so i've been licensed for about 3 years now and keep telling myself i'm gonna put together a proper go-kit and just never do it. well last month we had a pretty bad ice storm here and the local ARES group got activated and i showed up basically with nothing useful and felt like an idiot. my HT and a half dead battery pack. that was it.

so i finally ordered a Pelican case and i've got my FT-891 i'm planning to dedicate to this, picked up a 40ah lithium battery from bioenno last week. got a end fed antenna i've been using portable. i think i have the basics but i've been reading about other peoples kits and feel like i'm definitely forgetting stuff.

what do you guys actually USE at an activation that you'd feel lost without? not looking for the obvious stuff, more like the things you didnt think of until you needed them.

the stuff i always forget until i need it - decent logging setup that doesnt depend on wifi, extra coax with the connectors already on it (not just a roll of coax you have to build out in the field), and honestly a headlamp because you will end up needing both hands at some point in the dark. also paper logs. i know everyone wants to run digital but when the laptop dies or the software does something weird you will be so glad you have a paper pad and a pencil taped inside the lid.

oh and ferrite cores. if you're setting up near other equipment interference can become a real problem fast and having a few snap-on chokes in a ziploc takes up zero space. learned that one the hard way at a shelter where someone's generator was wiping out half the bands.

honestly the thing most people overlook is just keeping it maintained. i had a beautiful go kit for like two years and then went to grab it for a drill and the battery was dead, one of the power pole connectors had come loose inside the case, and my spare fuses had rolled out into the bottom somewhere. looked great on the shelf though lol.

i try to do a quick check every couple months now, just power it up make sure everything still talks to each other. nothing worse than showing up ready to help and spending the first hour troubleshooting your own gear. you already sound like youre ahead of where i was when i started doing this stuff so youre probably fine just dont let it sit for a year without checking it