# Walkie Talkies?



## JonSnow

I never seem to get reception on my phone whenever I'm boarding, so I was thinking about buying some walkie talkies for the upcoming season. They are kind of a pain to cart around, but I sometimes ride with a pack anyways.

Do any of you guys use walkie talkies on the slopes? If you do what kind/brand do you use, and are you happy with them?


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## slyder

I've thought of it just havent. Trying to reach my kids on the small hills we ride can be a pain not for reception though. Might do it this year still, not sure.
If u do get some any brand should be fine uniden I have used in the past and worked well around our neighbor hood
Make sure it has multiple channels to choose from. In case some of the channels are being used you can choose another one. 
Just be sure to stay off ski patrols channel they get mad at all the chatter and could be a risk if they got called and were interrupted by random chat


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## JonSnow

Does no one use walkie talkies? I was thinking about buying a couple Motorola MT350Rs, just based on Amazon reviews.


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## wrathfuldeity

have use them in the past with kids, and my daughter used it to call patrol when her friend got hurt....and they work well when filming...easier than dialing back and forth.


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## linvillegorge

Heads up, but if you can find some Nextel iDEN cellphones, they can actually work off network with one another at ranges of up to 6 miles. I'd plan on that being considerably less in the mountains, but still plenty to cover most resorts and backcountry tours. Seeing that the iDEN network is no longer as of a couple of months ago, you should be able to find them dirt cheap as they're essentially worthless.


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## Blake1979

I use them a lot split boarding. Mainly for calling out when clear of a drop and at my safety spot to clear the next skier or rider. Also great for guiding a rider into a blind drop after scouting it from below or warning others not to follow if a line turns out to be awful, etc. Also useful in trees to avoid getting separated or if someone gets in trouble.

Just remember that these radios are FM low power so you need to be line of sight. Terrain and heavy forests block signals and shorten range. You can get some really small ones that are light and slip in a pocket easily. I think that Uniden, Cobra and Motorola make the best ones.


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## JonSnow

Is there something better than the FM frequency range? Will the Nextel phones work better than a traditional Walkie Talkie? 
I will be using these on a resort to communicate with a group that is possibly on the other side of the resort. If they don't work at those ranges, through the tree cover on the mountain, I don't think that I will bother buying them.


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## xIceHoundx

JonSnow said:


> Is there something better than the FM frequency range? Will the Nextel phones work better than a traditional Walkie Talkie?
> I will be using these on a resort to communicate with a group that is possibly on the other side of the resort. If they don't work at those ranges, through the tree cover on the mountain, I don't think that I will bother buying them.



Dont expect too much range capability with a standard 2 way radio (walkie talkie). If you was looking to get more range and capability youd be lookingat something that runs on GMRS band, but youd need to get licensed by the FCC to be able to operate on that. With FRS, which is what most 2 way radios are operating on, you dont need any licensing.


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## xIceHoundx

Heres a good little writeup by REI about choosing a two way radio:

Two-way Radios: How to Choose


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## killclimbz

Most of the time you are probably not going to have issues with the two ways. They work surprisingly well around resorts. Deep canyons, being down below ridge line on either side of a mountain are the most likely ways to lose contact. Usually solved by one or both members gaining some altitude. Anything solid can affect the signal, but it takes a lot. Distance can be a factor too of course. 

The bigger annoyance is all the other people using your channel. They all seem to get use at busy areas.


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## heggathestrasni

For quite some time I was thinking about getting couple of two way radios for snowboarding and mountain biking, it is quite handy if you use them with handsfree, you're always one push of the button away from talking to your friend.

However, after I explored my options I got licensed (just for fun, in Bosnia it was quite easy, not sure about the process in other countries) and got myself a pair of these:

BAOFENG New UV 5R UU 136 174 400 520Mhz Dual Band UHF VHF Radio | eBay

Interesting I wasn't expecting as good quality and sturdy device, for a fraction of a price of quality two way radios like motorola and kenwood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing it to 200-300$ devices, but it is still really good.

EDIT: OK, I've just read that license in US is 85$ so I guess my post is not of much help, other than maybe to people who already have it and/or were looking into getting a cheap but still dependable device.

For people that are licensed and have motorolas, kenwoods etc. this could be a great backup or even a primary option for activities that have high risk of damaging more expensive devices.

Shitty manual, awesome community with a lot of information online makes this Baofeng interesting option that would give you good range and great battery life... If you're willing to get a ham license.


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## Donutz

Walkie talkies don't have a lot of point in the lower mainland because we have good cell coverage on the local mountains. But somewhere like Baker or Manning, they'd be very handy.


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