if you have If you have a family and like to be outdoors, you should have walkie-talkies. In many places where cell coverage is spotty, you need a better way to keep up with others than running around and shouting. Children love walkie-talkies. There’s nothing my 9-year-old daughter loves more than signaling to base camp, “Come in, come in, make me cinnamon toast, over,” when she’s halfway through her hike.
I know this isn’t necessarily the intended use case for the Rocky Talkie, the super-popular, super-rugged backcountry radio my friends use for backcountry skiing and multi-pitch climbs. But kids are much tougher on equipment than many adults. We’ve been testing the Rocky Talkies on weekend trips all summer, dropping them while strapped to my backpack and running in the rain.
We have tested walkie-talkies from several other brands, including the cheap ones from amazon and the standard midland walkiesbut Rocky Talkies are my favorite, even though (and probably because) they are much more expensive than other options.
Loud and clear
The Rocky Talkie comes in two different configurations. The Mountain Radio we tested uses the FRS, or Family Radio Service, band that the Federal Communications Commission reserves for most recreational walkie-talkie users. This is why you typically don’t pick up radio stations or CB conversations from large equipment on your walkie-talkie (although I’ve found you can still do so if you try).
Photography: Adrienne So
It also comes in a more powerful GMRS version which has IP67 submersible waterproofing and slightly longer battery life. Technically, you also need a license to operate the GMRS version, which I had no interest in getting for my 9 and 7 year old sons. Mountain Radio, on the other hand, is pretty easy to use, so my kids opened the box, turned it on, and started using it without me. Which, to be clear, is great!
Probably the most obvious difference between the Rocky Talkie and other radios is that many two-way radios are handheld only or use alligator clips to clip to clothing or backpack straps, but the Rocky Talkie has an ultra-light carabiner. I loved this. I have small pockets and I wear shorts. If I walk with a walkie-talkie clipped to my clothing, the walkie often slips when I sit down and I lose it on the rocks. I love knowing that neither my loved ones nor I will lose them or let them fall.
