Off-Road Communication

I recently bought a 2017 Tacoma TRD Off-Road and now looking to do some exploring. With that said, I've seen some articles on gmrs radios. This is new to me as back in the day I used the CB to stay in touch. Any thoughts, recommendations and installs about options on radio types (CB, grms, etc.) would be appreciated. Thanks TW

 

You'll want a radio that operates on the same service that the people you want to communicate with are using. If you want something for emergencies it doesn't get more reliable than a satellite messenger, i.e. Spot or InReach.

 

The off-road group I belong to use GMRS.

 

depends on were you are going, alot of places just have cell coverage, was in upstate new york last year 2 hours from the closest Walmart and still had 5 bars.

 

PACE plan always and do my best to go with a buddy

got CB, GMRS, and HAM. Garmin for last resort bad times

 

Most of the time we communicate through hand signals and yelling.

 

The Garmin InReach looks like an interesting device.

https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/personal/

 

i read up on these one night and similar types of communication and they were about the least expensive system to use that will work from anywhere and i think you can pay month to month but they just text and map view only and work with your smart phone

 

Any of the bars any good?

 

Thats how I communicate with my kids

 

^ This. The group I off-road with at one time was using three different types of radios and a cell phone. I have HAM, Race Radio and CB in my off-road car (I like to mount antennas LOL) but on one of our runs my co-driver was getting tired of having to juggle three radios and mic's, so now we mostly use HAM. Under the right conditions the 100 Watt Kenwood HAM Radio's (I think their both 100 Watt units) in my off-road car and my Tow Vehicle can reach over 60 miles on high-power.

I also carry a SPOT emergency beacon, with a couple of pre-programmed 'competent friends' who can come save me if something goes wrong.

I've not mounted a radio in my Taco (can't find a place where it doesn't look weird or out-of-place) but I generally carry a handheld HAM radio with me set to local Repeaters in the area where I expect to be.

Quick word about HAM radio's. I know the GMRS radios are getting popular however there still seems to be a lot of off-roaders using HAM radios (I like them for the range and lack of traffic). A couple of years ago I was in the mountains at a cabin my family owns. I had my handheld set to a local repeater for no reason and someone came-on who had gotten turned around in the forest and couldn't go back out the way they came. They wern't sure which route would lead them back to town (it was the middle of winter and many of the roads and trails up there are gated in the winter). Myself and a couple of others were able to get the guy and his group headed in the right direction and back to town.

Whatever you choose just make sure you and other people in your group know how to use them! I've come across people before who lost their group because they hit a button on their radio and lost the channel or frequency they were on.