Road to a new rig, proper entry to HF.

Since getting my amateur foundation MM3 licence back in 2006, I’ve never had my own HF rig. I started off with the Kenwood TH-F7E (still the best handheld I’ve ever had, and still occasionally use, VHF/UHF plus general coverage 500kHz-1300MHz all-modes inc SSB, FM, AM) mostly just having local QSOs with other members of the Galashiels radio club, and otherwise scanning amateur simplex, repeaters and otehr stuff like PMR/business radios and airband.

I never really got into HF at all for some reason. When I was small I would listen to my dad’s Yaesu FRG-7 HF receiver, just tuning through the bands to see what I could hear. At a young age I didn’t have any idea about the amateur bands (that weren’t indicated on the FRG-7 at all), so it was continuous tuning from the bottom of the MHz to the top, then changing the MHz dial up and tuning through again. My dad couldn’t really do much more, just having his B-licence so restricted to 50Mhz upwards on transmit.

When my dad got automatically upgraded to the full licence in 2003 with removal of the morse requirement he got a Yaesu FT-817 and could operate on HF, and in the years since (including when I had my own licence) I would sit next to him while he operated, either from home or in the car.

I started to get more interested in HF when I got SDR receivers from the Cross0Country SDR4+ and then the SDRPlay RSP1A, and that opened up the HF world of listening, and occasionally decoding data modes. My dad set up a rudimentary inverted-V dipole across the garden, tuned to nothing in particular without even a balun.

I got into DMR so that added to the VHF/UHF side of things, including networked DMR, which opened up communications a little more using my DMR MMDVM hotspot, as until then I was restricted to line-of-sight communications, which in the Tweed Valley means speaking to nobody except those in the same town, unless I went up hills, as we have zero repeaters of any description within range of home.

My interest in HF operating sort of grew after coaching a new local amateur into operating, initially setting up his Baofeng UV5R handhelds for simplex and repeaters (when he’s travelling around with his work), and then also getting him on networked DMR for talking to people, but he got interested in HF for proper international communication (rather than networked DMR with which talking to someone in New Zealand is no more a challenge/accomplishment than talking to someone 2 miles away, or using a mobile phone app like Facebook/WhatsApp).

So after much research, I got him on-air with a Yaesu FT-450D and a manufactured 40m endfed halfwave antenna.

Seeing this and researching HF rigs, hearing experiences of others, and also exploring the HF spectrum (another personal project that grew legs and became a spreadsheet of the whole RF spectrum from 0 to 10GHz), my interest in HF grew.

Out with my dad, when he had his FT-817 or Alinco DX-70, he tried to get me to operate with his radio, but I felt like I was using *his* station, and making a contact with someone using my callsign when my dad had just made contact with his, using the same equipment felt like “cheating”, like there was no experimentation or achievement when I was just repeating someone else’s “experiment” with a different set of letters in the conversation. I wanted my own rig.

After much research again I decided on a Yaesu FT-857D.

I borrowed the Gala radio club’s FT-897 and set it up in my room, with a manual ATU that my dad had. This was similar to the 857D, said to be almost identical in hardware (except display which was a slightly different layout of information), just in a different (larger) box with room for internal batteries or a PSU. I liked it, and did a little operating on it on HF, although not a lot. Lots of listening and familiarising myself with HF. My dad added a balun to the wire in the garden and that seemed to improve the reception a little on some bands, making it easier to get a low VSWR on tuning.

(Hint, for using a manual tuner, get a nanoVNA, then for each band go through every setting on the tuner until you get a minimum WR, then write down the settings, so in future tuning to each band is a case of setting the ATU to the pre-written settings, then you only have to transmit for 2-3 seconds to fine-tune it. Saves the rig’s finals being hurt, and also saves your hands being hurt turning through all the ATU preselector steps hunting for a dip in VSWR on the meter.)

I was wanting a “shack-in-a-box” as I like having maximised capabilities in a single unit I could go out with (up a hill) and set up with battery, a piece of wire, and operate. I set myself a budget of £500. Not really able to spend much, but I do have some savings and would rather spend a little to enjoy myself now, rather than be wishing I’d enjoyed life more, doing things I liked, before getting old and unable to.

I couldn’t really find any used FT857Ds from anywhere other than eBay, and I didn’t really want to spend that much unless I knew either it was a retailer, or someone I knew was trusted (like a popular radio club member or trader). Listing things as “spares or repair” when something is perfectly good and working protects the seller against people buying things, pulling required components out of them, then returning them as “not working”, however for buyers like me, it means there’s no comeback *if* something were to suddenly go wrong or a known but unmentioned fault rears its head.

So I waited. Some people recommended the FT-891 instead of the 857. Newer, a better display, but it only had HF campbilities, so no “shack in a box” aspect. I was tempted by the FT-817 or FT-818 as the price was not much more than my set budget, BUT the 5w was just a little bit on the low side. I was wanting at least 10w (the limit of my licence) and perhaps a little more (if/when I progress to intermediate licence, requiring studying and an exam).

So I decided to wait and see, but occasionally would look at other radios to compare capabilities. Brian, the local amateur I coached into DMR then HF, was happy with his FT-450D, but said that he was interested in getting a radio where he could see a waterfall of activity in the bands, as he was feeling he was missing a lot just tuning around by ear, and I would tell him at a glance at my RSP1A SDR receiver what bands were active with QSOs.

I started to think that, yes, a waterfall would be really useful, and I was feeling that tuning around on the club’s FT-897, I was missing a lot too.

I saw several SDR-based radios mentioned in some videos I saw on YouTube. Most were low power 5 or 10 watts but seemed to work fine at making contacts. Eventually I gravitated towards the Xiegu G90, and even though it doesn’t have UHF, VHF, or even 6m bands, looked like a nice wee radio. My “shack-in-a-box” idea started to evapourate a little when I realised that most of my VHF/UHF operating was FM anyway, so my Anytone ATD878UV and Baofeng UV5R would be adequate for things like SOTA (I presume 7w on Anytone into a slim-jim antenna would give pretty decent results from a hilltop, especially when I’ve seen my dad make a contact about 150 miles away with his Standard C558 handheld putting out around 2.5w).

Any events using SSB 2m like the PW QRP contest or VHF field day, we’re usually with the radio club using their rig anyway, but my dad has his FT-817, and a Yaesu FT-290R-II.

So seeing this little rig, the Xiegu G90, at £100 below my base budget, with 20w output, internal ATU (which can “tune a dustbin lid” according to reviews), and waterfall (albeit only +/-25kHz width rather than 10Mhz multi-band coverage like my SDRPlay RSP1A), I went into full research mode, watching YouTube videos about it, reading forum posts and reviews, and checking out accessories.

I came to the firm conclusion that with the Xiegu G90, along with my other handhelds like Anytone 878, and Kenwood TH-F7E, I’d have 90% of the capabilities I was looking for (minus SSB VHF/UHF, and anything on 6m/50MHz, both of which would be available by borrowing my dad’s radios if I needed to), and extra capabilities that I’d either have to do without or pay for (in the waterfall display, and antenna tuning unit, manual or otherwise).

Looking around, it seemed the cheapest place to get one was Sinotel, so I made a login there and added the Xiegu G90 to the basket. Based on reviews and some tutorial videos, I also purchased a set of feet (just cheap ones, not the whole frame with fan), and a larger metal tuning knob. Also I was sceptical about the power lead being short so I ordered some power connectors too, so I could make my own in future with “powerpoles” that seem to be the popular choice, and would let me made a modular system of connections I could switch between home-based 13.8v PSU, and a mobile battery such as 6Ah SLAB (sealed lead-acid), or (as I had also been looking at) a LiFePO4 12.8v 6Ah battery that would have the same capacity as SLAB but half the weight, so better for up hills.

Antenna is another thing I need to look into, but that’s another problem for later.

So after a few days of it in the “basket”, I took the plunge and ordered the set. £450 lighter (£390 plus £5 knob, £10 feet, £25 CE-19 interface and £17 delivery….ouch) but still cheaper than a used FT-857 without a tuner, I got a notification that it would be delivered on Monday. This was ordered on the Friday afternoon. I was hoping that DPD would work on weekends, but resigned myself to waiting.

Then the Saturday morning I got a text, “your parcel will be delivered today between 1621 and 1721”. So it was on its way, my first very own HF rig.

As an aside: As it happened I had a (slim) chance of a VERY cheap but fully working Yaesu FT-817. One was advertised in the RadCom magazine sales pages, used FT-817, used only on receive, £250 and within a few hours drive from us. However at the time I hadn’t committed myself to the Xiegu G90 and was still considering the FT-857D, and thought that in any case, the FT-817 would have been snapped up by about 9am on the morning that issue of RadCom fell on people’s doorsteps.

It would have been useful though. I would have been happy spending £650-700 for the G90 as a main HF rig for home and portable, with an FT-817 for any 6m/VHF/UHF portable stuff or as a QRP backup set. I may still keep an eye open for a similarly cheap 817, 857, 897 or even (if such a thing exists other than the FT8x7 series) a used mobile set capable of just 6m/VHF/UHF with SSB. I’ve seen sets like that with 10/6/2/70 FM only, but none with SSB.

New Amateur Radio activities, DMR Part 2

My first proper foray into the world of DMR radio was a VERY steep learning curve.

With my Anytone AT-878UV Plus handheld, and cheaply bought and self-built MMDVM hotspot, I got onto the Brandmeister DMR network and was listening to QSOs between amateurs in my country.

(Yes I did make a modified screen background with a Picard-era Starfleet logo. Also the startup image has my name and contact number in case I lose the radio somewhere.)

The radio came with no codeplug installed, so I downloaded the codeplug from Martin Lynch, then didn’t really like that one so got the one from Moonraker instead and modified it based on a copy of a codeplug I got from a local amateur.

The downloadable codeplugs tended to be either huge with multiple talkgroups for EVERY repeater in the UK, or would include every repeater but only list talkgroup 9 for both timeslots. So a lot of research was done on the repeaters in Scotland and North England, to see what common talkgroups were on each, and how they were networked, with some on Brandmeister, and others on Phoenix or DMR+, with their different sets of (mostly non-aligned) talkgroups.

Having experience with spreadsheets, and also programming Baofeng radios using Chirp, it was relatively easy to alter the codeplug with different channels. Slightly confusing how (on the Anytone) you have to split memories (channels) into zones, but also create scan lists. More confusing that a channel can be *in* any number of scan lists, but can only *trigger* scanning one scan list. So I made some extra channels (frequency/tg/ts were irrelevant) as “scan” channels to trigger particular scan lists.

Finally I got a codeplug I felt was mostly usable both from home on my personal hotspot, and mobile, with different zones (memory banks) depending on where I was (some with more distant repeaters than others, depending on if I was up hills in the Borders or in the car near Edinburgh).

Then they bloody changed the networks!! Well it wasn’t too bad, just some talkgroups were shared between Brandmeister and Phoenix. Then just as I was figuring it out to edit my codeplug, they changed things again!

As one amateur I heard on DMR say “a codeplug is always done, but never finished”. There are more changes to make but I’m on version 4 of my codeplug and it works. Version 5 will hopefully work and look pretty too.

The real test came when a new local amateur came to me initially to ask about how to get on-air. He had a couple of Baofeng UV5R handsets that I programmed for him, but was wanting something that could reach beyond the local valley (where there are about 20 amateurs listed, only 5 I know, and the rest are never heard on VHF/UHF or even HF for most of them). I showed him my Anytone and DMR hotspot, expecting him to go away and research it a little before buying anything. Then next thing he’s bought himself the full DMR setup the same as mine.

So thankfully I was confident enough in the processes of DMR to both program and set up his new MMDVM hotspot and Anytone handset, and also teach a new amateur the basics of DMR well enough that within a couple of weeks he’s now able to hold QSOs with other amateurs on the talkgroups I programmed into his radio. He still hasn’t been shown how to “dial in” talkgroups not in the main zone or use repeaters when he’s roaming around, but either he’ll research that online or I’ll show him sometime when we’re able to meet up more often. Thankfully he’s reasonably technically minded even if the brand new concept of DMR was overwhelming at first.

I taught him the basics like keying up (“kerchunking”) a talkgroup to make it the main static talkgroup monitored on his hotspot, and keying TG4000 to disconnect it (particularly important with busy talkgroups like TG91 if you don’t want to wait on it timing out after kerchunking a different talkgroup (when you find a gap in transmissions to do so)). I made no talkgroups static on his hotspot, after initially having some but I noticed he was calling someone on one talkgroup while they were calling him on another (I kept Digital Monitor active so that he wasn’t confused by the green light showing but no audio).

I did leave him with a self-made document explaining things like timeslots and color codes, but unless he’s going to be editing his own codeplug he doesn’t need to know that stuff for now. He’s happy being able to talk to other people, when otherwise he’d be lucky to be able to speak to me on the radio directly where he lives. Until he gets into HF radio…

He does still ask questions, but he’s getting to grips with it all now it’s working smoothly. We did have a problem with his transmissions cutting out frequently, and I think it was becoming frustrating for all involved, so I made a modification based on a hunch and it worked…

The frequency his hotspot was set at, one of the OFCOM recommended frequencies, 434.000MHz it also slap-bang in the middle of the LPD part of the radio spectrum, which is shared with car key fobs, alarm systems, weather stations, and car tyre pressure monitors, so when Brian was transmitting into his hotspot, and one of these devices in his street chirped away sending some sort of telemetry, it interfered with his hotspot and his signal would drop some packets.

So I took his radio and hotspot for a day and reprogrammed his hotspot for 434.425MHz. I didn’t want to use 438.8MHz, the other recommended channel, as my hotspot was on that one and I didn’t want to have to switch mine off while working on his or being in his village. Of course I had to change the codeplug in his Anytone, altering all the hotspot frequencies to match. I did check with the published frequency band plans to make sure it wasn’t going to step on any toes and interfere with any repeaters while Brian was driving around with his hotspot in his van.

(Side note, I exercised my data-geekness by making a graphical spreadsheet of frequency allocations, their channel designations, and common usage, making it easy to find “free” channels for hotspots, including my own second hotspot. It started as a spreadsheet version of a webpage I found listing frequencies and their usage, and grew into a monster covering amateur, airband, marine and aero HF, PMR…)

But then it worked! No more dropouts at all. There was another issue with getting the hotspot to connect to his iPhone for accessing the data connection, but that was resolved by ensuring the procedure of having the phone open to the Wifi hotspot screen before switching on the DMR hotspot, otherwise it wasn’t discoverable, so the DMR hotspot would either make its own Wifi access point (with no internet), or take the huff and give up trying.

I designated my own DMR ID (2354806) as a talkgroup in Brian’s radio, and also on mine, so that we had a quiet place to test the radios and to chat in a Group Call between us. It’s also easier than doing a Private Call and also with a talkgroup any number of people can join, not just direct user-to-user. We still need to keep to amateur operating procedure because anyone nearby with a DMR radio or even a scanner capable of decoding DMR could pick us up. Plus it’s practice for Brian.

(Talkgroups are basically a tag put on a transmission to route the transmission to only those nodes (repeaters or hotspots) monitoring that talkgroup, and not all talkgroups are officially “allocated” so any that are not used by anyone else are free to use by anyone. Some groups use the 6-digit DMR ID of their local repeater as a talkgroup. Everyone has a 7-digit DMR ID they can use as their own talkgroup, but it’s more social to use the main allocated talkgroups to make contacts and move to a common related “chat” talkgroup for longer conversations if the main ones are busy. Using a personal talkgroup like mine means we aren’t holding any repeaters open while we are both using hotspots. Talkgroups like 2355 are monitored by default on all Scottish Brandmeister repeaters and any other repeaters and hotspots globally that anyone has activated 2355 on.)

Brian has been my only DMR contact so far, but I will try to talk to others on the main Scottish talkgroups because I might just be useful to pipe in with information for others, as well as find out any information from the ones with more expertise.

I since splashed out on another hotspot, getting the kit on eBay and another Pi Zero, this time a duplex hotspot so I can make use of 2 timeslots.

It means that I can monitor main talkgroups on one timeslot while some others are on another timeslot. (the white paper over the LEDs is to dim/diffuse the lights because they’re pretty bright, especially at night).

And the beauty of the Anytone 878 Plus is the Bluetooth. I can comfortably have a set of wireless earphones to operate the radio without wires, and it also comes with a Bluetooth PTT button, which is VERY easy to lose if you’re not careful… I learned from experience NOT to loop it over the antenna while walking through rough grassland. £20 for a replacement button.

New Amateur Radio activities, DMR Part 1

In the last couple of years, the many different digital modes of amateur radio communication (RTTY, Packet/AX25, SSTV) have been supplemented by several Digital Voice modes.

At first I wasn’t that interested. There were few amateurs in my local area who used analogue modes, let alone digital. I saw a demonstration of an “Allstar” system and it looked complicated to set up, and prone to bugs and most likely would be confined to repeaters that I couldn’t reach from home.

At one junk sale night, someone was selling boxes built on the Raspberry Pi Zero for “digital hotspots”. I didn’t really understand the platform or how it worked. I resisted buying one until I knew what it would do. I had been tinkering with the Raspberry Pi, making an ADSB (aircraft transponder) receiver and feeding data to sites like FlightRadar24, and also some stuff on the Pi Zero like decoders for ACARS, VDL2 (more aircraft data modes), 433MHz Short Range Devices (like tyre pressure monitors, weather stations, key fobs).

I saw some MMDVM hotspots advertised on eBay. Most of them were over £70 ready built. I wasn’t going to spend that on something I wasn’t sure I’d use. Then I saw a kit for £22. The Pi Zero wasn’t included but I had 2 spare anyway. So I bought it, figuring that even if I didn’t have the capability of using digital radio, having this hotspot available in future might be a good thing. (Note to April 2019 me: It was!)

But then some new repeaters popped locally up with digital modes like YSF and DMR. Someone at the radio club one night showed me his DMR radio working on the local GB7LS repeater (still too far from my house to hear, though), and I heard some other club members discussing their DMR radios, swapping codeplugs and discussing talkgroups.

Then in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Radio Club meetings were cancelled, open days were cancelled, and we were facing being stuck at home, or at least in the immediate local area, and not being able to meet up with each other. Some members kept in touch via Echolink but the networking issues made that impractical for me and it seemed a purely computer-based mode (with exception of the few repeaters that relayed from Echolink, but a lot of the time the link was offline) so that seemed not much different from calls on Internet services like Facebook and WhatsApp.

I’d read some articles in the Radcom and Practical Wireless magazines about digital radios, but I saw these different competing modes. I just happened to be contacted by one member of the radio club giving away his astronomy telescope set, so we went to visit him (socially distanced!) and while we were there he demonstrated his digital radios, covering both DMR and YSF through the repeater that was near his house.

He was happy with YSF on his Yaesu FT70D handheld and I was impressed with it (and also its capability of receiving airband, PMR etc so could replace my Kenwood TH-F7E).

Then I read stuff about DMR versus YSF and it seemed like DMR was more widespread because it was a commercial system brought over to Amateur Radio (which also meant business radios would use DMR too), as opposed to the YSF being an amateur-only mode, and proprietary exclusive to Yaesu (which put me off). Also looking at the repeater dashboard, it became clear that the DMR mode on it was used far more often than the YSF mode or D-Star.

I knew I could decode digital modes using my SDR receiver (SDRPlay RSP1a) on my laptop with DSD+ to decode the audio, as I had done with some local council radio signals I picked up (they’ve since gone and scrambled the audio). So I built up my digital hotspot, registered for a DMR ID (which needed me to supply a copy of my radio licence PDF from OfCom) and set the hotspot up to connect to the Brandmeister DMR network.

I played around with it for a few weeks, listening to some conversations and figuring out how the system worked by watching the DSD+ output, with timeslots, color codes and talkgroups, and the much discussed and modified/shared “Codeplug”. I obviously couldn’t transmit at all, and being tied to my laptop it wasn’t practical to try to pick up any DMR repeaters, none of which I could receive from home, and I wasn’t about to lug the laptop around in the car all the time, even when we were allowed to travel around the local area. I did do that once, sit up at the “Granites” overlooking Edinburgh and decoding DMR streams from repeaters in Edinburgh and Fife on my laptop.

Then I decided to buy my own DMR handheld, and purchased the Anytone AT-878UV Plus.

My current EDC (April 2020)

I have a basic EDC for now, just slowly made up over years not even thinking (or being aware) of EDC, but more of an idea of tools that are always useful for me and occasionally others.

I’ve bought other things that I think can be “handy to have” when out and about, visiting friends.

My absolute every day EDC consists of what I have on my person or in my jeans pockets at all times.

I wear a fitness band, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. It cost me about £30 and does everything I need it to. Measures my steps every day, sleep, and shows notifications from my phone. It also tells the time of course.

My phone is the Samsung Galaxy A70. It’s a mid-range phone, has a 6.7″ 2400×1080 screen, 128GB of storage, 6GB RAM, and runs on Android 10. It has a 32MP camera that does 4k video. It does me fine for what I use it for. Social media, occasional phonecalls, texting.

I use the Three mobile network, on a £11 a month contract that gives me 4GB of data plus unlimited calls and texts. The coverage locally is okay on HSPDA/3.5G with occasional 4G coverage. Enough for my usage.

In my pocket I keep a handkerchief, a Rolson multitool that is very basic with a small knife, pliers, screwdriver, can opener etc. It was pretty cheap and does the basics. It does have a LED light on it but that died when I accidentally put it in the washing machine. Oops.

I have a keychain with my housekeys, and other keys for things like the garden shed. I also have a small LED light that doesn’t work anymore.

Lastly I carry a small amount of cash. Just a few notes and spare change in coins, if I need to buy anything in shops I pass.

In my jacket I carry my wallet, my camera (Panasonic Lumix TZ-40 18MP 20x zoom), wired earphones for my phone, plus Bluetooth wireless earbuds. Why both? Because the FM radio on my phone only works with wired earphones.

I also have a small pouch with a mini USB power bank and Wifi mini router. (It can power a phone, but also make a Wifi point when plugged into a LAN cable, or can relay a Wifi connection. Also if I had a 3G/4G USB dongle it could act as a standalone 3G router.)

Also in the pouch I have a multi-ended charging cable USB to Lightning, micro and Apple 15-pin, which I need to update as the old Apple plug is obsolete, and I haven’t got USB-C that my phone uses. Also I have adapters for USB-C to micro USB, an OTG adapter for USB micro, and a small (but hella bright) USB LED.

I want to get a better knife for my keychain, and I’ve ordered some credit card sized multitools for my wallet.

Prepping / EDC / SHTF

As we’re now into week 5 of a national lockdown scenario due to the current Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve had a bit more time on my hands and my YouTube bingeing has wandered into the EDC and “Prepping” type of videos.

EDC or “Every Day Carry” is the term used to describe the tools and equipment that we take with us wherever we go, out the house, to work, in the countryside etc. For most people that usually includes the minimum of a phone and a watch. Some people have specific work-specific tools with them at all times like a tablet/laptop, maintenance tools, medical or first aid equipment.

In general, within the EDC communities I’ve seen, the basic EDC consists of a watch, wallet, some kind of knife, a torch/flashlight, and occasionally a pen and some paper, and for those who smoke, a lighter.

Also in some countries a firearm or tactical knife is seen as an essential part of EDC for self-defence.

An extension of the standard EDC is carrying equipment that helps out yourself or others in some kind of unexpected or emergency situation. People will carry a multitool just in case they find themselves in a situation to need a screwdriver or pair of pliers. Some will carry a basic first aid kit for dealing with minor injuries.

Others will carry some kind of kit for a “SHTF” situation (“Shit Hits The Fan”) for an unexpected event or emergency situation that means they suddenly need to keep themselves or others alive when the normal resources available in society break down or are unavailable. Or even just when they get lost or their car breaks down in the wilderness and they have no means to get to safety.

Often these kits have tools to be able to source water, heat (by lighting a fire), shelter (through cordage and maybe sheets of material) and ways to find a source of food (by fishing or hunting). Other tools include communication tools like a signal mirror or whistle, and a compass for navigation.

The kits I love the most are the ones that fit inside an “Altoids” tin. It’s something small enough to just be thrown into a bag or pocket and forgotten about until it’s needed. Also some people wear paracord bracelets that include many tools including a fire starter, whistle, and compass.

There is another group called “Preppers” who stock up tools and supplies for larger emergencies like a “grid-down” situation when electricity, water and gas all stop working, and they are unable to leave their house. They often stock non-perishable food, tools for every eventuality, and sometimes even stocks of supplies that other people might be interested in to barter with for other supplies.

Some people make a “bug-out-bag” or a grab bag that is filled with supplies, should they need to leave their home or work immeditely and be kept away from their normal resources for a time. A variant is a “get-home-bag” if they just need to keep themselves alive and safe for as long as it takes to make it home.

For most people it’s enough just to have some basic tools and a means to make oneself comfortable for several hours to await rescue, or overnight to await daylight. It entirely depends on your normal circumstances and where you live. Some countries are prone to earthquakes or hurricanes so it’s a good idea to prepare for having to leave home in a hurry. Other people never leave an urban environment so are less likely to need to light a campfire. There are some people who are concerned about things like wars breaking out, or nuclear attacks, and prepare for their homes being their fortresses and having to be self-sufficient for weeks.

So I decided to make my EDC and a basic prepping kit for myself. I have plenty time to do it, and there’s no rush as I can’t afford to just buy everything at once. I’m town-based but often go walks up hills in the countryside, so keeping a kit suitable for keeping warm while awaiting rescue is a good idea.