I once hiked 6.5 km up VK3/VC-003 with all this gear minus 1 critical piece.
I returned 3 weeks later for a successful activation.
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No soup?
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It was this same summit, at an earlier visit, that Allen @VK3HRA introduced me to the joy of carrying a flask of soup to the top.
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Likewise - but a pair of neat folding headphones is lying somewhere near Neath in spite of the last minute look around. Surprising how often I do spot a stray item. I don’t think I left anything behind on the recent trip to NW but as it was neither cold nor wet I have no excuse if I did.
My best brainless effort was changing a local activation to 2m FM on the HH having apparently forgotten the power lead for the 857 - and finding it during the final look around when packing away 
73,
Rod
You of all people should know it’s definitely the lack of the lucky anvil.
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I didn’t take the lucky anvil last week to save weight. And without the lucky anvil I proceeded to cause enough damage to my radio equipment I had to curtail my activation. There’s moral in there I think.
“Where did I put the d**n pen? It was IN MY HAND 30 seconds ago.” I’ve spent hours of summit time doing that.
I’m really liking the system of writing on the container the list of things that belong in the container. I’ve got an antenna bag, a guying bag, and an “I/O” bag. Each bag weighs about an ounce. Each has a list of about a half dozen things written on it in indelible ink. Whether I’m packing at home or on summit, for each item in the list, I touch the list item, I say the name out loud, I touch the physical item, I say the name out loud. I now use some spiffy nylon baglets I found on Amazon, but gallon ziplock bags work just as well (except the zipper wears out after a dozen activations).
When I pack the bags, I always pack them all at once, calling, “One, Two. Three.” I try really hard to pack the same things, the same way, every time. Consequently, it feels wrong if I skip something. It’s a little OCD, but it seems to get the job done.
As I’m breaking things down after an activation, EVERYTHING gets put down ONLY on the white groundcloth.
I mostly activate solo. Betcha dollars to donuts I’d get distracted by conversation and leave half my kit on the summit.
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Pilots have a term for this: “NORDO”
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Yesterday’s outing contained a few minor classics on my part:
- I left my U/VHF FM handy on charge at home.
- I forgot to pack any pens. Luckily there was a sharp pencil in the bag from whenever way back, along with a spare log book.
- I’d forgotten how touchy my key can be if it isn’t firmly magnetically latched to something. That made my morse even shakier than usual.
- I forgot sunscreen There was a pair of thin gloves in my activation bag, so I wore them to avoid sunburned hands. However that didn’t help my morse much either, and also rendered my mobile’s touch-screen problematic.
- I clearly need to exercise (or replace) my batteries, as they ran flat after only a couple of hours (and 14 contacts). I scratched a 15th and final contact (my only S2S of the day) by cranking the power down and hoping.
Still, 15 contacts logged, so a success in spite of that, and clearly saved by things I’d simply left in the bag for next time after my last outing… 
How about an out-of-band spot and CQ call, until it was pointed out via spotter? I was surprised the FT-817 let me transmit, and I had a nagging doubt I should have listened to!
Mark.
Has it been “wide-banded”? The out-of-band protections vanish at that point…
One of the other things I forgot yesterday was my 60 metres bandlet table. Luckily I could find it on the Net via the phone, as my memory for the usual numbers was playing tricks on me…
Do you know Rick, I haven’t a clue! I bought this FT-817ND as a replacement for a straight FT-817 that I sold a couple of years before. Never really investigated the replacement, just started using it!
Hi Mark, if you’ve got 60m, then it’s been “wide-banded”.
Does forgetting about this thread count as summit brain?
I ll add (to a long list) the aerial (possibly the lightest item of equipment) despite climbing the Cheviot with all my other radio gear in the rain preceding storm Francis.
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I’ve got a new one to add to the list.
I recently bought a new Li-Po battery. It sat in my workshop until a few days ago, when I put it on charge for a few hours -just to top it up.
When I came to use it my HB1-B told me it was 100% dead - even the LED screen wouldn’t light up. Luckily I was able to use the internal battery.
I went home rather fed up. £20+ for a battery that didn’t work!. All the bother of returning it etc., Got home, checked it with my multimeter and it would even register anything. Checked the multimeter against something with a known charge to check that. Checked the battery again - no still dead.
I was just about to go upstairs and find the address to return it to, when I noticed a slight bump on one end covered in plastic.
On pulling the bit of plastic away further I noticed underneath an On & Off switch.
Oh, dear - at least it made me smile! (It is the first battery I’ve had with an on/off switch though!!)
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Ah! My first activation… I had internal batteries in my KX3 to power it at 5 watts. I plugged in an external battery pack, adequate for 12 watts, but I neglected to turn it on. Of course, I never noticed because beginners luck meant that 5 watts was adequate to reach Canada, England and Germany from the southeastern USA on SSB that day.
Spoiled me forever. My first activation was my first operating session, and it set unrealistic expectations.
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This thread has been a hoot; I thought it was just me that was prone to summit - brain. Yep, have forgotten battery, antenna, have lost sunglasses, antennas, flashlights, etc. Party age, partly altitude, but there’s nothing like good old VE6 cold air to really turn your brain to mush. I beg forgiveness from the many chasers or S2S activators who (rightfully) thought my operating skills were garbage … hi hi
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Ken, no, really. No comment at this time.
Malen
VE6VID
That reminds me, I forgot to mention a major contributor to summit - brain: harassment to set up faster from VE6VID (a.k.a. “Sarge”) hi hi. Actually, having a coach to make you a better operator is a very good thing, although it’s only working on me very slowly …
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Today on G/TW-001
Wind 20mph+
Windchill temp 1-2 C
Plan - 20m & 17m hoping for trans Atlantic
All set up no probs. High SWR on 20m 
Just about to give up when I realised I had opened all the links (setting the antenna up for 15m) instead of closing them all 
Links closed, 1st contact USA!
Lesson - 15m dipole doesn’t work on 20m. I knew that all along.
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I’m not sure people who haven’t experience hypoxia can truly appreciate it. I was at the summit of Mt. Shasta (>14K feet) with a friend. He started running back and forth and looking around, then he ran up to me with a big grin on his face and said, “I can’t find my backpack!” “Rich,” I said, “you’re wearing it.”
Time to go down.