so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, summit was only a 2 mile hike which seemed fine but man i did not account for how heavy my pack would be even with a 'lightweight' setup. brought my kx2, a 40m EFHW, some snacks, extra water, spare batteries, logbook, the usual stuff and by the time i got to the top my legs were jello. took me like 45 mins just to catch my breath before i even started setting up the antenna. got 4 contacts and then a massive thunderstorm rolled in out of nowhere and i had to pack up and basically run down the trail. still counts as an activation i guess but barely. gonna do it again for sure but i need to seriously rethink my kit, maybe ditch the heavy logbook and just use my phone or something

haha yeah the weight thing hits different when you're actually on the trail vs just weighing everything in your garage. i made the same mistake my first time out. for logging i just use HAMRS on my phone now, syncs straight to SOTA and POTA databases when you get back to signal. also if you only need 40m an end fed half wave on a 6m telescopic pole works great and the whole thing rolls up super compact. 4 contacts still qualifies so thats a W, storm or not

wait thunderstorm while you had a wire antenna up on a summit?? that sounds terrifying honestly. glad youre ok. i havent done SOTA yet but ive done a few POTA activations at state parks which is way more chill, you can literally just sit at a picnic table with your radio. might be a good way to dial in your kit before doing the hiking ones again