I take the air mattress repair kit, because actually sleeping is on my list of essentials. I've never once used it but about the time I leave it out, I'll need it...

My tent uses trekking poles. I have had one airheaded occasion where I left one pole in the car - so I used the length of mason line I keep in the emergency kit to string up the peak of the tent from a tree. Mason line weighs hardly anything and it will work in a pinch. But it tangles easy.

I use Zing It for bear bag line. I've not had a reason to carry paracord in a long time.




who are you hoping to talk to with it? Or do you mean the other kind - FM/AM?

The radios that work best are high band, which you can't just pick up and use since they rely on towers and regulated channels. A small ham radio would be the ticket. You'd need an operator's license.

FRS models you get at the store have extremely limited range - I've had them fail when the two radios were half a mile apart. Depends on the terrain. Using them with large parties of hikers in the past, it's had its ups and downs.