kit.

anyone gone through this process and have stuff they wish they'd included from the start? or things they threw in that turned out to be useless dead weight?

nice, the 891 is a solid choice for a go-kit, I ran one for two years before switching to the 857. few things off the top of my head -- do you have a way to charge the battery in the field? a small solar panel or a DC-DC charger you can run off a vehicle is huge, because that 40ah will last a good while but not forever if youre transmitting a lot. also dont forget a good SWR meter or at minimum a little antenna analyzer, I can't tell you how many times I've had a bad connection somewhere and wasted 20 minutes before I thought to just check the antenna system.

the other thing I always recommend and people always forget is spare fuses, like just a little ziplock with assorted automotive fuses and a few powerpole connectors already crimped, because something will blow at the worst time. and a headlamp that fits on your head, not just a flashlight. you'll thank me later when you're trying to tune something at 2am with both hands.

I went through this same thing last spring and honestly the biggest thing I learned was that the case and organization matters almost as much as the gear inside. like I had all the right stuff but it was just kind of piled in there and every time I needed something I had to dig through it all and it was a mess under pressure. now I use foam inserts cut to shape for the heavy stuff and velcro cable ties everywhere and it makes such a difference when you're trying to set up fast.

oh and a laminated quick-setup checklist tucked inside the lid. sounds dumb but when you're tired or stressed you WILL forget steps, doesn't matter how many times you've done it at home. also maybe a spare mic if you have one lying around, I blew a connector on mine during a deployment and had nothing to fall back on. small thing but it would have been a bad day.