“Amateurs talk strategy, Pros talk logistics” - be prepared, gather your resources now to keep your devices going. Here are some ideas and examples.
Build yourself an electronics EDC (Every Day Carry) kit, here is an example of what I carry around day to day, to have access to power and data transmission, as well as some emergency cash and a gift credit card. The goal for me was to be able to quickly grab media off of cell phone, and the assortment of cameras I use (GoPro, dashcams, DSLR, night vision camera, etc) either directly with a cable, and/or with a micro SD card. This kit gives me the ability to quickly and easily power all of my devices and copy data to a laptop, and USB/External Storage, as well as have ready access to contacts, critical data, and some emergency payment methods. While many don’t need all of this stuff, it is wise to have at least some basic stuff to keep your phone up and running in the event of an emergency. I like to keep most of this stuff in hard sided cases to help protect them from wear and tear or getting damaged/smooshed.
Here is a list of some of the contents:
USB-A, USB-C, USB-Mini, USB-Micro, Apple Lightning adapters and cables
OTG (On the Go) Cables for mounting USB drives on your phone or laptop
Wired Headphones and audio cables, Bluetooth headphones
SIM tool on a bright, easy to find lanyard (orange 550 cord)
Extra pre-paid trial SIM cards (Mint Mobile in this example)
110v/12v adapters for charging cables
USB storage drives and Small SSD External Drives
SD and Micro SD cards, and card readers
USB Hubs (USB-A, USB-C, SD card slots for laptop)
Ethernet adapter, and ethernet cable
Cash, and VISA gift credit card (can purchase one up to $500 on a card)
Yubikey for account access (my backup cloned key, I keep original at home computer)
Battery Packs (I prefer the larger 20,000mAh over the smaller ones for most uses)
Printed out copy of my contacts for emergency
Backup phone, and an old garbage phone (for running apps like WhatsApp for clients who demand we use it for communication), Faraday bag, Mic Blocks
Data Blocker USB Adapter – only allows charging/power, but no data – useful at airports/on aircraft if forced to use an unknown USB power supply, blocks any data transfer
This should keep you powered and connected, and mine is heavy on additional camera equipment stuff for work, but hopefully this helps someone by staying prepared. Most of these items are fairly low cost individually, although it may take a bit to acquire everything, but comforting to have these with me at all times.
My thinking on this is to have ability to not only be able to charge your own items, but to loan a friend or coworker in an emergency (hence the Lightning cable, I don’t own anything Apple, but many iPhones out there, helpful for charging or sharing data)
Plus given all that is happening around the world, not a bad idea to shell out to grab an extra computer or cell phone now, they could become harder to come by potentially. Doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy, but having backups is my favorite topic!
