Backcountry Radios -- experience, recommendations, questions

[SnowMachine]

I'd like to have 4 radios. One for each family member. It becomes a bit pricey for the BC or RT. I'm now considering the Motorola T475. $100 for a pair and solid reviews including ski reviews.

At that price I can hand them off to friends or my kids and not worry about them.

Hmmm.

Ordered. I'll report back with my findings. It may be a month or two. Potential Christmas hand off to the minions.

[summit]

Ordered. I'll report back with my findings. It may be a month or two. Potential Christmas hand off to the minions.

Motorola T475 is a great radio. I use them.

[ASmileyFace]

I might try and pick up the BC Link Mini when available, depending on how easy to use they are. Main goals are for staying in touch with my 8 year old if we get separated, and BC skiing.

Anyone have early beta on these or a comparison with the Rocky?

I've handled a Mini when a BCA athlete was in town last year doing a shoot for them. The lack of ability to add a hand mic is a strange choice, but they are slightly better price than the RTs. They had great sound and reception according to the person who BCA was paying... so the jury is still out on how good they are imo. I will have a few in my store to sell this year and will be waiting to hear what people have to say.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I have my issues with BCA products generally, I there is room for improvement, but the Link 2.0s do what they are supposed to do with minimal drama.

Sent from my Turbo 850 Flatbrimed Highhorse

[ey_allen]

I've handled a Mini when a BCA athlete was in town last year doing a shoot for them. The lack of ability to add a hand mic is a strange choice, but they are slightly better price than the RTs. They had great sound and reception according to the person who BCA was paying... so the jury is still out on how good they are imo. I will have a few in my store to sell this year and will be waiting to hear what people have to say.

Yeah no mic is interesting. I wondered about that.

I have a pair of Motorollas right now that the kids use, but the range isn't great and they aren't really designed for skiing so buttons get pressed, the volume gets turned down, and all sorts of other issues from being in a pocket. RT or the new mini look better suited though obviously more $$.

[mr walker]

I started using radios (one for myself, one for someone in my client group) last season while guiding. This was like putting my day on easy mode...it's almost like cheating. Same thing for backcountry skiing. It really adds not just a layer of convenience, but of safety as well.

I went with Rocky Talkie since they offered a good pro form and I heard mixed reviews on the BCAs. I used the mic with mine, and my chosen radio-carrying client would just clip the other RT to their pack strap. The battery life was surprisingly good even in cold temps, I could communicate easily in wind, super clear transmissions, the carabiner worked really well for clients and would help them remember to give it back to me at the end of the day since it's external, and they were intuitive to use. For a client, a more traditional style radio with a clip means they're going to either lose it in a fall or they have to keep it stored in a pocket, both of which are non-starters for me. I didn't think I'd like the caribiner attachment, but it worked awesome for this use case and was very convenient.

I really liked having a mic setup for my RT. It's very easy to use with gloved hands; moreso than Motorola mics I've used before. I left the mic in position all season once I routed it through the hydration sleeve. This location meant I could also zip the mic away when not in use. After setting/locking the channel or pulling the radio off the charger in the morning, I would make the mic connection inside my pack and keep the radio stored inside a zippered pocket. Very slick. I also like having the mic in a slightly different location than my main radio (as opposed to running a dual radio harness). If something goes horribly sideways, it's one less thing I can fuck up by not keying the wrong radio. A slightly stronger spring for the mic clip was the only thing I would ask for, but that's really it.

An unexpected, albeit specific use, bonus: a lot of us have RTs/BCAs/Baofengs for use with clients or the helicopter, and we started using them to augment our main radios during control work. This really aided with comms within the route team/adjacent teams while keeping the chatter down on our main radio channel. I'm going to try to push this with my county's SAR team since oftentimes people are hesitant to say something on the radio that's actually pretty important out of fear of being on a main channel.

I had no problems communicating with other radio setups in my groups this past season. I did ask the BCA users about their experiences; a notable amount had failures at some point during ownership if they had been at it for a while. I should point out that the majority of people I've encountered with a radio have some version of the BCA Link, so that contributes to why "so many" people have had issues.

I've had great luck with my RTs and they've become an essential part of my loadout. The good news is there's tons of solid options out there. It's hard to go wrong. LOTS of folks are using the BCAs with success. If anyone reading this thread is on the fence about the investment, having radios in your group - whatever that looks like - is the way.

[whyturn]

My Rickie talkie was great last season and off brand mic can be bought off Amazon. Seems more durable than my BCA which broke after a couple seasons


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[SnowMachine]

Motorola T475 is a great radio. I use them.

Cool. I really wanted 4 and the RT's get pricy for quantity. Hopefully they work for my small people. I don't need a ton of distance, but I like to get ahold of them when they're soloing park laps or cruising with friends. I want to get my older son into the back country, so there's a lot more gear to buy.

[SnowMachine]

I started using radios (one for myself, one for someone in my client group) last season while guiding. This was like putting my day on easy mode...it's almost like cheating. Same thing for backcountry skiing. It really adds not just a layer of convenience, but of safety as well.

I went with Rocky Talkie since they offered a good pro form and I heard mixed reviews on the BCAs. I used the mic with mine, and my chosen radio-carrying client would just clip the other RT to their pack strap. The battery life was surprisingly good even in cold temps, I could communicate easily in wind, super clear transmissions, the carabiner worked really well for clients and would help them remember to give it back to me at the end of the day since it's external, and they were intuitive to use. For a client, a more traditional style radio with a clip means they're going to either lose it in a fall or they have to keep it stored in a pocket, both of which are non-starters for me. I didn't think I'd like the caribiner attachment, but it worked awesome for this use case and was very convenient.

I really liked having a mic setup for my RT. It's very easy to use with gloved hands; moreso than Motorola mics I've used before. I left the mic in position all season once I routed it through the hydration sleeve. This location meant I could also zip the mic away when not in use. After setting/locking the channel or pulling the radio off the charger in the morning, I would make the mic connection inside my pack and keep the radio stored inside a zippered pocket. Very slick. I also like having the mic in a slightly different location than my main radio (as opposed to running a dual radio harness). If something goes horribly sideways, it's one less thing I can fuck up by not keying the wrong radio. A slightly stronger spring for the mic clip was the only thing I would ask for, but that's really it.

An unexpected, albeit specific use, bonus: a lot of us have RTs/BCAs/Baofengs for use with clients or the helicopter, and we started using them to augment our main radios during control work. This really aided with comms within the route team/adjacent teams while keeping the chatter down on our main radio channel. I'm going to try to push this with my county's SAR team since oftentimes people are hesitant to say something on the radio that's actually pretty important out of fear of being on a main channel.

I had no problems communicating with other radio setups in my groups this past season. I did ask the BCA users about their experiences; a notable amount had failures at some point during ownership if they had been at it for a while. I should point out that the majority of people I've encountered with a radio have some version of the BCA Link, so that contributes to why "so many" people have had issues.

I've had great luck with my RTs and they've become an essential part of my loadout. The good news is there's tons of solid options out there. It's hard to go wrong. LOTS of folks are using the BCAs with success. If anyone reading this thread is on the fence about the investment, having radios in your group - whatever that looks like - is the way.

I hadn't considered a pro-form. Hmmmm. I have the motorolas on the way, but I'll check into a pro-form for the RT

[::: :::]

This is the comment that worries me a bit. I would be using these for mostly snow sports, so it would be generally quiet in the background.

I think you might be surprised once you start using a radio in the open how much background noise your brain normally just filters out

[SnowMachine]

I think you might be surprised once you start using a radio in the open how much background noise your brain normally just filters out

We'll see how these Motorolas do. I use radios a lot. Both for work inbounds and in the back country. Curious how these stack up. I want something simple for the kids to use.

[hafjell]

Can the RT's work with a friend's BCA?

I started using radios (one for myself, one for someone in my client group) last season while guiding. This was like putting my day on easy mode...it's almost like cheating. Same thing for backcountry skiing. It really adds not just a layer of convenience, but of safety as well.

I went with Rocky Talkie since they offered a good pro form and I heard mixed reviews on the BCAs. I used the mic with mine, and my chosen radio-carrying client would just clip the other RT to their pack strap. The battery life was surprisingly good even in cold temps, I could communicate easily in wind, super clear transmissions, the carabiner worked really well for clients and would help them remember to give it back to me at the end of the day since it's external, and they were intuitive to use. For a client, a more traditional style radio with a clip means they're going to either lose it in a fall or they have to keep it stored in a pocket, both of which are non-starters for me. I didn't think I'd like the caribiner attachment, but it worked awesome for this use case and was very convenient.

I really liked having a mic setup for my RT. It's very easy to use with gloved hands; moreso than Motorola mics I've used before. I left the mic in position all season once I routed it through the hydration sleeve. This location meant I could also zip the mic away when not in use. After setting/locking the channel or pulling the radio off the charger in the morning, I would make the mic connection inside my pack and keep the radio stored inside a zippered pocket. Very slick. I also like having the mic in a slightly different location than my main radio (as opposed to running a dual radio harness). If something goes horribly sideways, it's one less thing I can fuck up by not keying the wrong radio. A slightly stronger spring for the mic clip was the only thing I would ask for, but that's really it.

An unexpected, albeit specific use, bonus: a lot of us have RTs/BCAs/Baofengs for use with clients or the helicopter, and we started using them to augment our main radios during control work. This really aided with comms within the route team/adjacent teams while keeping the chatter down on our main radio channel. I'm going to try to push this with my county's SAR team since oftentimes people are hesitant to say something on the radio that's actually pretty important out of fear of being on a main channel.

I had no problems communicating with other radio setups in my groups this past season. I did ask the BCA users about their experiences; a notable amount had failures at some point during ownership if they had been at it for a while. I should point out that the majority of people I've encountered with a radio have some version of the BCA Link, so that contributes to why "so many" people have had issues.

I've had great luck with my RTs and they've become an essential part of my loadout. The good news is there's tons of solid options out there. It's hard to go wrong. LOTS of folks are using the BCAs with success. If anyone reading this thread is on the fence about the investment, having radios in your group - whatever that looks like - is the way.

[cat in january]

I believe they all use the same frequencies

[NBABUCKS1]

I believe they all use the same frequencies

This is most likely work for any decent brand radio - but I used some budget bullshit amazon brand this weekend that was uhf/frs I borrowed from work and it would not communicate with RT. It would receive but not send.

But most likely for any motorola, rt, bca, etc.

[::: :::]

i wanna say RT publishes a grid of overlap frequencies between the units --- seemed like it was in the documentation
but generically, the consumer frequencies should be compatible

[eta]look here starting p15: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...f?v=1615333402

[caulfield]

Can the RT's work with a friend's BCA?

yes

these are all just FRS radios that for some reason decided to add a proprietary numbering or lettering system to the pretty-much-universal one that already exists

depending on who is better at adjusting their radio, the BCA friend can match the frequency listed in ::: :::'s post or the RT friend can match the ones on page 5 of https://k2sports.a.bigcontent.io/v1/...anual-WEB-2021. Worth writing those out on your phone and a card to stick in your repair kit. And probably a couple of the actual frequency numbers if you know people that are liable show up with an un-programmed baofeng. Also your touring zone might have channels like https://nwac.us/backcountry-radio-channels/

that budget radio problem sounds like a privacy code (CTCSS/DCS) mishap

[enginerd]

Thought I’d circle back around to this after spending way too much time thinking about it.

After a little more tinkering, owning a BCA Link 2, playing with friends Rockys, observing friends with baofangs and doing 2 week-long hut trips where over a dozen people were using a mishmash of all of the above, I’ve settled on the Motorola T470 as the best of. This is primarily due to ease of use, signal strength/clarity and price.

BCA link 2 killers were primarily:

*quality control - too many reviews of people with poor range and other issues related to build. Mine had really bad range. Others had broken Mic connectors even on the new design.

*bulkiness/awkwardness/antenna placement - sticking your radio in your avy pack with a bunch of airbag electronics and metal safety gear messes with signal strength. Putting it in your front pocket like heli guides tell you to is bulky. Neither option is ideal for getting the antenna as high and free as possible.

Price: lowest I could find it on sale was $150

Rocky killers were primarily:

*ease of use - people seriously can not figure out the sub channels/privacy codes. Of course, if you’re willing to read the manual and practice with your radio for 10 min before your trip, this could be acceptable.

*floppyness on your shoulder. Carabiner interface is nice, but results in the radio flopping around during dynamic skiing. Again this is probably survivablez

*price: don’t think I ever found them for below $100.

Baofang killer was basically just complexity. You’re going to have to spend a lot longer learning to program these things to work on FRS channels/privacy codes. Also the speaker mic a couple of people had sounded like you were in a big wooden hallway. That said, if you need the expanded functionality they offer, hunker down with the manual and a couple frequency tables and go for it. Just don’t expect to hand a non-programmed one off to a friend or for them to be able to change channels.

Pros of the T470:

*Same feature set as the others (non-baofang) including channels, range, rechargeable, weather resistant.

*fewer build quality and signal issues (as compared to BCA) in reviews and in my own experience.

*intuitive enough to use that I can hand one to someone and tell them to go to channel x, privacy code y and they can figure it out in one or two minutes.

*Price: currently on Amazon for $75 for TWO!!

Cons:
*no pre-programmed channels so you can’t set a, b, c, d… like you can with the link and flip between them instantaneously if you get interference on your channel. It IS easy enough that if you have your team’s presets written down on your phone,it’ll take you about 10 to 60 seconds to switch.

*no carabiner attachment - in reality this might be a pro - I just tape the belt clip to my shoulder strap of my pack (all Motorolas seem to have the same belt clip) and then clip the radio on. This is a more stable connection than the rocky and still keeps the antenna up in the air at or above your shoulder for good signal and the mic/speaker/ptt button in a convenient place for easy continuous monitoring/communicating.



You might not be allowed in any ski films, but for me it seems to be the best blend of price, performance, convenience.

[CaliBrit]

I sent the Rocky Talkie guys an email asking why I should buy theirs vs the new BCA Mini Link.

They sent me a thoughtful, detailed reply which clearly indicated they were ready to stand behind their product. Worth a few extra dollars for me and to support people passionate about the same shit we are.

On privacy codes, it gets simple on the Rocky if you just use the channels above 22 which are just channels with a privacy code added. Just check you are in a 2W vs 0.5W.

If you wrap the cord on your shoulder strap it is less floppy.

[::: :::]

Rocky
*price: don’t think I ever found them for below $100.

black friday weekend seems to be the right time last couple years

Things that made me leave motorola were 1) speaker volume outdoors in the wind & 2) battery charging was silly long & subsequent battery use-life was short. That was hugely improved the RT [it has been couple years now; maybe motorola has improved with the competition...?]

i did like the ability to put in (3)AAs as an option

[enginerd]

Yeah the rocky issues are all totally workable. It’s a good product.

I haven’t had battery issues (yet) with the Motorola. It was pretty easy for me to just charge them at the end of every day so didn’t pay too much attention. They were rarely if ever less than 2/3rds charged after a full day…will see how long that performance lasts.

They might have improved the speaker volume on this model. I keep having to turn it down because it’s so loud when it’s on my shoulder strap. Will see how it goes after a couple more storms.

Jury is still a little bit out for me on the manual volume knob vs buttons. I have had a couple times where I accidentally spin the volume down when putting on or taking off my pack. That doesn’t happen with button controlled volume.

Hard to imagine Motorola’s response to “why you over BCA or Rocky?” [emoji23]


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[riff]

I tied a loop of bungy cord through my pack strap daisy chain to keep the rocky from flopping…


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[CHAIR_97]

Oxbow deserves a look . Lots of cool features including some that could save your life

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[summit]

Spent a week with a Rocky Talky zipped inside the non-trigger shoulder of my Scott Alpride 40 pack.

It was fucking awesome.

NO flopping. Predictable PTT switch location. Great audio and absolutely killer battery while others struggled on staticky Baofangs. I lost my Baofang. Good riddance to a bad copy.

[cbgarrett]

Picked up a couple BCA link mini radios.
Initial impressions: light, small size, the controls feel solid. Small initial learning curve to get set up, but not bad. I've used other FRS radios, but not any 'ski specific' units.
Comes with 2 different clips for webbing or belt straps, plus leash.

Used in the field a couple times and I am happy. No real issues. Good range, clear sound for the most part.

[enginerd]

Spent a week with a Rocky Talky zipped inside the non-trigger shoulder of my Scott Alpride 40 pack.

This is an awesome tip! Appears that all Alpride e1 and e2 shoulder straps are the same. Works with my Motorolas also on my Scott e2 and my buddy’s osprey e1.