so ive been doing more peaks lately and man every single time i get up there the coax is just a nightmare. like i thought i had it sorted nicely in my pack but then when i go to deploy the antenna its all twisted and knotted up. takes me like 10 minutes just to untangle before i can even start operating

am i doing something wrong with how im packing it or is this just part of the deal with portable ops

oh yeah this drives me nuts too. what i started doing is using one of those cable reels - not the big heavy ones but like a small plastic one from the hardware store. wind it up nice and neat at home then just unroll it on site. takes up a bit more space in the pack but totally worth it for my sanity

velcro cable ties are your friend here. i wrap the coax in like 3 foot sections with velcro ties every few feet. then when you get to the summit you just undo the ties and it lays out pretty clean. also helps to coil it the same direction every time - i learned that the hard way after years of just stuffing it in randomly