Valuable skills for soundystem?

Very important item that you missed off your list above is a PP3 battery as they can be used for quickly checking that speakers and drivers are working OK and also checking that drivers and cabinets are in phase with one another----also handy to have a couple of short NL4 to four tails and NL8 to eight tails for using with the PP3

And stay sober for the load out

Patience, a passion, humility and an appreciation that you're in it for the long game will get you the trust you must start with. Everything else will come. If you go to hard to fast the sound man might think you're "taking over" their long learnt skill set. Being able to string up though is really valuable as long as you first leave it to them to fault find (or get it right in the first place) fault finding someone else's system is best to keep out of until you have their complete trust and really know the kit inside out otherwise you just become another person telling everyone else how best to light the fire...

To put the above more succinctly, if you are fitting in with an established team you should try to fit in with their workflow. No one on this forum can tell you exactly what that is. The best people to learn from are those you are working with.

Even if you already have some experience, there is always more than one way to do something, and presumably theirs is working, so you need to adapt to the team. Random tips off the internet won’t get you far. That is all you really need to know.

As for the rest.

At the moment, you won’t need a tool kit. The people you are working for should have everything. Plus, you are at gigs to provide sound, not repair badly maintained equipment. You will not be able to fix a faulty amplifier, so it comes down to mending cables. It is easier and quicker to have some spare, which you can just swap out. It is impossible to completely eliminate stuff going wrong, but with good preparation it can be minimised.

It may be worth getting some decent footwear and gloves everything else, you can acquire over time as and when/if you need it.

With regards reading and theory. If it is something that you enjoy go ahead, but it is not critical. Based on an admittedly small sample size of several, the average DJ gets by with very little technical knowledge. If all you want to do is set up some audio equipment and playback music, an in depth knowledge of audio theory is not essential, except perhaps the user manual of the gear that you are using.

Re: The EV PA Bible Earplug is correct, it is old (1979), and the laws of physics haven’t changed. Unfortunately, it contains very little physics and the systems it describes have changed.

I’m not sure how many here are doing sound as a hobby, but the stuff about punctuality, reliability and being sober applies to any job.

If you're determined, then get a pro mechanic as your No. 1 crew.

Can we infer from this that the income from the audio business is not sufficient to afford a reliable vehicle?