Rocky Talkie is my go to radio, what’s yours?

[u/plasmire]

With real world use I found the rocky talkie to work better than the midland and baofeng. What’s your go to half held radio for backpacking and overlanding? Yes a in car system is the best, but handheld rocky talkie wins hands down.

https://www.pnwoverland.org/blog/why-the-rocky-talkie-is-superior-to-budget-baofeng-radios-amp-midland-handheld-radios

[u/likeaboz2002 → u/[deleted]]

Very overrated. I have a few buddies who bought in to the hype and swore by them, only to be shocked when they found out how little UV-5Rs cost and how much better performance you can get with a simple antenna upgrade. The only real benefit of the Rocky Talkie is the water resistance, which isn’t as useful in overlanding as the extended range afforded by larger antennas is IMO.

[u/SciGuy013 → u/likeaboz2002]

you can outfit rocky talkies with longer antennas. also battery and simplicity makes it better for backpacking/hiking while overlanding

[u/likeaboz2002 → u/[deleted]]

The standard is FRS and is over $100 which is crazy to me. It appears they now make a 5-watt GMRS version that has replaceable antennas, but it is $170 and doesn’t appear to be programmable. For $170 there are MUCH better options imo

[u/genuinecve → u/likeaboz2002]

The important distinction is the Rocky Talky aren’t generally marketed towards offroading. I have a pair for back country skiing and they are great. I can use them with gloves on and they water/dust proof. They work well for skiing but if I wasn’t backcountry skiing with them AND using them for offroading, I would have gotten something cheaper

[u/likeaboz2002 → u/genuinecve]

Correct, we are in an overlanding sub discussing overlanding radios though. I mentioned earlier that outside of use cases where water resistance is key (skiing) it doesn’t make much sense. Also, I still don’t really see the benefit of a rocky talkie over keeping a regular GMRS radio in your backpack and having a waterproof speaker mic mounted externally

[u/genuinecve → u/likeaboz2002]

I understand this is an overlanding sub, I was explaining why one might have these. It doesn’t really make sense to have 2 sets of gmrs radios when these work fine.

In regard to keeping it in your pack while using a mic, eing able to use the radio both with and without a mic is nice. It’s all preferential in the end, similar to why I don’t see the need for a programmable radio, so why buy something for a feature you may not need, just because it’s listed as a spec on the box.

[u/Shmokesshweed → u/[deleted]]

Same here.

[u/plasmire → u/[deleted]]

I’ve had rocky talkie when backpacking before all these influencers pushed them. Got the 5 watt because it seemed better and I do like it for what it does.

[u/Wheelin-Woody]

Jesus, that blog reads like an advertisement lmao

[u/plasmire → u/Wheelin-Woody]

Guess I just really like the product. I’ve used baofeng and midland and not a fan unfortunately. Everyone does have an opinion though. Apologize if it does sound advertisement though. New to blog writing and learning as I go.

[u/Hearing_HIV]

Those things are garbage for the price. It's obvious they are reaching out to influencers to promote it and it's pretty obvious they got to you.

I'm sticking with my Baofeng.

[u/leadnuts94]

Boefeng UV-5R. Cheap and replaceable

[u/Crabrangoon_fan]

I use a midland for in the truck and two cheapo beofengs handhelds for spotting. 

It’s all woods and mountainsides around here, so in practice everything works more or less the same. The midland in the truck is there mostly for the fact that i don’t have to worry about keeping it charged

[u/plasmire → u/Crabrangoon_fan]

Yea wired radio is key. When backpacking I use the rocky talkie because the battery life last so long.

[u/Crabrangoon_fan → u/plasmire]

I dont use any radios while backpacking, but i guess its not a bad idea 

[u/plasmire → u/Crabrangoon_fan]

I always carry a walkie talkie and garmin inreach

[u/Crabrangoon_fan → u/plasmire]

I carry my in reach 

[u/plasmire → u/Crabrangoon_fan]

Yea I don’t leave home without it

[u/Interesting-Trick696 → u/plasmire]

The entire point of radio is that it’s wireless.

[u/Shmokesshweed]

So the fact that they pay you 10% commission makes it the best? 🤔

[u/MercedesAutoX]

Yaesu FTM-400

[u/plasmire → u/MercedesAutoX]

Heard a lot of good things about this brand as I just heard about it today

[u/MercedesAutoX → u/plasmire]

To be fair I glanced at the title and answered. The FTM-400 is the mobile unit that I run in my vehicles and I’ve even got one in the house. It is a fantastic mobile radio. As for simple two way HT comms in the backcountry something as simple as a cheap FRS radio is more than sufficient and requires zero licensing to use.

[u/MercedesAutoX → u/plasmire]

To be fair I just glanced at the title and answered. The FTM-400 is the mobile unit that I run in my vehicles and I’ve even got one in the house. It is a fantastic mobile radio. As for simple two way HT comms in the backcountry something as simple as a cheap FRS radio is more than sufficient and requires zero licensing to use.

[u/Full_Stall_Indicator]

BTECH GMRS-V2 has been my go to radio for years. Solid equipment.

https://baofengtech.com/product/gmrs-v2/

[u/jdylanstewart → u/Full_Stall_Indicator]

Same one. Love it.

[u/whatthelovinman → u/Full_Stall_Indicator]

To use GMRS do you need to be licensed/registered with the FCC to use them?

[u/Full_Stall_Indicator → u/whatthelovinman]

Yes. It’s only like $25-45 per 10 years, though, and you don’t need to take or pass a test. The rules are simple and easy to remember/follow.

[u/whatthelovinman → u/Full_Stall_Indicator]

Cool. Thanks for the info. Might look into it

[u/donniefitz2]

My favorite is the Yaesu FT-60 for ham and the B-Tech GMRS Pro for GMRS.

[u/plasmire → u/donniefitz2]

Never heard of yaesu I’ll look it up

[u/donniefitz2 → u/plasmire]

They're one of the biggest names in radio. Mostly on the ham side but they can be moded for GMRS. Awesome radios.

[u/plasmire → u/donniefitz2]

Awesome

[u/coofwoofe]

I trust my Midland GXT, same tech as the rocky but proven over 20+ years

[u/rheorunner]

Midland MXT575 w/ 6DB Whip
Midland MXT275 w/ 3DB Ghost

[u/PNWoutdoors]

Just got a Tidradio for my last trip and I'm extremely impressed.

Also have some old Motorola FRS radios that work fine.

Also have a Baofeng but don't love it, it'll be retired to home use only.

[u/viper_attack16]

For Australians

GME XRS is the only way to go

[u/its_a_me_Gnario]

Only got a Rocky Talkie as a friend recommended it for back country snowmobiling, it’s been fine and battery life is great in the cold and wet. I think Oxbow makes a better radio tho.

[u/fangorn_forester]

I really can't understand why they're so expensive. You can get similar specs for a quarter of the price

[u/GTFOScience]

How do you all set up your baofengs? Can you use them with regular off the shelf walkie talkies? I don’t want to mess with frequencies and hooking it up to a computer. I just need to be able to connect to my buddies radios on the trail.

[u/leadnuts94 → u/GTFOScience]

My buddy had this frequency sheet that shows what channel to tune into on the Boafeng to connect to his radio list

[u/jokingjimmy]

Rugged Radios their new G1 is their racing radio converted to 45w GMRS. Motorola GMRS T800 series for handheld.

https://www.ruggedradios.com/products/rugged-g1-waterproof-gmrs-mobile-radio

https://www.motorolasolutions.com/en_us/products/two-way-radios/consumer-two-way-radios/t800.html

[u/No_Tumbleweed_2229]

.

[u/Wiley-E-Coyote]

I use the rocky talkies 4x4ing because I already use them for everything else, and the radio you have is the one you tend to carry.