Anybody have suggestions for a two-way radio system for the mountains? Been looking at Cobra and Motorola right now. Waterproof would be nice but not all that necessary.
GMRS radios are good, but buy the license. The most important advice I can give you about 2-way radios is to never buy any where all the settings,
specially if turning it on and controlling the volume has to be done through the menu. What you want to buy is a set of radios that you both turn on and control the volume with a rotary knob. Don't even look at radios that to turn on and also to control the volume is done with push buttons, nor radios that when turned on always have a LED blinking light that comes on every few seconds. The radios where everything, including turning ON and increasing/decreasing the volume is done with push buttons use a lot of battery power, and the LED coming on/off also drains the battery, although slowly. I have both types of radios, so what I am trying to tell you is true.
Yes, some of the settings such as channel number and a myriad of other stuff has to be done with the LED menu, but you don't want to turn it it on by pressing and holding a button for a few seconds, nor to increase/decrease the volume through the display. Also, you don't want any blinking LEDs whenever the radio is on.
HAM radio is the best, of course, but don't forget that marine radios are also quite good, as well as GMRS channels. 2-way radios with GMRS channels aren as expensive as told above. Your pocket is the limit, but you can buy a pair for around $40.00 on the low end, and pay more if you want a built-in GPS with map features, plus texting. Yes, some allow you to text between identical units nearby.
Finally, regardless of radio, have spare Alkaline batteries.
