so ive been meaning to do this for like two years and last month after that big windstorm knocked power out for three days in our area i finally got off my butt and started putting a real go-kit together. nothing fancy, just a Pelican case with foam cutouts for my FT-817ND, a small antenna tuner, some coax, and a few connectors. threw in a LiFePO4 battery pack i had sitting around from a solar project, maybe 20Ah, and one of those little folding solar panels.

i also added a laminated card with my local repeater frequencies and some simplex calling channels because honestly when things go sideways im not gonna remember anything. plus a notepad and some pens because somehow you always need a pen and never have one.

thing is im not sure if im overthinking this or not thinking enough. like i feel like i probably have too many adapter cables and not enough of the right ones. and i realized i dont have any kind of backup for the radio itself if something fails. do most people carry a spare HT at minimum? i have a Baofeng kicking around that i could toss in. also not sure about antennas — i have a roll of wire and some banana plugs but ive never actually deployed a field antenna under pressure and im a little worried about that.

anyway just curious what other people keep in theirs and if theres something obvious im missing. been licensed about four years but never really done any serious emcomm work.

Sounds like you're further along than most people ever get honestly. The Baofeng idea is solid, i keep a UV-5R in mine just as a backup scanner/monitor radio even if i wouldnt trust it as a primary. Cheap insurance.

The antenna thing is real though. I'd really encourage you to practice setting up whatever wire antenna you're planning before you actually need it. I spent an embarrassing amount of time at my first SET trying to figure out why my end-fed wasn't loading right and it turned out i had the feedpoint connector half loose. Not the moment you want that to happen. Even just throwing it up in the backyard a few times until it feels automatic makes a huge difference.

One thing i dont see you mention is documentation — like not just frequencies but a written operating procedure card for yourself. When you're tired or stressed it's amazing what your brain forgets. I have a little laminated sheet that walks me through startup checks in order, sounds dumb but ive used it more than once.

Also depending on where you are, look into your local ARES group if you havent already. They sometimes do go-kit check-in exercises and its a good way to find the gaps before an actual event.

the adapter cable thing is real, i have like 40 of them and can never find the one i need lol. what finally helped me was just making a dedicated small ziplock bag labeled "RF adapters" and putting ONLY the ones that actually go with equipment in my kit. cut down the chaos a lot.

also 20Ah should be plenty for the 817 for quite a while at low power, just make sure you know your actual consumption at whatever wattage you run. i was surprised how long mine lasted when i actually measured it instead of just guessing.