So ive been meaning to do this for like two years and I finally sat down last weekend and started building out a proper go-kit. mostly because our ARES group did a drill last month and I showed up with my radio in a grocery bag like an idiot and felt pretty embarrassed honestly

anyway so far I have my FT-891 in a Pelican case, external speaker, about 15 feet of coax already terminated, a 40ah LiFePO4 battery, my logging stuff on a cheap laptop, and I threw in a headlamp and some extra AA batteries. I have a portable antenna but its just a buddistick and im not 100% happy with how it deploys, thinking about switching to something wire-based

what I keep wondering is whether Im missing something obvious that experienced folks always have in their kits. I feel like there's gonna be some moment in a real activation where I slap my forehead because I forgot the one cable that connects everything. anyone run into that? what ended up being the thing you forgot that you now always pack

oh man the cable thing is SO real. for me it was a short BNC to PL-259 adapter. had everything I needed but couldnt actually connect the radio to the antenna because I assumed I had adapters and I didnt. now I have like four of them taped inside the lid of my case

other thing I'd say is dont forget a way to charge that battery in the field. I have a small folding solar panel and a DC-DC charger in my kit now, because if you're deployed more than a day or two you cant always count on shore power. also a power strip with a fuse - sounds dumb but when you're at an EOC and there's one outlet and six people it matters

your kit sounds honestly pretty solid for where you are, way better than the grocery bag approach ha

I'd look at your documentation situation. I carry laminated reference cards for the local repeater frequencies, the simplex calling frequencies, ICS forms templates, and my radio's memory channel list in case I have to reset it in the field. sounds low tech but when things get stressful you really dont want to be googling stuff on a phone that might have no signal

also a small notebook and a couple of sharpies. paper never runs out of batteries. our EC drilled that into us and I laughed at the time but he was right