so ive been licensed for about two years now and every time theres a severe weather event or anything like that i think to myself i really need to get my act together and build a proper go-kit. well last month we had that bad storm come through and our neighborhood lost power for almost four days and i just felt completely unprepared even though im supposed to be one of the guys who can help with communication in that kind of situation.

anyway im finally doing it. i pulled out an old pelican case i had from a camera kit and im trying to figure out what actually needs to go in there versus what im just throwing in because it seems cool. right now i have my yaesu ft-857d in mind as the main radio, a 40ah lifepo4 battery, and a buddipole that i havent used nearly enough. but beyond that i get kind of lost. like do i need a separate hf and vhf/uhf setup or can the 857 cover everything i need. and what about programming, should i have a pre-programmed radio ready to go or does that limit flexibility.

i guess my main question is what do you guys actually use when you show up somewhere for real and whats the stuff you thought you needed but turns out you never touch. would love to hear from anyone who has actually activated for a real event not just drills

the 857 is honestly a solid choice for a go kit, covers hf through 70cm so you wont be scrambling for a second radio most of the time. i used mine for two seasons doing ARES work before i switched over to a 991a.

one thing i'd say from experience — dont underestimate the cable situation. i spent way too much of my first real activation just sorting through a rats nest of coax and power cables that i had just thrown in the case. now everything has its own bag or velcro strap and the first ten minutes of setup are so much smoother. also keep a paper log book in there. sounds old school but when things get weird electronically youll be glad its there.

on the programming question, i do both. i keep a pre-programmed clone in the radio for the most common local repeaters and simplex freqs, but i also keep a fresh chirp backup on a usb drive in the kit because sometimes nets move around or you end up somewhere unexpected. flexibility is good but so is not having to fumble with a keypad when people are stressed.

the buddipole is great but practice putting it up before you need it. seriously. i thought i knew mine until i was trying to set it up in a parking lot in the rain and completely blanked on the configuration for 40 meters.

honestly the thing that surprised me most building mine was how much i was overthinking the radio part and not thinking enough about the boring stuff. like yeah the rig matters but you also need a way to charge that battery when its been three days, some kind of antenna mast situation because not every location has a tree or a fence to work with, and food and water for yourself if youre gonna be running a station for hours.

i went through three or four versions of my kit before i settled on something i was happy with. first version was way too heavy, second was too minimal and i kept wishing i had things, current one is in a rolling duffle bag and weighs about 30 pounds which feels like the right tradeoff for me personally. your mileage will vary depending on whether you're driving to a site or potentially humping it in on foot.

also strongly suggest joining your local ARES or RACES group if you havent already, doing drills is genuinely useful and you get to see what other people brought and kind of reverse engineer what works. thats how i figured out i was way overcomplicating my antenna situation