Category: Preparedness
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GMRS Is Great for Family Comms, But It Won’t Save You When SHTF
GMRS gets recommended constantly in prepping and family communication circles, and for good reason. But it’s not a complete emergency communications plan by itself.
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Ailunce HD2 Review: A Great EmComm Handout Radio, With a Warning
I use the Ailunce HD2 as a preprogrammed EmComm handout radio, but there’s a documented spurious emissions problem you need to know about before you buy.
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The Key Parts of a SHTF Communications Plan: PACE, Rally Points, and Roles
A SHTF comms plan needs more than a radio and a frequency. Here are the actual components: PACE planning, rally points, defined roles, and a common list everyone can reference.
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Tactical Team Comms vs. SHTF Comms: Why You Can’t Copy-Paste the Playbook
Why the PACE-driven, locked-down comms plan of a tactical team doesn’t hold up in a grid-down scenario, and what your radio setup actually needs instead.
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SkyWarn and Weather Spotting: How Ham Radio Ties Into Storm Reporting
Long before radar could see everything, ham radio operators were the eyes on the ground reporting severe weather in real time. SkyWarn still relies on that today, and it is one of the most genuinely useful volunteer roles in the hobby.
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Repeaters: How They Work, Why They’re Great, and Why They’re Not a SHTF Plan
Repeaters turn a 5-watt handheld into a radio that can talk 40 miles. Here’s how that works, and why you shouldn’t bet your grid-down comms plan on one.
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ICS-213 and Message Formats: How EmComm Traffic Actually Gets Passed
Passing a message accurately over a radio net is a specific skill with its own format, and ICS-213 is the standard form most served agencies actually expect. Here is how real message traffic gets handled.
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Setting Up a Peltor ComTac Headset with Your Radio for a Tactical Kit
How I wired my Retevis/Ailunce HD2 into a Peltor ComTac V headset for my tactical kit, and how to adapt the same four-piece chain to whatever radio you’re running.
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ARES vs RACES: How Emergency Communications Are Actually Organized
Nearly every EmComm post on this blog assumes a general familiarity with how volunteer emergency communications are organized. ARES and RACES are the two structures actually behind most of it, and they are not the same thing.