Motorola  Talkabout T600 H20 2-Way Radios - Pair

First, these will float when using the accompanying rechargable batteries. If you use common AA batteries such as Energizer or Duracell, they WILL NOT float. The directions are clear on this concept. I tested this by putting Energizers in one vs. the included rechargables in the other; the Energizer radio sank Cut to the chase and get these. You can drive yourself nuts reading a ton of reviews online on a ton of different radios. Most of us are not going to the Moon, so keep it simple. Additionally, our REI crew in my city used these and liked them. These have closest to the highest waterproof rating and I threw them in our pool for an hour; no leaks. The light activated once it hit the water. Both worked fine after being pulled out. One test location was Zion and notabl the Kolob Trail and North Rim Grand Canyon. All in all, the radios performed great. We tried the various features such as the myriad of channels you can use. I'm also registered with the FCC for the GMRS channels which I highly recommend; more stability and privacy on that realm. The Quiet Talk feature worked as described. In Zion (Kolob Trail) we separated ourselves and the radios were clear at 1/2 mile and then up to a bit beyond that. This is not a line of sight use, but a curvy canyon with cliffs up to 800'. Beyond 3/4 of mile in the canyon so narrow, we got intermittent, but that was expected. Later, in open range roads, we had communication at 5 - 10 miles. On the North Rim, clear communications from rim top down to 3 Mile House on Kaibab Trial. The NOAA weather channel was good, especially at the Grand Canyon were the T-Storms were kicking up. The handsfree feature worked as advertised. The most amazing thing?!! That other hikers asked us what were those yellow things hanging from our packs and after informing them; "you carry radios?" We had friends get separated from each other on a day hike a few years back, and one died from exposure. I'm an avid believer, you carry radios when hiking. Even if alone as, it's easy to jump onto a channel and find someone if you are injured.

I like to kayak in large groups, but I don't need marine radios. The two leading contenders for waterproof radios that float are this Motorola set and a Cobra set. I bought one pair of each. I was very surprised when one of the Motorola's died due to a dead battery during a kayak trip lasting 3 hours. I later tested all four (2 Cobra, 2 Motorola) at home, when all were fully charged. I kept them turned on, and kept turning on the flashlight whenever I walked by (they both turn off the flashlight automatically in case you turn it on inadvertently--both flashlight buttons are located next to the TALK button). One Motorola battery was clearly going down much faster, and by the next morning, both Motorola's were dead, while both Cobra's still had a lot of charge left. I returned the Motorolas. That said, they both float about the same. The Motorola flashlight turns on automatically if it drops in the water. Both have bright, fluorescent colors (Cobra is orange). The clips on the back were much better on the Cobra's, and the Motorola's clips were so weak that they fell off my PFD at times. I liked the built in flashlight on the Motorola better, as it has a reflector and also a red light. The layout of all the buttons is a little different, and I liked aspects of each brand. Both had equal performance, volume, and range in my limited tests on the water. In many ways, I thought that the features of the Motorola were better, but since none of the features work when the battery is dead, my choice was easy. REI was great about the return (and I had kept all the original packaging, since I don't want to abuse the return policy.)