Radio Bag

1 Jan 2025 · Portable Operation. Grab and Go

Portable Radio Bag

Portable RF Bag

I get a ton of enjoyment from taking my radio outdoors and operating portable. A portable station requires a lot of bits and bobs. For me to oprtate portable I need a bag to keep everything in. It's handy if the bag is easy to carry, sometimes the place I'm going to operate from is a bit of a mooch from the car. Step in my Radio bag. It's a knock off of a 5.11 Rush 24 backpack. It came from the internets and wasn't anywhere close to the 5.11 price. It's got two good sized front pouch pockets, a sleeve pocket and a main pocket with straps to secure your stuff and a couple of zipped mesh pockets on the flap. It's got Molle webbing on the front & sides with securing buckles to stick extra pouches on. There's velcro along the top pouch so you can stick badges on too.

The bag is about 545x350x250mm. The straps are 85mm wide and have plenty of padding. The back is well padded so the contents of the bag don't poke you when you throw it on. The bag is made from 1000D Nylon. It isn't waterproof, but it is quite water repelant, it's not keeping your stuff dry in a downpour, but a quick shower... it's fine. I've got a waterproof rucksack cover in the front pocket.

There's always a poncho & small (3x3m) tarp in the bag, if it's sunny there's shelter, if it's raining there's still shelter. There's the cable from my solar panel to my charge controller in the sleve at the back, 15m of coax, A rolled up ladder line J Pole, A bag of boiled sweets, 30m or so of paracord, 2 sinch down carabiners and a few other bits. My slidewinder DX, radials and whip all fit in if I'm not taking a wire & kite pole. Depending on where I'm going and for how long, I might toss in a fold flat twig stove and something to cook on it, no point being hungry on the mic.

Each of my portable radios have power leads with XC90 connectors on them. My battery, charger, cables & small panel all fit in the main pouch too. All outputs are XC90 (same connectors that all our RC cars run), so most things are compatible with each other, one battery powers all the radios. My solar charger spits out XC90 power at a range of voltages between 5 & 24v. I can power the radios and a bunch of other stuff with it.

If I'm wanting to operate HF I take my FT891, 2m/70cm I take my Yaesu 8900 or Retevis RT95. I occasionally take out my uBitX, but generally the FT891 for HF. Sometimes I take my Signalink USB and a laptop to play digital radio.

The flap lid has 2 mesh pockets, I've got 2 sets of radials, a 20m element, a power bank and a pouch to keep bits tidy. The radials work on my verticals and slidewinder.

In the top pocket on the front of the bag there's a tool check (it isn't there for every trip out, but last time I used the bag, I needed to take it along). There's a penknife (with lanyard), some clip on ferites, a spare PL239 connector, a couple of pigtails from PL239 to different handy talkie antenna connectors, a plastic fork and some hand sanitiser.

The bottom pocket has a fold flat sun hat, first aid kit, cable ties, electrical tape, a gas soldering iron, a pair of sun glasses, some gloves, a beanie and a headtorch.

The pouch has all kinds of handy stuff in it, a small penknife, a sharpie marker, a jet flame lighter, a pencil, some micro cord, a range of USB cables, a tiny torch, a single use superglue shot, some post it notes, an emergency £20, some plasters & clean up wipes, 4 x ibuprofen & 4 x paracetamol.

The contents of the bag change depending on where I'm going & what I'm doing. The bag is big enough to fit it all in and it's comfortable to carry. If I'm going somewhere and I can operate from the car I still take the bag, I like to keep all my stuff tidy.