However, a few things I would suggest:
1) The black 4-way tool shown with the recommendation to have a 4-way sillcock is an electrical panel key tool to open various types of locks that keep people out of electrical boxes. Having one of them is nice, but do get an actual 4-way sillcock key.
2) I will not get into the argument about Amateur Radio, as it is a never-ending battle and will never be resolved. However, I will say that 2-meter and 70-centimeter handheld radios are not that easy to use by those that have not learned what to expect and how to use them. While 2-meter radios are very common, probably the most common Amateur Radio out there, the majority of Amateurs that use them are talking to other operators through a repeater system of one type or another.

Yes, they can be, and are often, used directly in what is called simplex mode. The radio is set to a single frequency and you transmit and receive on that same frequency. Repeaters work differently. All the radios in the field transmit on one frequency, which the repeater receives and transmits on a different frequency, which is received by the radio in the field.

If one does not know both the transmit frequency and the receive frequency, and how to program them into the radio correctly, you might be able to listen, but will not be able to talk to the other person. Since the terms transmit frequency and receive frequency are often not used when referring to this system, but the terms ‘the repeater frequency and the offset’ it can be confusing. Especially since the amount of the offset can vary, and the direction of the offset (either above or below), a person has to know how to get those parameters in their radio.

Add in the fact that some repeaters require a set of audible tones to be transmitted to activated the repeater, which will be different for just about every repeater that uses them, the operator has to know which tones are required for which repeater.

It really is not that difficult, but someone that buys a 2-meter handheld radio and expects to put it away in a Faraday cage and bring it out, turn it on, and start talking to other people is not going to be very successful. Even if you can get someone to program the radio before you put it away is no guarantee that you will be able to use it. If you pull the battery for long-term storage (as you should) it is likely that the radio will lose the programming and will need to be reprogrammed when it needs to be used. Even if it does not lose it then, there are a large number of things that can cause a radio to lose its programming, not the least of which is simply touching the wrong button at the wrong time when trying to use the radio.

Since I seem to always have my own opinion on what options might go on various lists, here is one of my urban prepping lists. Be aware that this in addition to my extensive EDC.

1) SAS Urban Survival Handbook
2) Petzl TacTikka + RGB headlight
3) AC & DC cell phone chargers/battery backup/cords for cell phone
4) Leatherman Rebar Multitool
5) Victorinox Outrider Swiss Army Knife
6) Spyderco Harpy folding knife (serrated hawk bill – rope/line/self-defense)
7) 4-way Silcock key
8) Yaesu FT-3DR handheld Amateur 2m/70cm radio w/HF receive
9) Uniden Bearcat BCD325P2 Public Service Band scanner w/Weather Alert
10) Bio protection kit w/P-100 safety masks, safety glasses/goggles, exam gloves, & hand sanitizer
11) First aid kit w/trauma items, prescription and OTC medications
12) 40 oz stainless steel Kleen Kanteen w/carabiner top

Just my opinion.

Although a ham radio does broadcast in all directions, hams generally do not use their radios in a broadcast kind of way as a disk jockey would at a radio station. In normal AM or FM radio, one disk jockey transmits and thousands of people listen. Hams, on the other hand, conduct two-way conversations, often with another ham or with a group of hams in an informal roundtable. The roundtable of hams may be in the same town, county, state, country or continent or may consist of a mix of countries, depending on the frequency and the time of the day. Hams also participate in networks, often called nets, at predetermined times and frequencies to exchange third-party messages. In the case of disasters, hams exchange health and welfare information with other hams. Some hams use radioteletype, (RTTY) with computer screens replacing the noisy teletype machines of the past.

Many hams get their start on VHF FM, using battery-operated hand-held transceivers set to transmit on one frequency and receive on another frequency. They use FM repeaters, set up and supported by local radio clubs. These repeaters borrow antenna space from TV-station-tower owners on top of mountains and high buildings to receive and re-broadcast signals to extend the range.

When deadly floods struck central and southern Texas in mid-October 1998, amateur radio operators from four states volunteered their time. Susan Manor, NF0T, is shown helping with communications at the New Braunfels Red Cross office.
When deadly floods struck central and southern Texas in mid-October 1998, amateur radio operators from four states volunteered their time. Susan Manor, NF0T, is shown helping with communications at the New Braunfels Red Cross office.
The FM repeater receives one signal at a time and simultaneously rebroadcasts it on another frequency using many more watts of power than available from a small hand-held radio. This extends the range of the hand-held radio from a few miles to tens or hundreds of miles! The whole country has these repeaters! (Listen to one with a radio scanner to learn a lot about ham radio.) When a ham is traveling, he or she can find a repeater to use (great for tips on local restaurants), and carry on a nice, static-free, FM-radio-quality conversation via a radio that fits in the shirt pocket or purse. Linked repeaters allow fun wireless communications across an entire state with a hand-held radio.

Repeaters use common transmit and receive frequency pairs. The frequency pairs in use are informally assigned by groups of hams so that any frequency pair in use is far enough from another repeater so as not to cause unwanted interference.

Amateur radio satellites are a cutting-edge use of technology in amateur radio. Radio amateurs use their hand-held radios to communicate through an amateur radio satellite when the satellite is overhead. A current British satellite has a receiver (uplink) at 145.975 MHz and simultaneously rebroadcasts (downlink) at 435.070 MHz for one station at a time, as a repeater.

Natural disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes disrupt normal telephone and cell phone systems. Ham radio operators pitch in to help with emergency communications, and you will often hear about them on news reports.

On Space Shuttle missions, each member of the crew usually has an amateur radio operator’s license. During breaks, astronauts hold their 1- to 5-watt VHF FM hand-held radios up to the shuttle window and chat with other hams for a few minutes, often at schools while the shuttle is in an orbit overhead! VHF transmissions have a limit to line-of-sight communications and normally do not travel over the horizon, so a conversation is limited to the time when the shuttle is overhead. The space station MIR used 145.985 MHz for similar conversations. Future ham radio efforts in space will focus on the use of amateur radio within the International Space Station (ARISS) project.

Hams use a variety of frequencies for communications. Non-hams can “listen in” via their own receivers or radio scanners. Hams are able to use many frequency bands across the radio spectrum — these frequencies are allocated by the FCC for amateur use. Hams may operate from just above the AM broadcast band to the microwave region, in the gigahertz range. Many ham bands are found in the frequency range that goes from above the AM radio band (1.6 MHz) to just above the citizens band (27 MHz). During daylight, 15 to 27 MHz is a good band for long-distance communications. At night, the band from 1.6 to 15 MHz is good for long-distance communications. These bands are often referred to historically as short-wave bands (as in “short-wave radio”). Unlike frequencies used by FM radio stations and TV stations, which are line-of-sight and therefore limited to 40 or 50 miles, short-waves “bounce” off the ionosphere from the transmitter to the receiver’s antenna. The higher the frequency is, the “shorter” the wavelength is.

Some ham radio operators use the very reliable Morse code, while others use voice. Morse code signals (beeps) often get through when voice transmissions cannot. There are also very many digital modes as well, and hams use radio modems to communicate in various networks. a quick Google search gave me this. Hope this helps since a simple answer from someone who actually uses one is to damn hard to get? Information is free, and it dont hurt to be nice.

As regards Ham radio, I am licensed, but in an emergency the FCC has said, go ahead, use the radios to communicate to protect lives and property. Having said that, the radios are like any tool. it pays to get familiar with them ! The minimum Technician test isn’t that difficult nor is it expensive. Get to know some Hams, they’ll be happy to discuss their hobby with you. Many of us also have an interest in emergency communication and preparedness aka prepping.

I am a relatively new Ham with just my Technician’s license as of now. By “expertise”, one could be meaning, which button do you push to talk ? How might you program the radio to hit a local repeater or two ? Seeing that hand-held radios usually only have about five watts of power and don’t reach more than a few miles on their own. They would be useful in an emergency, but that’s not the time to be familiarizing yourself with it :D.