Is GMRS what i need

[Guest voyager_1700]

I'm in a pretty rural mountain area.. looking at doing some off roading. I was thinking if getting a 50 watt GMRS (already applied for the licence) in case of emergency situations ..

Am i going down the right path.. any insight would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm looking for best maximum range.. antenna recommendation. Looking for possibly 4 ft antenna..

Something pretty easy to set up and get rolling with.

I keep seeing decent things in about Wouxun KG-1000G.

I don't know/understand a lot of the features and functions such as rx/tx and there doesn't really seem to be a lot of real compassion between brands and models. 

TIA

 

[AdmiralCochrane]

GMRS is not particularly good in valleys, it does not penetrate hills. If you are not in visual line of who you intend to speak with, it may not work.   On mountain tops, it is great.  Also it is very likely that unless you have coordinated a contact, no one will hear your call; it is not something monitored like marine distress channels.  There is even great debate over which channel would be best when traveling on highways.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, Guest voyager_1700 said:

I'm in a pretty rural mountain area.. looking at doing some off roading. I was thinking if getting a 50 watt GMRS (already applied for the licence) in case of emergency situations ..

Am i going down the right path.. any insight would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm looking for best maximum range.. antenna recommendation. Looking for possibly 4 ft antenna..

Something pretty easy to set up and get rolling with.

I keep seeing decent things in about Wouxun KG-1000G.

I don't know/understand a lot of the features and functions such as rx/tx and there doesn't really seem to be a lot of real compassion between brands and models. 

TIA

 

It’s really difficult to advise you.  I have my opinions but so much depends your personal situation.

I live in the mountains and I find that a 20 watt Radioddity db20g and some hand held radios is all I need.  Having more power won’t necessarily get you much more range, but it definitely costs more and drains on the battery. But if i did want 50 watts the radio you’re looking at is probably the only one I would recommend.

As far as antennas, the Midland mxta26 on a magnetic mount is ideal for me.  But the magnetic mount doesn’t work well on a plastic Jeep roof.

You might be best getting an inexpensive handheld first, just to learn the basics like setting tones, and when you need them. What an offset is, and etc.  Watch a bunch of YouTube videos by Notarubicon.  They’re pretty good and cover everything you need to know about GMRS. Everything you learn on a Baofeng radio or Wouxun kg805g (one of my favorites) directly translates to using a mobile radio.
Welcome to the forum.

[OffRoaderX]

2 hours ago, Guest voyager_1700 said:

was thinking if getting a 50 watt GMRS (already applied for the licence) in case of emergency situations ..

if you mean as a way to get help if you become stuck or injured then NO.. GMRS is NOT a good choice .. GMRS is great for talking to other guys in your group while off-roading, but in the event of a real emergency where you need assistance or rescue, then something like a Sat-phone, a Garmin InReach or Starlink is advisable.

[LeoG]

As soon as he said mountainous region the answer was probably not.  Running with your buddies it would probably work.  As an emergency device in a rural area not so much.

[SteveShannon]

One of the real self-gratifying myths of radio, not just GMRS, but also ham radio, is that in an emergency (or the SHTF scenario people get so giddy about) it will save you.  Unless you have already arranged for someone to actively monitor for you to send a SOS on a specific channel, it’s really just BS. The fact is these frequencies are not actively monitored in most places.  

[LeoG]

Well, my radio at the house is on 24/7 so if I'm in range my wife can hear.  But it is through local repeater, so you have to depend on them.  I need to get a quadruple receive radio so I can monitor all 4 repeaters in my area LOL.

[SteveShannon]

4 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Well, my radio at the house is on 24/7 so if I'm in range my wife can hear.  But it is through local repeater, so you have to depend on them.  I need to get a quadruple receive radio so I can monitor all 4 repeaters in my area LOL.

Or put it on scan.

[RIPPER238]

14 hours ago, Guest voyager_1700 said:

I'm in a pretty rural mountain area.. looking at doing some off roading. I was thinking if getting a 50 watt GMRS (already applied for the licence) in case of emergency situations ..

Am i going down the right path.. any insight would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm looking for best maximum range.. antenna recommendation. Looking for possibly 4 ft antenna..

Something pretty easy to set up and get rolling with.

I keep seeing decent things in about Wouxun KG-1000G.

I don't know/understand a lot of the features and functions such as rx/tx and there doesn't really seem to be a lot of real compassion between brands and models. 

TIA

 

I guess answers will depend on your definition of "emergency situations",

GMRS is a good start, but a full basic understanding of all radio communication is key if you want to use it for emergency's. GMRS by its self is limited to others around you (line of sight), or some random luck fining others that are, maybe a local repeater to boost range. My 15 watt GMRS radio in my truck has been good for off road trips with others on the trail, but i use TDH3 or Q10H for real emergency monitoring. 

What makes the KG-1000G good is that you have listening (RX) access to more frequently used frequency's (need Ham license to communicate (TX). This way you can be more aware of what's going on, but you wont be able to communicate on those frequency's with a GMRS radio (KG-1000G). 

 

[amaff]

Biggest thing you can do is, at a minimum is don't go alone.
InReach and other satelite devices are great.
I do carry a radio with me "just in case", but I let people know where I'm going to be, when they should expect me back (or at least be able to hear from me that I'm out of the woods, as it were), and if I'm later than expected and can't be reached and they end up sending someone to look for me, I've let them know that I have a GMRS / FRS radio and what channels I'll be listening on.
Other than when we're on a peak that puts us within eye-shot of one of our repeater antennas or overlooks the valley, GMRS ain't getting out too far when you're in the mountains. But it can be useful if you build it into your system.

 

What you should NOT do is go alone, go without having someone waiting for word / checking in, and expect that you can pull out a handheld radio and dial 911. Because that's not now this works.

[Shortarms]

i thought i seen a video that said channel 19 for traveling. 

On 2/1/2025 at 10:39 PM, AdmiralCochrane said:

.  There is even great debate over which channel would be best when traveling on highways.

 

[OffRoaderX]

30 minutes ago, Shortarms said:

i thought i seen a video that said channel 19 for traveling. 

• Official GMRS highway/road channel  = 19
• Official GMRS off-road/4X4 channel = 16

Source: I saw it on Youtube

[marcspaz]

56 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

• Official GMRS highway/road channel  = 19
• Official GMRS off-road/4X4 channel = 16

Source: I saw it on Youtube

 

I remember when you made the Ch19 video and all the banter on here leading up to it.  No one has successfully countered it to this day... so It still stands as the only authoritative source!  LoL

 

The sad part was, many of us (myself included) had no idea the Line A issue was nullified, which didn't help.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, marcspaz said:

 

I remember when you made the Ch19 video and all the banter on here leading up to it.  No one has successfully countered it to this day... so It still stands as the only authoritative source!  LoL

 

The sad part was, many of us (myself included) had no idea the Line A issue was nullified, which didn't help.

It hadn’t been nullified at the time of the video and banter. The FCC really should have made at least an attempt to announce it. 

[WRKC935]

I will agree with Randy (OffroaderX) and others.  Don't put all your egg's in the GMRS basket.

But I think the off road guys will agree, more is better.  IS GMRS good for off roading, yes, most likely.  But it can't be the only radio or method of communications in your rig.

A CB radio is a great addition, and possibly a ham radio, if you have the motivation to get the license.  But, repeating what others have said,  A Garmin InReach is going to be king.  But you need to understand the differences in what and who you are calling, and what level of 'emergency' you are in the middle of.

A flat tire, if you don't have any ability to change it is a problem.  If you are in a creek bed and there a flood warnings then it's an issue.  If your rig has flipped, and you are stuck under it in the creek bed and there is a flash flood warning, then you need IMMEDIATE assistance.  That's the InReach, forget GMRS and all the rest.

The other thing to consider is are you wheeling with others.  As many have said, never wheel alone.  And that's really sound advice. But it's not always reasonable, or we sometimes choose to ignore it for whatever reason we can come up with. 

We don't know your rig, setup, or what level of extreme wheeling you are doing.  Trail running on groomed trails is far different from rock bouncing in Moab.  And we don't really know how remote you are running.  If your trails run behind family homes that are occupied all year long, it's not the same as there being one cabin in the woods for 5 miles in any direction that while could be broken into in an extreme circumstance for shelter, would otherwise only be occupied one week a year during some hunting trip.

Gauge what you are doing with what you are needing.  Ultimately it's cheap insurance to have more than you need than not enough communication ability.  And even then, the InReach, as far as I know, will work anywhere at any time. 

Something else to consider as well.  And this goes against the historical thought process.  T-Mobile is now partnering with StarLink to offer cell service via satellite.  That might be an option worth considering as well.  The phone of course should have some app on it that will pinpoint your location via satellite, like your GPS does.  Again, something below the InReach.  You have to understand that the InReach is like calling 911 without saying anything.  They just send people to that location and they will come quickly.  Inreach has some text function, but it's mostly a distress beacon.  A 911 call will generate a similar response, but with more information being given to the 911 dispatcher, they can send a proper response to the actual situation. If they don't know what or who to send, everyone gets sent, and it's treated as a life and death situation.

 

[marcspaz]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

It hadn’t been nullified at the time of the video and banter. The FCC really should have made at least an attempt to announce it. 

 

That's true, the FCC just kind of let it slide into history with zero notice... which kinda stinks for people who knew it as the de-facto operation since the `60s.

[TerriKennedy]

On 7/7/2025 at 1:44 PM, WRKC935 said:

Gauge what you are doing with what you are needing.  Ultimately it's cheap insurance to have more than you need than not enough communication ability.  And even then, the InReach, as far as I know, will work anywhere at any time. 

Even with an InReach, you need to evaluate the situation and decide if it's the best solution in any given situation. 

[Trigger warning - really graphic gory stuff follows.]

In 2019 I fell while hiking on a mountain in the Mojave Desert in California. To be specific, I was standing on a rock that decided to disintegrate. I lost my balance, windmilled wildly for a few seconds, realized the situation wasn't salvageable and that I was falling into a jumble of large boulders. I instinctively put my right hand (I'm nominally right-handed) on my neck to guard my spine. After I landed, I took stock of where I was and the condition I was in.

I had fully broken both bones (radius and ulna) in my right forearm, with the bones sticking out. My knuckles were pretty scraped up and I wasn't sure if I'd broken anything there, either. I was not losing blood (although there was a lot of bleeding) and I could both feel my fingers and move them, so there was no risk of bleeding out and no apparent nerve / muscle damage. If you remember the Harry Potter movie where Harry breaks his arm and the crackpot wizard 'fixes' it by removing all the bones in his arm, that's about it, but with more blood and protruding bones.

I got some of my army surplus emergency clotting powder (the yellowish stuff) out of my pack and dumped it on the spots where I was leaking blood. I snapped one of my hiking poles (I wasn't going to be able to use both of them, anyway) to create a makeshift splint and used one of those giant Target plastic bags (that they used to give out when shopping, and which I carried to port out any trash I made or found), poked a hole across the bottom to put my arm in, and put the handles over my head. FWIW, in the late 1970's I was on the volunteer first aid squad in the town I grew up in, and have also had more recent survival training).

With the immediate emergency taken care of, I drank some water and took a pain pill from my pack and sat down on a less defective rock to take stock of the situation. I was WAY up on the side of a mountain, hours from the nearest hospital (as part of my pre-hike planning, I always take note of where the nearest urgent care / hospital / regional trauma center is).

I had an InReach (and the SAR 50 plan that covers up to $50K in rescue costs) with me. However, I was in the middle of nowhere (Inyo County is twice the size of the state of Connecticut and has 18,500 people living it, none near me). I figured if I pushed the button, LifeFlight would send a helicopter from Pahrump, NV (the closest medical facility), land down on the flatlands near where the Jeep was parked, look up the mountain and go "NFW" and call out mutual aid from San Bernardino Mountain Rescue. Which, aside from being in another county and several hours away, I know those guys well and it would have been pretty embarrassing. They would have to carry a litter from the helicopter up the mountain to me, strap me into it, and have the helicopter fly up over me and drop a line down to hook onto the litter. So I decided to self-rescue.

An hour and an half to get down the mountain to the Jeep, an hour across open desert and dirt roads, and another hour on paved roads to get to Pahrump. So, 3.5 hours total. I decided I could do that in less time than being rescued via the InReach, so that's what I did. With a fair amount of screaming in pain as I drove over bumpy areas. I was proven right about 6 months later when someone had a similar accident nearby, but closer to the nearest place where people lived (calling it a town would be vastly overstating things) and it took over 9 hours for LifeFlight and SB mutual aid to get that person to the same hospital I drove to.

The moral of the story is that you need to be self-sufficient in the wilderness, and also be able to evaluate your situation and make the best decision possible based on the information you have and your training. If you're alone and unconscious or pinned and unable to move, nothing will save you.

If you enlarge the attached picture, you can see red captions for "Where I Fell" and "Jeep" to get a feel for the situation I was in.

[WSHI752]

I live in Southern Colorado and go up to the mountains quite a bit. I chose the Retevis RA25 (same as the DB20G) because I can unlock it to do some HAM bands and MURS. That way in case of emergency, I have more options than just GMRS to try to contact someone. I don't have a HAM license, but in an emergency, I would like to be able to use it. 

I know it's not the end all be all in emergencies, but just being able to use the other bands just in case is good for piece of mind. I have all the repeaters that I can find in my area programmed in to the radio.

Luckily, my Google Pixel 9 also does emergency satellite texting.

[BoxCar]

Your entry level ham license is very easy to obtain. About 8 to 12  hours of Q&A memorization or viewing Youtube videos and taking a 35 question test to show you understand the basics is all that's required. You can find a local ham group to help you study and do the test from the aarl.net website.

Good luck, and get legal on using the full abilities of your radio.

[WRHS218]

On 7/9/2025 at 3:13 AM, TerriKennedy said:

Even with an InReach, you need to evaluate the situation and decide if it's the best solution in any given situation. 

[Trigger warning - really graphic gory stuff follows.]

In 2019 I fell while hiking on a mountain in the Mojave Desert in California. To be specific, I was standing on a rock that decided to disintegrate. I lost my balance, windmilled wildly for a few seconds, realized the situation wasn't salvageable and that I was falling into a jumble of large boulders. I instinctively put my right hand (I'm nominally right-handed) on my neck to guard my spine. After I landed, I took stock of where I was and the condition I was in.

I had fully broken both bones (radius and ulna) in my right forearm, with the bones sticking out. My knuckles were pretty scraped up and I wasn't sure if I'd broken anything there, either. I was not losing blood (although there was a lot of bleeding) and I could both feel my fingers and move them, so there was no risk of bleeding out and no apparent nerve / muscle damage. If you remember the Harry Potter movie where Harry breaks his arm and the crackpot wizard 'fixes' it by removing all the bones in his arm, that's about it, but with more blood and protruding bones.

I got some of my army surplus emergency clotting powder (the yellowish stuff) out of my pack and dumped it on the spots where I was leaking blood. I snapped one of my hiking poles (I wasn't going to be able to use both of them, anyway) to create a makeshift splint and used one of those giant Target plastic bags (that they used to give out when shopping, and which I carried to port out any trash I made or found), poked a hole across the bottom to put my arm in, and put the handles over my head. FWIW, in the late 1970's I was on the volunteer first aid squad in the town I grew up in, and have also had more recent survival training).

With the immediate emergency taken care of, I drank some water and took a pain pill from my pack and sat down on a less defective rock to take stock of the situation. I was WAY up on the side of a mountain, hours from the nearest hospital (as part of my pre-hike planning, I always take note of where the nearest urgent care / hospital / regional trauma center is).

I had an InReach (and the SAR 50 plan that covers up to $50K in rescue costs) with me. However, I was in the middle of nowhere (Inyo County is twice the size of the state of Connecticut and has 18,500 people living it, none near me). I figured if I pushed the button, LifeFlight would send a helicopter from Pahrump, NV (the closest medical facility), land down on the flatlands near where the Jeep was parked, look up the mountain and go "NFW" and call out mutual aid from San Bernardino Mountain Rescue. Which, aside from being in another county and several hours away, I know those guys well and it would have been pretty embarrassing. They would have to carry a litter from the helicopter up the mountain to me, strap me into it, and have the helicopter fly up over me and drop a line down to hook onto the litter. So I decided to self-rescue.

An hour and an half to get down the mountain to the Jeep, an hour across open desert and dirt roads, and another hour on paved roads to get to Pahrump. So, 3.5 hours total. I decided I could do that in less time than being rescued via the InReach, so that's what I did. With a fair amount of screaming in pain as I drove over bumpy areas. I was proven right about 6 months later when someone had a similar accident nearby, but closer to the nearest place where people lived (calling it a town would be vastly overstating things) and it took over 9 hours for LifeFlight and SB mutual aid to get that person to the same hospital I drove to.

The moral of the story is that you need to be self-sufficient in the wilderness, and also be able to evaluate your situation and make the best decision possible based on the information you have and your training. If you're alone and unconscious or pinned and unable to move, nothing will save you.

If you enlarge the attached picture, you can see red captions for "Where I Fell" and "Jeep" to get a feel for the situation I was in.

No one is coming. Expect to self rescue.

[WRTC928]

7 hours ago, WRHS218 said:

No one is coming. Expect to self rescue.

When I was young, I wouldn't have followed this advice, but I'm older and if not wiser, at least I know a bit more. Don't go into remote areas alone. If you're traversing difficult terrain, do it one at a time so there'll be at least one party uninjured if an accident happens. Make sure someone who isn't going knows where you're going and when you expect to be back. If communication isn't impossible, arrange a check-in schedule with someone who isn't with you. Don't try to pet bears. 

[marcspaz]

40 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

Don't try to pet bears.

 

Best advice on the internet, today!

[WRTC928]

1 minute ago, marcspaz said:

 

Best advice on the internet, today!

I spent 18 years in Alaska. You might be surprised how many people need to hear this.

[OffRoaderX]

55 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

I spent 18 years in Alaska. You might be surprised how many people need to hear this.

I was in Sequoia a week or two ago and as we were driving around we came up on several people pulled off the road looking at a baby/small bear just off the road... Everyone was in their car.. except for ONE non-english speaking (spoke Russian or something) woman.. and her TODDLER trying to walk up to the bear to get pictures...  Every time they got within about 5 yards the bear would trot away... I left before momma-bear came out to teach her a lesson about Darwin.

[hxpx]

1 hour ago, marcspaz said:

Best advice on the internet, today!

If not friend, then why friend shaped?

I think people underestimate moose, too. Saw a female moose and calf at a ski resort in Utah during the summer and the employees were trying to keep people far away from them. They are absolutely massive and have no problems stomping someone who gets too close.