so ive been meaning to do this for like two years now and after the storms last month kind of knocked out power in my neighborhood for three days i figured i really need to stop procrastinating on this. currently i have an ft-857d that i was planning to use as the main rig, a 40ah lifepo4 battery i picked up last year, and a basic j-pole i can throw up pretty quick. also have a little solar panel setup but honestly i havent tested it all together under any real load yet which is probably bad.

my question is what do people actually find they forget or wish they had when they get activated or even just when theyve had to set up in a hurry. i feel like ive got the big stuff but its always the small stuff that bites you. i was thinking about putting it all in one of those harbor freight pelican knockoff cases but not sure if thats overkill for what i need. been a ham for about six years, general class, mostly do local repeater stuff and a little HF on weekends.

any thoughts appreciated, trying to actually get this done before winter hits

the thing that gets me every time is cables and adapters. i thought i had everything covered and then showed up to a served agency drill and realized i had the wrong PL-259 for the antenna connector on the backup rig we were using. now i keep a little ziplock bag with like four or five different adapters, a couple short jumpers, and some coax seal just in case. sounds dumb but it saved me twice already.

also and this is the one people really overlook -- food and water for yourself. not for the equipment, for YOU. i did a 12 hour activation at a red cross shelter a few years back and basically ran on vending machine coffee the whole time because i hadnt packed anything. now theres always a few granola bars and a water bottle in the kit. your radio works great, you dont, whats the point.

the harbor freight cases are fine honestly. i use one for my go-kit and it holds up. just get the foam and cut it to fit, takes an afternoon but worth it.

dont forget a paper log and like three pens. batteries die, tablets crash, and at 2am when things are hectic you dont want to be messing around with software. sounds old school but every serious emcomm operator i know still carries paper as backup. also a headlamp -- clip it to the case so you always know where it is.