Practical SOTA - preparation and applications My SOTA Checklist: Transciever + power-supply cable + microphone Morse paddles Charged battery Antenna (linked dipole for bands 10m, 12m, 17m, 20m, 40m) + 2x 5m ropes for fixing antenna ends 5m fishing pole telescope + elastic rubber rope for fixing the pole to steady object Paper + pencil Small sitting mat (insulating) Water in bottle + some snack Smartphone (charged!) Plastic bag with useful little things - binding cords, knife, small screwdriver, spare pencil, ... Optional: raincoat, spare t-shirt, toiletpaper. Don't underestimate spare clothing, especialy if the summit is difficult. On the summit I usually change at least the undermost layer of clothing, then I can enjoy the activity. Health first, then fun ! Not to forget, one has to spend additional time with trip preparation, especially for summits which are not easily reachable. My favourite application for Android/iPhone is OsmAnd (osmand.net) - free navigation tool working with numerous map sources from OpenStreetMaps (free platform). Here I use CycleMaps source - these have enough details for navigation in mountains - usually tourist-tracks, even numerous forest paths are shown here together with heigth contour lines.