so ive been meaning to do this for probably two years now and after the storms we had last month kind of kicked me into gear. my county ARES group has been on me about having a proper go-kit ready and honestly i kept putting it off because it felt overwhelming figuring out where to start.

heres what i have so far - ft-891 with a separation kit so the head can mount separate, a 40ah lithium battery from bioenno, a cheap anderson powerpole distribution block, a endfed antenna cut for 40 and 20, and a pelican knockoff case i got on amazon. also have a small usb power bank for the pi and laptop.

what i keep going back and forth on is the logging situation. like do i do paper logs as backup or rely on js8call on the pi for everything. and i genuinely dont know how much coax to pack. feels like too little is always the answer but also i dont want to be dragging around 100ft of lmr400 for a 3 hour activation.

also wondering if anyone has strong opinions on whether a manual tuner is worth adding. the 891 has an internal one but ive heard people say its pretty limited on a bad antenna situation. anyway if anyone has done this before and remembers something they wish they'd packed i'd really appreciate hearing it.

the paper log question is easy - always bring paper. always. doesnt matter how good your digital setup is, ive been at activations where a laptop died, a pi SD card corrupted, someone spilled coffee, you name it. a waterproof notepad and a couple pencils weigh almost nothing and theyve saved me more than once. pencils specifically because pens freeze or dry out at the worst times.

on the coax i usually pack two lengths, a short one like 15ft for when im close to the antenna feedpoint and then a 50ft roll of rg8x for when i need some distance. rg8x is a good compromise, not as lossy as rg58 on HF and way lighter and more packable than lmr400. honestly for most emcomm stuff at HF you're not going to notice the difference.

the tuner thing is a real consideration. the internal tuner on the 891 is ok but if your antenna is really off resonance it'll complain and sometimes just give up. i added a small LDG z11 pro to mine and it's been worth the space. depends how fancy you want to get with your antennas i guess.

one thing a lot of people forget - extra fuses. and a headlamp. and snacks. sounds dumb but ive sat at a served agency for six hours with nothing to eat because i assumed there'd be food. there wasnt.

im still pretty new to all this but i just went through the same process a few months ago so maybe my fresh perspective helps. the thing that surprised me was how fast the power situation gets complicated. like i had my battery and thought i was set, but then you've got the radio, the pi, maybe a lamp or fan if you're at a shelter, and suddenly you're doing math in your head at 2am.

i ended up making a little laminated card that lists my approximate current draw for each thing so i can estimate how long my battery will last depending on what im running. felt like overkill when i made it but i was really glad to have it the first time i actually used the kit at a drill.