[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":268},["ShallowReactive",2],{"marketing-blog-blog\u002Fspares-what-to-carry-and-what-to-skip":3,"marketing-blog-related-blog\u002Fspares-what-to-carry-and-what-to-skip":248},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":227,"date":228,"description":229,"draft":230,"extension":231,"image":232,"imageAlt":233,"imageCredit":234,"imageCreditUrl":235,"meta":236,"navigation":237,"path":238,"readTime":239,"seo":240,"stem":241,"tags":242,"__hash__":247},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fspares-what-to-carry-and-what-to-skip.md","Spares: what to carry and what to skip","The CheckInHub team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":216},"minimark",[10,14,17,22,25,28,34,38,41,150,159,163,166,169,177,181,184,200,205,213],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Every experienced event manager carries spares, and most carry the wrong\nones. The kit grows by accretion — a thing failed once, so it joined the\nbag forever, and three years later you are lugging a flight case of items\nthat solve problems you have not had since. Meanwhile the one cable that\nactually strands a door when it dies is the one you forgot to double up.",[11,15,16],{},"A spares kit is a bet about what will fail. The skill is not carrying\neverything. It is knowing which failures stop the door and which are merely\nannoying, and packing for the first kind only.",[18,19,21],"h2",{"id":20},"the-test-for-whether-something-earns-its-place","The test for whether something earns its place",[11,23,24],{},"Before anything goes in the bag, ask one question: if this fails and I do\nnot have a spare, does the door stop. If the answer is yes, carry two. If\nthe answer is no, leave it and carry the time to improvise instead.",[11,26,27],{},"This test is unkind to a lot of beloved kit. A spare label printer feels\nprudent, but if the printer dies, the door does not stop — you check people\nin without printing a badge and sort badges later. So a spare printer is a\nnice-to-have, not a must-carry. A spare charging cable, on the other hand,\nis the difference between a working scanner and a dead one at the worst\nmoment, and it weighs nothing. Carry three.",[29,30,31],"blockquote",{},[11,32,33],{},"Pack for the failures that stop the door, not the failures that annoy\nyou. The two lists are shorter and different than instinct suggests.",[18,35,37],{"id":36},"what-actually-stops-a-door","What actually stops a door",[11,39,40],{},"Across most events, the things that genuinely halt check-in are a small,\nboring set. Power, the device, and the network. Everything else degrades\nthe experience without ending it.",[42,43,44,60],"table",{},[45,46,47],"thead",{},[48,49,50,54,57],"tr",{},[51,52,53],"th",{},"Item",[51,55,56],{},"Carry a spare",[51,58,59],{},"Why",[61,62,63,75,86,97,107,118,128,139],"tbody",{},[48,64,65,69,72],{},[66,67,68],"td",{},"Charging cables and a power bank",[66,70,71],{},"Always",[66,73,74],{},"A dead device stops a lane outright",[48,76,77,80,83],{},[66,78,79],{},"A fully-charged spare device",[66,81,82],{},"Yes, at least one",[66,84,85],{},"Lets you swap in seconds, not minutes",[48,87,88,91,94],{},[66,89,90],{},"Mains extension and a multi-gang",[66,92,93],{},"Yes",[66,95,96],{},"Venues never have power where you need it",[48,98,99,102,104],{},[66,100,101],{},"Mobile hotspot or data dongle",[66,103,93],{},[66,105,106],{},"The fallback when venue wifi dies",[48,108,109,112,115],{},[66,110,111],{},"Label or badge stock",[66,113,114],{},"If you print",[66,116,117],{},"Runs out faster than you think, mid-rush",[48,119,120,123,125],{},[66,121,122],{},"A printed copy of the guest list",[66,124,93],{},[66,126,127],{},"The ultimate fallback when all else fails",[48,129,130,133,136],{},[66,131,132],{},"Spare label printer",[66,134,135],{},"Optional",[66,137,138],{},"Door survives without printed badges",[48,140,141,144,147],{},[66,142,143],{},"Spare signage, pens, tape",[66,145,146],{},"A few",[66,148,149],{},"Cheap, light, occasionally save the day",[11,151,152,153,158],{},"The printed guest list deserves a word. It feels old-fashioned next to a\nslick scanner, but it is the floor below every other system. If the\ndevices, the power and the network all fail at once, a printed list and a\npen still get people through the door, slowly, in order. It costs a sheet\nof paper and it is the most reliable spare you own. We make a fuller case\nfor this in\n",[154,155,157],"a",{"href":156},"\u002Fblog\u002Fscanning-attendees-when-the-venue-wifi-drops","scanning attendees when the venue wifi drops",".",[18,160,162],{"id":161},"the-spares-that-are-really-planning","The spares that are really planning",[11,164,165],{},"Some of the best spares are not objects at all. They are decisions made in\nadvance that mean a failure does not need a physical fix.",[11,167,168],{},"A device that holds the guest list locally is a spare for the network. A\ncheck-in tool that keeps working offline and syncs later means a wifi\noutage does not strand you, so you can carry one less worry instead of one\nmore dongle. CheckInHub works this way on purpose — the list is on the\ndevice and check-ins sync when the connection returns — which turns a\nwhole category of feared failure into a non-event. The best spare for a\nnetwork problem is a tool that did not need the network in the first place.",[11,170,171,172,176],{},"The same logic applies to devices. If your check-in runs on ordinary\ntablets or phones rather than proprietary hardware, your spare is any\nnearby device with the app on it, including a steward's own phone in a\ngenuine emergency. You are not carrying a spare for a thing only you own —\nyou are carrying the ability to press an everyday device into service. Our\nnote on ",[154,173,175],{"href":174},"\u002Fblog\u002Fthe-hardware-behind-a-calm-door","the hardware behind a calm door","\ncovers why ordinary hardware is often the more resilient choice.",[18,178,180],{"id":179},"what-to-skip-and-skip-with-confidence","What to skip, and skip with confidence",[11,182,183],{},"Here is permission to leave things behind. You do not need a spare for\nevery component, and a bag that is too heavy to carry to the right place is\nworse than a lighter one that is missing a non-critical item.",[185,186,187,191,194,197],"ul",{},[188,189,190],"li",{},"Skip the second printer unless badges are genuinely load-bearing for\nyour event.",[188,192,193],{},"Skip the elaborate cable organiser; a labelled freezer bag does the job.",[188,195,196],{},"Skip duplicates of anything the venue reliably provides — confirm first,\nthen leave it.",[188,198,199],{},"Skip the spare for a device you can replace from the room in seconds.",[201,202,204],"h3",{"id":203},"pack-the-kit-the-same-way-every-time","Pack the kit the same way every time",[11,206,207,208,212],{},"Whatever you decide carries, pack it identically for every event, so a\ntired steward can find the spare cable in the dark without thinking. A\nconsistent kit is a faster kit. Our note on\n",[154,209,211],{"href":210},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilding-a-front-of-house-kit-list","building a front-of-house kit list","\ncovers how to keep the whole bag organised so the spares are actually\nreachable when you need them.",[11,214,215],{},"A good spares kit is mostly empty space and a few items chosen because\ntheir absence would stop the door. Everything else is weight you carry to\nfeel prepared rather than to be prepared. Pack the short, ruthless list,\ntrust the tools that fail gracefully, and leave the flight case at home.",{"title":217,"searchDepth":218,"depth":218,"links":219},"",2,[220,221,222,223],{"id":20,"depth":218,"text":21},{"id":36,"depth":218,"text":37},{"id":161,"depth":218,"text":162},{"id":179,"depth":218,"text":180,"children":224},[225],{"id":203,"depth":226,"text":204},3,"Equipment & loans","2024-01-26","A spares kit can be a carrier bag or a flight case. Here is how to decide what earns its place at the door and what just adds weight.",false,"md","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1763619814380-1637cdf5f796?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop","People waiting on a city street","Rochelle Lee","https:\u002F\u002Funsplash.com\u002F@bestlifanna?utm_source=checkinhub&utm_medium=referral",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fspares-what-to-carry-and-what-to-skip",5,{"title":5,"description":229},"blog\u002Fspares-what-to-carry-and-what-to-skip",[243,244,245,246],"equipment","loans","hardware","contingency","cuBYV8X6ken_Qj17xXjQlTgs3hvK24YnJbhdNjUsp9c",[249,256,262],{"to":250,"title":251,"description":252,"date":253,"category":227,"image":254,"readTime":255},"\u002Fblog\u002Floaning-kit-against-a-guest-not-a-hope","Loaning kit against a guest, not a hope","Lending event kit on trust means chasing it later. Tie every loan to a checked-in guest and a return time, and the kit comes back on its own.","2026-05-22","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1608222351212-18fe0ec7b13b?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",6,{"to":257,"title":258,"description":259,"date":260,"category":227,"image":261,"readTime":255},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwho-has-the-radio-equipment-loans-solved","Who has the radio: equipment loans, solved","Radios, scanners and lanyards walk off every event. Treating equipment as loans against named people turns the end-of-day hunt into a checklist.","2026-04-03","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1669101602104-bfa264a17cce?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",{"to":263,"title":264,"description":265,"date":266,"category":227,"image":267,"readTime":255},"\u002Fblog\u002Ftracking-loaned-scanners-across-a-multi-day-event","Tracking loaned scanners across a multi-day event","Over three days, kit walks. Here is how to track loaned scanners against the crew who hold them, so nothing goes missing on the last get-out.","2026-03-27","https:\u002F\u002Fimages.unsplash.com\u002Fphoto-1758543102397-e14b5dfdd8bd?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop",1787334032850]