Two is one and one is none is an old saying for a reason. Applied to a family comms plan, it means every individual piece needs its own backup, not just a general sense that the overall plan has redundancy somewhere in it.
Every Layer Needs a Backup, Not Just the Whole Plan
One radio, one battery, one antenna, one frequency written down in one place, each of these is a single point of failure on its own, regardless of how solid the overall plan looks on paper. Redundancy has to exist at the component level, not just as a vague sense that you have backups somewhere.
Redundant Doesn’t Mean Identical
A second radio that is the exact same model as your first, bought at the same time, is a real improvement but does not protect you from a design flaw or a bad batch affecting both. Where it’s practical, mix brands or at least mix battery chemistries between your primary and backup gear, the same layered thinking behind why a single-band radio isn’t enough for SHTF.
Where People Cut This Corner
The written plan itself is the most commonly skipped backup. People will buy a second radio without a second thought but keep only one copy of the actual frequency card, usually in the one bag that might not make it out the door. Documentation deserves the same redundancy as hardware.
A Simple Redundancy Checklist
- A second radio, ideally a different model or band than your primary
- A second, independently charged battery or power source
- A second copy of the written plan in a different location
- A second person who knows the plan besides the primary operator
This is the same PACE structure I lay out in the key parts of a SHTF communications plan, applied down to the individual item level instead of just the plan as a whole.
For the fuller picture on building real emergency communications capability, see my Emergency Communications and Preparedness pillar page.