Two way radios

I've been thinking about getting a good two way radio for either assisting communication with my partner between long pitches or between two different parties. Do any of you find radios useful while climbing and what do you think I should consider when buying one for this purpose. I'm wondering if a low end radio should be good enough or if it's worth it to buy one with a few more features or more power. I definitely want one that's waterproof but don't need a lot of bells and whistles necessarily. I don't have much experience with radios outside of the military so let me know what you've used and how it worked out for you. Thanks

For the type of climbing i like to do (rock/snow/ice), slightly heavier and not-low-end models are most effective.

Specifically, these are my priorities for my type of climbing: completely weather-sealed, long-term resistant to breaking while banging against rock, having a physical knob for power and volume (useful for gloves and frequent volume changes or power-offs), high power output (rock blocks radio very quickly, we rarely climb line-of-sight), long battery life, NOAA forecast, and having a strong attachment point for a lanyard/biner/etc.

I've shifted to accepting ~2-3oz more weight penalty per radio, in exchange for higher performance and longer life. I used to go for ultra light and low cost, but that led to almost no objective being met: they're crappy in transmit power (no point of having radios if they are unable to connect), break more easily, and are more cumbersome to use.

The above criteria has gradually converged me to the Motorola "rugged" series. This pair of radios has held up the best out of the ~6 pairs (of other radio brands/types/styles) used over the past ~10 years.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072LAAA0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So this could be one option for your consideration. There are probably other/better ones too depending on your objective (and also for mine), and I'll when these die/break i'll research newer/better ones...

pjc30943 wrote:

high power output (rock blocks radio very quickly, we rarely climb line-of-sight)

So I did use radios on one climb and we had a lot of trouble with them do to not having line of sight. We basically stopped using them halfway through because they were mostly worthless. I don't recall the model/quality of those radios but how much trouble do you have with the higher end radios? Also do you happen to know if UHF or VHF is preferred for this purpose? I vaguely remember my comms classes from a long time ago and I don't know enough about why either is used. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/107174218/2-way-radios-for-climbing

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/110028214/two-way-radio

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/108258902/walkie-talkie-suggestions-please#ForumMessage-108259251

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/107249201/communicating-on-multi-pitch-routes#ForumMessage-107252099

I actually have good experience with 2-way radio's even without line of sight. My longest rope is 70meters and have no issues with the reception on that distance, even if it's slightly over a corner. Not sure if the EU frequencies just works better? We do have less channels and in a some area's you get lots of other people on the same channel. So keep saying those rope commands with names.

Saves so much time and gives you certainty about the rope commands. Long traverses are terrible for verbal and rope tug communication. I do have the radio's as plan C, Plan A is yelling, plan B tugs.

i think I posted a similar response, probably in one of the links above. But I find walkie talkies very helpful on multipitch routes. I use a cheap $40 pair from rei. They are small and I wouldn't be torn up if they broke on a climb, as they get banged around pretty good. 

Obviously they don't replace knowing how to communicate with rope tugs but having the option to have a conversation when you're a rope length away from your partner and it's windy as hell is super nice. 

Also I'm a whimp and tend to only climb easier wandering routes that put a decent amount of rock between my belayer and myself and I have never had any signal issues with my very cheap walkies 

For snowmobiling in the mountains I use Midland GXT1000VP4 and have been quite happy. In the same valley they have always had reception with great range. You'll always be limited by line of sight, but here was an extreme example. On a training hike up Mt Si my friend picked up friends down on Mt Rainier doing crevasse rescue practice: https://caltopo.com/m/RD2T