so ive been in ARES for about eight months now, went through the ICS-100 and ICS-200 online courses like they asked and showed up to most of the monthly nets, but this weekend theres an actual activation for a local marathon event and its my first real one. my EC said its a good starter event because its not an emergency obviously but it runs like one in terms of how they set up the comms structure.

i guess what im wondering is what should i actually have ready to bring. i have my HT and a spare battery pack, i know they want us on the local 2m repeater but i dont know if i should bring my mobile rig too or if that would just be overkill. also do people usually bring their own logging sheets or does someone have those already printed out. feeling a little underprepared honestly

honestly the marathon events are great for exactly this reason, low stress way to get your feet wet before something more serious comes along. bring the HT and if you have the mobile and a way to power it from your car just have it available, doesnt hurt. usually the net control or EC will have ICS-214 forms printed but i always carry a few extras in my go bag just in case, learned that from showing up to one years ago where nobody had extras and we were scrambling.

main thing is just listen more than you talk until you get a feel for the flow. the phonetic alphabet and proper prowords matter a lot more in a real activation net than in casual conversation, so if youre a little rusty on that practice it in the car on the way over. youll do fine, everyone remembers being the new person and most groups are pretty patient about it.

yeah what he said about the forms. i keep a little folder in my bag with a bunch of ICS-213s and 214s already printed, saved me more than once. also bring snacks lol, marathon events can run longer than you think especially if the course has delays. nobody tells you that part when you sign up