In the market for walkie-talkies / 2-way radios

Mrs. Pettimore wants to get John Lee Jr. a set of walkie-talkies/2-way radios for a Christmas present.

He's almost 12 on is going on more "adventures" in the woods, and she wants him to be able to get in touch with us if he gets attacked by Nazis, grizzly bears, or anything else likely to be in the woods behind our homestead.

We had a set of cheapies years back, but we couldn't understand each other very well.

Any recommendation for a useful brand would be appreciated. I don't need Navy Seal quality. Just something useful for the what I described above.

What? ...doesn't he have his own cell phone?....
I thought those were required for anyone over 5 years old...LOL

I used Motorola Talkabouts ....worked pretty well....
I even had a model that had a FM receiver...came in handy...but quite on day and doesn't work any more.

There are about 2000 different models...mine are the $100 per pair version....
They used to sell 2 handhelds and a base station for about $150 bucks,....haven't seen them for a while.

Mostly use cell phones these days.

I don't know how much you want to spend. You might look at the Midland GXT line. They have several versions in several different prices. I have a set of GXT 450s that I have had for probably 10 years. The grand kids have played with them for at least five of those. You can get rechargeable battery packs or at least I did with mine. If you want to spend a bit less then look at the Midland LXT line.

I forgot to mention that we don't want to get him a cell phone yet.

I hate the things. Even more so now than I have a smartphone.

ETA: Thanks for the recommendation, Rick. BTW, JL Jr. likes your avatar.

Avatar? That's my picture.

John Lee there are many kid phones on the market that allow only specific numbers programmed into their memory and have total parental control.

There are also GPS tracker watches that include 1 phone number in the memory that are made just for the uses you have specified.

Prices on the phones and watches start at $20.

I am sure that you could rig up an old cell phone with parental controls to limit uses as you desire. My smart phone has parental controls built in.

We actually bought him a GoPhone a couple of years ago, real cheap, but it turned out you had to pay $20 or so each month for minutes, and there as no rollover, unless you bought the next months allotment.

I really prefer walkie-talkies because you don't have to worry about whatever the call plans are like now. They'll be used only occasionally, and it's more for peace of mind of the Mrs. than about safety.

Plus, you get to use the push-to-talk button, and say "Roger", and "Over", and stuff like that.

I know. Makes you think of "Airplane!"

Gotcha......LOL.....
Most people don't say Rodger , over and out on cell phones...
Then of you really want to be cool....start using the 10 codes.

10-4 ?

Tin, silver, gold. Tin-ford.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

Gotcha......LOL.....
Most people don't say Rodger , over and out on cell phones...
Then of you really want to be cool....start using the 10 codes.

10-4 ?

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Sorry I took so long to reply. 10-100.

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Originally Posted by JohnLeePettimore

Sorry I took so long to reply. 10-100.

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I sent you a pm....got some laying around if you would like them.?

In the years before everyone had a phone in their pocket, I got some Talkabouts for hunting with the boys. They were good for about two miles and they worked fine as long as the batteries held out. I have pair in my emergency kit (no batteries in them) for that "just in case" scenario.

Alan

That's what we use them for....
Have a couple of expensive models...had a FM tuner on it...It quit....Really liked that.

Had my radio on "scan" one morning.........Buck and a doe darn near ran me over.....they came for the other side of the highway.

Shot the both, doe about 8 ft...buck was running away...so I whistled...he stopped,.... shot him at about 15 ft...
Both with a 7 mm mag...did not ruin any meat...but moved the doe over from the trail about 5 ft.

Radio picked up on scan...."Doug, Doug... what that you that shot...?"

Doug says "No....there were 2 deer came by...a nice 8 pointer and a big doe.... that shot was from those a-wholes across the highway/"

Add a few other cuss words...

So I answered on their channel......"This is the A-whole from across the highway....Got'em both...thanks for pushing them out....LOL...have a nice day...headed for breakfast"

Now that right there is funny, I don't care who you are.

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Originally Posted by crashdive123

Now that right there is funny, I don't care who you are.

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I love irony...when I on the giving end.....

BTW remember that most all those handhelds have that "scan" feature...so anyone can hear what you or they saying.

Have some neighbors at :The Place"...actually the family (big family) own a lot of land........and won't let anyone hunt.on their land.

They do seem to think that all deer belong to them....so if the is a bunch of shooting near by....they have a couple of guys show up a few minutes........Being noisey.
They also listen to the radio conversations.

My next door neighbor hunt mine little piece of land.... and I hunt his.... together.....about 35 acres total...

One mid morning, nothing going on...we were standing in the fence line, drinking coffee ...and he was telling me, the every time he shot or said something on the radio....the others would show up in truck driving slow.....checking it out.
I hadn't paid that much attention....

He said "Here, I'll show ya...."
Shoots a couple of shots into the berm....hunt with a AR.....fired a couple of more.....then says:
"Wow, look at all deer.."......shoots again...." I got two,.. "
I answered him...."Here they come"......I shot into the beam as well...and then answered him....."Yeah, got a nice 8 pointer and a doe"

So as we were drinking our coffee the truck shows up in about 10 minutes........Guy stopped and hollered to us...."What going on....did you guys shoot?"
We shrugged our shoulders and answered...."No, We thought it was you guys...too much shooting for us......When you near one shot, that would be one of us..."

They were still talking about it at the saloon that evening...and giving us "the look....LOL"

Moral to the story.......
BS is everywhere, never believe anyone......radios will be scanned...true? not?