jpeters421

And as for equipment, my three favorite radios are Kenwood, Kenwood and Kenwood. However, they are all really good these days. I had a 2 Meter handheld from Radio Shake back in the day which was actually very good, ..believe it or not.

investinwaffles

I have a portable Baofeng VHF/UHF (UV5R+) that I use for wheeling and camping, as well as for when I go boating in Florida

I usually can get 5+ mile range in the mountains, and closer to 15+ miles on a boat with an aftermarket antenna. Not as good as a hard mounted radio + antenna but still pretty darn good. And it was cheap as hell.

Consider starting with one of those, but my friend has a 25w hard mounted radio and really like it. I think this is what he has;


More important is proper antenna setup and tuning though

4x4jeepmanthing

imo 5 miles in the rockies sounds good, is this with using repeaters or does the radio just have that reach?

the whole idea is to be reaching out for SOMEBODY to relay info to.

investinwaffles

That was to a repeater, but in full honesty I hiked to the top of a hill and didn't try it from the bottom of the gulch we were parked in, but a CB wouldn't have reached out that far I am 100% sure

Also, I guess one more strength of a handheld radio is you can hike to a higher point to reduce obstructions. Not sure if that outweighs the lower transmit power or not but it's worth noting

MrDon

Jpeters421 did a great job of explaining things. I'm a Ham KA0DON. I'm just starting to build my new (to me) Cherokee and I plan to install both a CB and HAM radio. I want increase my odds to communicate. I've also got my Cell Phone, and what the hell I might even throw in a couple of tin cans and a LONG string.

Bugout4x4

We go so far out I just went shopping for a Personal Locator Device as an additional last resort just in case.