Putting Together a EMCOMM EDC Bag
One important component of your everyday carry or bug out bag should be a communications element. You never know when your cell phone might not work and you need to communicate with somebody.
A battery powered AM/FM radio with access to NOAA weather alerts is a good start. I’ve chosen a Kaito KA210 Pocket AM/FM NOAA Weather Radio along with spare batteries and a set of ear buds to listen privately. This great little radio sounds good and easily slips into a pouch I keep in my EVC Coms bag.
NOAA broadcasts give specific information about the weather in your location with transmitters located across the United States, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Saipan. Each transmitter covers a range of approximately 40 miles from the transmitter site and currently over 80% of the country is covered by NOAA broadcasts. This 80% encompasses up to 95 % of the population! Most NOAA broadcasts are heard 24-hours a day with the weather forecasts being updated as needed. Special hazards and other warnings are broadcast as needed. No licensing is required to own a NOAA Weather radio or to monitor their transmissions.
While not in my bug out bag, I also have in my home a larger battery powered Kaito KA600L 5-Way Powered Emergency AM/FM/SW NOAA Weather Alert Radio radio that also has the ability to recharge its battery with a built-in solar panel or dynamo crank. If I need to bug out and have time, I plan to slip this radio into my bug out vehicle.