What to Pack for RSAC 2026

Most security professionals pack for RSA like they're heading to Vegas in February. Wrong coast, wrong weather, wrong strategy. You're about to spend four days in a city where the weather does whatever it wants, the convention center is the size of a small country, and the best food you'll eat all year is a 20-minute walk from your hotel.

Here's everything you need to know.

The SF Weather Problem Nobody Warns You About

San Francisco in late March runs 55°F and foggy at 8 AM, 72°F and brilliant by noon, then the Pacific wind finds every gap in your clothing by 4 PM and drops you back to 50°F for evening events.

Pack three layers. Not as a suggestion, as a system:

• Base: Lightweight merino or breathable cotton

• Mid: A quarter-zip or light cardigan (works in meetings, works on the expo floor, works everywhere)

• Outer: A packable wind shell that lives in your bag

There's a reason SF tech bros dress the way they do: Patagonia vest, quarter-zip, dark jeans. The vest goes on for the freezing Moscone hallways, off for the overheated expo floor, and somehow looks acceptable at a dinner where a VP shows up. Lean into it.

Your feet will carry you 15,000 steps a day, so the shoes need to have actual grip. Moscone's floors are polished. SF's hills are real. You will learn this the hard way if you pack dress shoes.

The Weird Stuff That Actually Matters

This is the section nobody writes but everyone wishes existed.

• A travel humidifier. This sounds insane until you've spent three nights in a hotel with the HVAC running full blast. Vegas conference veterans swear by this and the same logic applies here. Your skin, your throat, your sleep quality are all dramatically better. It's the single most unexpected thing you can pack that will actually change your week. You heard it here first.

• Bluetooth sleep eye mask. Four nights of hotel sleep will destroy you faster than the conference schedule does. A bluetooth eye mask blocks out the light and lets you put on a sleep playlist without disturbing anyone. We're giving these away at Booth S-2260 if you want to grab one on the floor.

• Lip balm and eye drops. Conference HVAC is dehumidified to levels that should be illegal. By day three you'll feel like a dried-out ethernet cable. This is treatable.

• Noise-canceling earbuds. The expo floor is loud, the hallways are loud, and sometimes you need 10 minutes of silence between sessions to actually process what you just heard. Also useful for the flight home when your brain is full.

• One "emergency professional" outfit at the bottom of your bag.

  The spontaneous dinner with someone important always happens on the day you wore your most casual clothes. Be ready.

• Snacks from outside the building. Expo floor food is expensive and will flatline your energy. Grab something real on the way in each morning.

• A 3-in-1 charger. AirPods, iPhone, Apple Watch — one cable, one spot on the nightstand. We have these at Booth S-2260 too.

• Leave half your suitcase empty on the way in. Vendor swag at RSA is relentless and a surprising amount of it is actually good: quality bags, useful t-shirts, the occasional thing you'll use for years. You'll want the room.

Your LinkedIn QR Code on Your Lock Screen

One QR code, zero fumbling. When a conversation is going well, you want booking a follow-up to take 10 seconds not 10 messages. The move: put your LinkedIn QR code on your phone lock screen so anyone can scan you without you unlocking your phone.

We built a generator for exactly this. Enter your name and LinkedIn handle, download the wallpaper, set it as your lock screen, and you're done.

The Tactical Stuff That Actually Moves the Needle

• A business card scanner app. Yes, people still use business cards. In 2026. At a cybersecurity conference. Set up a scanner app (Covve, HiHello, or even Apple's built-in Live Text) before you arrive so every card is captured and tagged in real time instead of ending up as a crumpled pile at the bottom of your conference bag.

• Take quick audio notes named after people. You will not remember what you talked about with the 12th person you met on day two. Right after a good conversation, step aside and hit record for 30 seconds: their name, what they do, what you discussed, what you said you'd follow up on. Save it as "Sarah - CrowdStrike - threat intel collab.m4a" and thank yourself on the flight home. No call recorder needed, just your default voice memo app.

Navigate Moscone Like You Actually Work There

First-timers make the same mistakes. North and South halls connect underground, but West is a completely separate building, with no direct connection where you'd expect one. Download the RSA app and use the floor maps before day one.

Hit your must-see vendors before 11 AM or after 2 PM. The expo floor from 11 to 2 is shoulder-to-shoulder and your ability to have a real conversation drops to zero.

Don't rely on rideshares for anything time-sensitive. SF traffic around conference hours is brutal. Walk when you can, use BART for longer hauls, and always build extra time into anything important.

Where to Actually Eat

Skip anything within two blocks of Moscone. Walk further, eat better, spend less. SF's food scene is legitimately world-class and most of your fellow attendees will spend the whole conference eating hotel buffets and sad expo sandwiches.

Two nights are already sorted if you plan ahead.

Alchemy After Hours / March 25, Alchemist Bar & Lounge, 679 3rd St Invitation-only gathering of ~200 security execs. Craft cocktails, premium spirits, curated bites. Sponsored by Casco.

Closing Dinner with Casco and Delve / March 26, Boulevard, 1 Mission St An intimate dinner on the final evening of RSA at one of the best dining rooms in the city. Hosted by Casco and Delve. Approval required.

El Farolito / Mission District, 2779 Mission St The al pastor super burrito is roughly the size of a newborn. Cash only, no-frills, open late. Hit the salsa bar. Order more than you think you need. This is the move for late night after evening events.

Deli Board / SOMA, 1058 Folsom St Technically close to Moscone and criminally underrated. Serious, stacked, ridiculous sandwiches. The kind of lunch that makes the rest of your afternoon feel manageable.

Tempest Bar & Box Kitchen / SOMA, 431 Natoma St Dive bar energy, genuinely great food, and nobody from the conference will find you here. Perfect for decompressing after a day of vendor pitches.

Rooh / SOMA, 333 Brannan St Modern Indian food that will recalibrate your expectations. Go here.

Shizen / Mission District, 370 14th St Vegan sushi that's better than most non-vegan sushi you've had anywhere. Worth the Uber. Worth the wait. Don't skip it because of the vegan label.

Tartine Bakery / Mission District, 600 Guerrero St The best bakery in San Francisco. Show up before 10 AM or prepare to wait. The morning bun will make you reconsider all your other breakfast decisions.

The Real Conference Prep

The most valuable conversations at RSA happen in hallways, at the coffee station, and over late-night burritos in neighborhoods your colleagues didn't know to find. Come with specific questions, not generic "so what are you seeing out there" openers.

If you want to talk about how agentic testing is actually changing penetration testing workflows: the real implementation stuff, not the marketing version, find us at Booth S-2260. We'll be the ones comparing notes on where we ate the night before.

Pack smart. Stay flexible. The best insight you get all week might happen over tacos at 11 PM.