Comms Go Bag

[TerryD]

These are great ideas for Go Kits, not only for Overland use but for ARES as well! I keep a FT-60R on my backpack that I carry about 90% of where I go.

@Sarge368 Where did you get your slimjim from? I've been wanting to pick up one for emergency and possibly SOTA use.

 

[Sarge368]

These are great ideas for Go Kits, not only for Overland use but for ARES as well! I keep a FT-60R on my backpack that I carry about 90% of where I go.

@Sarge368 Where did you get your slimjim from? I've been wanting to pick up one for emergency and possibly SOTA use.

@TerryD I bought mine on eBay but looking just now it appears they are not sold there. A little research (finding my original receipt from 7 years ago) brought me to About This is the same person I bought mine from. If you read his bio you will see why. I have been very pleased with the antenna and the price is great.

Update: I posted this from the iPad app and saw that it had a link but didn't show the web address/name. Here it is Ed's Antennas Ed Fongs Antennas is what you would search for.

 

[TerryD]

@TerryD I bought mine on eBay but looking just now it appears they are not sold there. A little research (finding my original receipt from 7 years ago) brought me to About This is the same person I bought mine from. If you read his bio you will see why. I have been very pleased with the antenna and the price is great.

Thanks! I'll try to get in touch with them. It looks like their store is closed out though.

 

[Downs]

N9TAX.com sells roll up slimjim antennas. He has a youtube channel that's pretty good as well.

I've got 2 of those EDFONG Roll up antennas. I've gotten great performance out of them. Even on GMRS and MURS I get good SWRs out of the HAM version.

 

[Mtntrekker]

Bought my Slim Jim antenna from N9TAX on Ebay

 

[Sarge368]

Thanks! I'll try to get in touch with them. It looks like their store is closed out though.

They are up and running you just can't order through the store. Here is what he says on the main page of his website.

"Ordering Information - At this time we offer 7 antenna models. We also offer custom tuned antennas for no charge. You must order direct by emailing me. We do not have the STORE turned ON here since I need to correspond with you to make sure we have your order correct. The following are the models we presently offer and their prices. We accept payments via personal check or Paypal. Please email or call and we can send you an invoice. We ship USPS flat rate and you pay the actual amount. We only ship in the US. "

 

[Downs]

This thread inspired me. Threw A go bag together with a cheap "murse" i cleared out of my Jeep.

HT1000 with handmic and spare battery. Programed for some local GMRS and HAM repeaters along with some.simplex stuff.

In the bag

FRS radio i can toss to someone to use with spare batteries.

Cheap dual bander for general use with a spare battery.

Roll up EdFong Jpole and some string to get it into a tree.

 

[Downs]

Forgot pic

 

[xplorr]

Those looking for the Ed Fong DBJ-2, they sell on eBay now.

Ham & Amateur Radio Antennas for Sale - eBay

Save Big on new & used Ham & Amateur Radio Antennas from top brands like Hygain, Diamond, Nagoya & more. Shop our extensive selection of products and best online deals. Free Shipping for many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[Prerunner1982]

This thread inspired me. Threw A go bag together with a cheap "murse" i cleared out of my Jeep

I've got a "murse" too that would make a good commo go bag.
I have a couple M3 Field medic bags, used 1 as a "manly" diaper bag when my kids were younger.

 

[472HemiGTX]

How do you like the solar charger? I would like to add something like that to my kit.

I have one of the Goal Zero Guide 10 mini foldable chargers. I have had it for about 8 years and it's held up well for a lot of miles in my backpack, driftboat and rigs. It's nice to have but it does take a little time to fully recharge devices. The handy part is it has a set of 4 rechargeable AA batteries in a holder that doubles as an LED flashlight. I combine this with a small emergency USB power bank and rotate what is being charged. I have never been without power, even on a week long trip.

This is like mine.

 

[Downs]

Decided to change mine up a little and move it into a 5.56 ammo bandolier. Put the murse back into service carrying spare magazines and a little bit of first aid gear. I've got a ton of these bandoliers around so need to find uses for them haha.

Left to right pocket

Roll up J-poll, FRS radio with one set of spare batteries, BTECH BF-F8HP with antenna and spare battery, Motorola MTS2000 with handmic, spare battery for Motorola.

 

[Boostpowered]

Decided to change mine up a little and move it into a 5.56 ammo bandolier. Put the murse back into service carrying spare magazines and a little bit of first aid gear. I've got a ton of these bandoliers around so need to find uses for them haha.

Left to right pocket

Roll up J-poll, FRS radio with one set of spare batteries, BTECH BF-F8HP with antenna and spare battery, Motorola MTS2000 with handmic, spare battery for Motorola.

View attachment 140034

Just gave me a tool bag idea, i got a mess load of these too

 

[glade8r]

I like your guys set up. Think I may go this route though. Figure I can just get a magnet mount vehicle antenna and then still have a portable "base" unit outside of the vehicle instead of hard mounting one.

Account Suspended

 

[Downs]

Figure I can just get a magnet mount vehicle antenna and then still have a portable "base" unit outside of the vehicle instead of hard mounting one.

A HT is a poor substitute for a mobile radio. You can make it work but it's bulkier and more fiddly than it needs to be.

 

[RockyMountaineer]

A HT is a poor substitute for a mobile radio. You can make it work but it's bulkier and more fiddly than it needs to be.

It maybe or it may not be. Not everyone needs all the power of a larger mobile/base rig. Other then power it all boils down to feature set and with modern radios you get an equivalent feature set in HTs as you do in their bigger counterparts. But despite that I generally agree with you. If one wants to run mobile operations, then they are better off with a mobile radio. However some people do very well with just and HT and QRP.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Thanks for all the antenna reviews, I've been looking at the rollup style. I don't want a radio mounted in my truck to encourage a smash and grab so I have portables. The CB antenna (mag mount) is a pita sometimes. I keep all gear in a foil lined pistol case for EMF protection, maybe I should put the foil on my head.

 

[RockyMountaineer]

Thanks for all the antenna reviews, I've been looking at the rollup style. I don't want a radio mounted in my truck to encourage a smash and grab so I have portables. The CB antenna (mag mount) is a pita sometimes. I keep all gear in a foil lined pistol case for EMF protection, maybe I should put the foil on my head.

I complete get what you are saying. But I will say this. A properly installed radio will not fall victim to "smash and grab", it simply takes to long to get it out of the vehicle.

 

[TerryD]

Got a start on a camp radio/ go box this evening. Bought a zBTECH 25x4 from a friend and we traded for the ammo can. The batteries are two 6V 12aH AGM units and the antenna mount is a thru-hole NMO I had in a parts box.

It worked great this evening on a few nets and I'm going to put in my frequency list tomorrow and charge the batteries. It should be good to go for the trip this weekend.

 

[RoarinRow]

Just put my comms go bag together today. Just using a camera bag to fit in my ham mobile radio and detachable face plate, ham hand held radio, GMRS mobile radio, Garmin Inreach Mini, cables, battery pack, and little odds and ends. Might need another bag or less gadgets lol.



Can’t believe I would actually take all this stuff in and out of the rig individually.

What still left hanging are my other GMRS hand held radios and my iPad. Dang.