If you have a family and you like to be outside, you should have walkie-talkies. In a lot of places where cell coverage is spotty, you need a better way of keeping track of each other than running back and forth and yelling. Kids love walkie-talkies. There’s nothing that my 9-year-old likes better than signaling back to base camp, “Come in, come in, make me cinnamon toast, over,” when she’s halfway through her hike.
I know this is not necessarily the intended use case for the Rocky Talkie, the super-popular and super-rugged backcountry radio that my friends use for backcountry skiing and ascending multi-pitch climbs. But kids are a lot harder on gear than many adults. We’ve been testing the Rocky Talkies on weekend trips all summer, dropping them while clipped to my backpack and running around in the rain.
We’ve tried walkie-talkies from several other brands, including cheap ones from Amazon and the standard Midland walkies, but the Rocky Talkies are my favorite, even if—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 that 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 don’t usually pick up radio stations or big rig CB conversations on your walkie-talkie (although I have found that you still can if you try)
Photograph: Adrienne So
It also comes in a more powerful GMRS version that 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 procuring for my 9-year-old and 7-year-old. The Mountain Radio, on the other hand, is easy enough that my kids opened the box, turned them on, and started running around using them without me. Which, to be clear, is great!
Probably the most obvious difference between the Rocky Talkie and other radios is that a lot of two-way radios are just handhelds or use gator clips to clip onto your clothing or backpack straps, but the Rocky Talkie has an ultralight carabiner. I loved this. I have little pockets and wear little shorts. If I walk around with a walkie-talkie clipped onto my clothes, the walkie often slips off when I sit down and I lose them in the rocks. I love knowing that neither my loved ones nor I are going to lose or drop these.