So ive been meaning to do this for like two years and after the storms last month kind of woke me up a bit I actually started pulling stuff together for a real go-kit. Right now I've got my FT-891 set aside for it, a 40ah LiFePO4 battery, my SignaLink for digital modes, and I threw in a roll of coax and a random wire antenna I built last summer. Also got a small inverter in case I need to run anything off car power.

What I'm not sure about is the accessories side of things — like do I need to bring a full logging setup or is paper fine for most activations? And how do people handle power monitoring, do you all just use a wattmeter inline or is there a better way to keep an eye on battery state. I feel like there's probably a bunch of obvious stuff I'm forgetting and won't realize until I'm actually deployed somewhere and it's too late. Been doing ARES stuff for about 8 months so still getting my feet under me with the served agency expectations and all that.

Paper logging is honestly fine and I'd argue more reliable for actual emergency use — laptop batteries die, software crashes, you're golden with a waterproof notebook and a couple sharpies. Just make sure whoever you're handing logs to can read your handwriting lol.

For battery state I've been using a cheap coulomb counter inline, one of those little blue display things you see on amazon, like ten bucks and it's been way more useful than just watching voltage. Voltage alone is misleading especially with LiFePO4 since it stays so flat until you're basically empty. Also I'd throw a headlamp in there if you haven't, sounds obvious but I forgot mine the first time I deployed and it was embarrassing.

One other thing — do you have a way to charge that battery from solar or just the car? If you're out more than a day without a generator you'll want options. I carry a 50 watt panel rolled up in the back of the case, adds some bulk but I've been glad to have it.

yeah what he said on the coulomb counter, way better than guessing. the other thing id add — dont overlook documentation. I know it sounds boring but having a laminated sheet with your frequencies, your ARES contact numbers, net schedules, all that stuff right in the kit means you're not fumbling around when things are actually stressful. i learned that one the hard way during a flood activation a couple years ago, couldn't remember the simplex fallback freq and my phone was dead so.