When responding to an emergency event, or even a training exercise, there is a minimum set of
equipment and personal gear you should bring with you to get the job done. Basic items include:

The majority of these items should be kept in a "Ready Kit." Just pick it up on your way out the door
for deployment. You might also consider the items on the following list for inclusion in this ready
kit, designed to allow you to stay in the field for up to 72 hours.

• Snacks                                                 • Liquid refreshments

• Throat lozenges                                 • Aspirin

• Prescriptions                                    • Toilet articles

• First aid kit                                         • Message forms

• Log books                                         • Shelter (tent and sleeping bag)

• 3 day change of clothes                 • Foul weather gear

• 3 day supply of water and food     • Portable stove; Mess kit with cleaning kit

• Flashlight                                           • Batteries

• Candles                                              • Water proof matches

• Alarm clock                                         • Toolbox

• Electrical and Duct tape                     • Soldering iron and solder

• Safety glasses                                     • VOM

• Additional Radios, packet gear         • Microphones

• Headphones                                         • Power supplies, chargers

• RF Connectors                                      • Antennas with mounts

• Patch cords                                           • SWR bridge (VHF and HF).

• Extra coax                                              • ARRL Standardized Connectors (Molex 1545)

alkaline battery pack for your HT. For mobile VHF and UHF radios, larger batteries are needed. Gel-cell or deepcycle

marine batteries would be good sources of battery power, and you must keep them charged and ready to

go. It is also wise to have alternate means available to charge your batteries during the emergency. You can

charge smaller batteries from other larger batteries. You can build a solar charging device. If you’re lucky, you

may have access to a power generator that can be used in place of the normal electrical lines. Have more

battery capacity than you think you might need. Have several methods available to connect your radios to

different power sources.

Gain Antennas -- You can expect to need some kind of gain antenna for your HT, as well as an additional gain

antenna that can be used on either your HT or your mobile rig. The extra antenna might be needed by someone

else, or your first antenna might break. For VHF and UHF, you can build a J-pole from a TV twinlead, for an

inexpensive and very compact antenna. Have several lengths of coax in your kit, totaling at least 50 feet and

with barrel connectors to connect them together.

Personal -- Include staples: water, or a reliable water filtration and purification system; enough food for three

days; eating utensils, a drinking cup and, if needed, a means of cooking your food. Shelter is also important.

Here, you are only limited by the size of your kit and the thickness of your wallet. Some hams plan to use their

RVs as shelter, conditions permitting. Other disaster conditions may make the use of an RV impossible, so you

should have several different plans for shelter. Light is important psychologically during an emergency. Make

sure that you have several light sources available. Various battery-powered lights are available, and propane or

gasoline-fueled lanterns are also good possibilities.