Best walkie talkie under $100

[curtrein]

Hi Guys! What is the best walkie talkie set you can buy for under $100? I need something for ice fishing/ general fishing with a solid 2-5 mile working range. I know a lot of them say they're like a 20 mile range or whatever but we all know that's wishful thinking. Thanks guys.

 

[wsender]

Just a thought, range is going to be seriously limited by topography. You might be able to get over 25 miles, or under a half mile, it all depends.

 

[ConMan]

I have an earlier version of these http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cobra-CXR800-Two-Way-Radios/708942.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dcobra%26x%3D16%26y%3D12%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=cobra&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

They're excellent radios. I use them fly fishing and find them more than adequate when separated through "non flat" terrain. I've not been miles and miles away. But even on low power they're clear. The battery saver on them works wonders and they last for 14 hour days. Better than the Midlands that I had prior to this purchase - by far.

Cheers,
Mike.

curtrein wrote:
Hi Guys! What is the best walkie talkie set you can buy for under $100? I need something for ice fishing/ general fishing with a solid 2-5 mile working range. I know a lot of them say they're like a 20 mile range or whatever but we all know that's wishful thinking. Thanks guys.

 

[afishinado]

I used to use walkie talkies, now..

 

[pcray1231]

We still use walkie talkies when hunting, phones have about zero coverage in the mountains....

Will have to get back to you on the model. Supposed range of 15-20 miles. But topography is the key. If there's a big hill between you and other guy, it won't work at 300 yards. If someone's on a peak somewhere, he can talk to anyone for all intents and purposes.

 

[jrcll]

yeah, remember that 5 mile range is if your on say something flat like a lake

 

[jdaddy]

My dad tried a few different ones for his extensive horse trips and went with a Cobra similar to Conmans.

 

[outsider]

We use Cobras and we're very satisfied with them. We use them in the mountains of northcentral PA - you just have to recognize their limitations. They're user friendly and it's easy to change settings.

 

[sandfly]

My ??? is why for fishing ??
I can it for hunting/etc. but fishing ????????

 

[jaybo41]

The ones ConMan referenced in his post are excellent. We used them often when we fish together when they're warranted. It allows us to communicate while keeping a good distance between us. Often one of us will hike upstream, the other starts where the vehicle is parked. One may hike down, the other may hike upstream, etc. I'm sure we've also exchanged information such as holding spots, which flys, colors, etc. Not absolutely neccessary to enjoy the fishing but a nice to have. Probably similar reasons as those who hunt may chose to use them.

The other thing I like about them is the ability to get weather reports from NOAA and good for safety too.

 

[pcray1231]

My ??? is why for fishing ??

Have done it for combat fishing steelhead. More people allows you to be several places at once to jump on that hole.... Then call friends. lol.

Seriously, though, I could see it in some places. Several guys split up, can get in touch to discuss where to go, when to quit or get lunch or whatever. Sometimes easy enough to do face to face, unless there's a cliff in the way or somethin... On brookie streams, I commonly "lose" my fishing partners, and then someone ends up fishing water the other guy just fished.

Certainly more fit for hunting than fishing. For fishing may not be worth the hassle. But there are times....

 

[franklin]

These are what I use. A tad over $100 but top notch.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=751943&destination=/catalog/product.jsp%3FparentCategoryId%3D104791680%26categoryId%3D104785380%26productId%3D742341%26type%3Dproduct&WTz_l=YMAL;IK-229313

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I have a pair of cobras that are supposed to have a range of 18 miles. I drive up over the hill to test them out and they are about 1.5 miles tops in hilly wooded areas.

I used to have this vintage set of Realistic radios that were 3 watts. They were each larger than a masonary brick and weighed almost as much with 10 AA batteries in them each. They only had A: B: C: for channels and I think C might have been Ch. 19. They had heavy duty retractable metal Antennae that telescoped out to about 4 ft. long.

I had them in my car one day, needed directions, got some trucker on the radio described where I was by the signs along the road and where I needed to go. Guy told me I was going the right way, asked me what kind of radio I had. I told him it was just some really old big handheld radio. He told me he was a t least 25 miles away from where I was and could hardly believe it was a handheld radio. This happened somewhere Northeast of Williamsport. I got them from a retired fire chief.

Found these on craigslist, exact same radios I had except these have 40 channels.