We chat with Bryce Jones, co-founder of Rocky Talkie to learn more about how the company entered the outdoor sports scene and the development of the new 5 Watt Radio.
Rocky Talkie’s backcountry oriented radios, the Mountain Radio (left) and 5 Watt Radio (right), are the cornerstone products for the company which began in 2019.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
THR: I recall messing around with some 1st or 2nd gen Motorolas—which were fine, I suppose, but not widely adopted in the backcountry scene (maybe it was poor marketing), and BCA came into the backcountry market with their well-received BC Link 1.0 and 2.0 radios. But I recall when the first Rocky Talkie radio dropped, from the aesthetics alone, with the carabiner and rugged body, I was a bit surprised a competitor focused on the broad umbrella of outdoor sports hadn’t entered the market sooner.
Bryce Jones from Rock Talkie: Well, it’s tough as a new company and brand. For a couple of years, Alex, my co-founder, and I definitely asked ourselves, “Why are we doing this? This is the most obvious idea in the world.” It did take a lot of work, but we’re happy with how it’s turned out.
THR: From a business standpoint, what do you feel was the tipping point regarding the community seeing this as a viable backcountry tool?
Jones: A lot of the initiative for launching the company revolves around the multi-pitch climbing side of things. Alex and I were climbing Castleton Tower—on that climb, the party above us had an accident due to a miscommunication. We were below them, and that was going on above us.
Alex and I used our Amazon-purchased radios as this was Alex’s first longer multi-pitch. That day, we started discussing why radios are not more common. And then, by the end of the day, our Amazon-purchased radios had died. We had a sense then why they weren’t more common.
They weren’t more common because of the user experience; they’re just not very convenient. We’d seen Jimmy Chin in Free Solo rig a carabiner on the back of a Motorola radio, but they’ve never been marketed specifically to climbers.
But when we launched the company, we figured some ski tourers would prefer our radio, but we didn’t know how many climbers would adopt it and figured that’d be pretty niche.
When we launched, it was interesting to go back and look at the Reddit threads or Mountain Project discussions around using radios and climbing. If you looked a couple of years before, when we launched in 2019, many were like, “no technology on the wall.”
Around when we launched, it was about an even split—some were opposed, some people claimed, “Why would you not?”
In the last couple of years, I wouldn’t say there was an exact tipping point, but having a good radio that’s also a good experience and is reliable, I think, has changed people’s minds.
And now, sometimes the discussion is if you’re doing certain types of climbing, you’re just putting yourself and your partner at unnecessary risk if you’re not carrying radios. From our perspective, the conversation has changed dramatically.
THR: What has been your experience, pros and cons, breaking into the backcountry ski community?
Jones: BCA definitely paved the way for us in identifying it as a critical safety tool. They did a really good job there. In the long term, some were looking for an alternative, reliable product at a reasonable price. Breaking into the backcountry ski market has been incredibly easy. We also didn’t have to do as much messaging about education as we do with other audiences. But, like any young company, we are still working on brand awareness and radio adoption.
THR: Let’s talk about the new 5 Watt Radio. From a market standpoint, other user outdoor user groups might demand a more powerful radio than the 2W FRS radios most of us are familiar with. When you began developing the new radio, what core market or user group did you have in mind?
Jones: The two things we were trying to improve were range and waterproofing. We designed the first radio for rock climbing and backcountry skiing. And still, I think, if you’re just doing those two sports, the first one is a great fit—we have had very few waterproofing fails, and the range is more than adequate in most situations, and it’s a lower profile.
[Editor’s note: the Mountain Radio is IP56 rated, splash, and snowproof, while the 5 Watt Radio is IP67, waterproof when submerged up to 1 meter.]
However, people have started using their radios for a variety of sports. People don’t want to have their waterproof radio for whitewater rafting and a separate, less weatherproof climbing radio.
Outside of just climbers and skiers who participate in other sports that need additional functionality, there are other markets where people want a GMRS radio with the Mountain Radio’s functionality—we were hearing that nonstop. With a GMRS radio, we could build in removable antennas, the ability to use repeaters, for example.
THR: Tell me about developing the multi-channel monitoring option into the 5 Watt Radio’s feature set.
Jones: The Telluride backcountry community radio program put it on my radar. I live in Ridgeway, Colorado, so as soon as I saw that program, it was clear to me that this is the future, especially since there’s been an explosion in backcountry travel.
So we decided to build the dual channel monitoring feature into the radio, but we needed to make it convenient and super user-friendly—you can use it on both the radio and on the hand mic.
We also designed the feature to be turned on and off—you don’t have to monitor two channels constantly, as that uses more battery power. And if you are in a remote zone and want to conserve power, it’s easy to turn off that function.
THR: I’m not an engineer. Let’s assume running a radio with multi-channel monitoring capabilities takes more power. Does that preclude the Mountain Radio, which has 2 watts of power, from ever having a multi-channel monitoring function?
Jones: No, it doesn’t. I would love it if that optionality were just built into our Mountain Radio right now. Just changing the hardware takes a long time. At some point, we will have a FRS radio with that functionality.
THR: I’m not delusional; I know not everyone is using a radio in the backcountry. I like the idea of a multi-channel monitoring option for potentially crowded zones. You can opt-in or out of using and monitoring a community channel. This is also a day and age where most parties have an InReach or a similar communication device that becomes the default tool for emergencies where outside assistance and/or life support is needed. How do you see the evolution of handheld radios, like a Rocky Talkie, and their ability to serve a dual function as a sat communication/messenger device?
Jones: Everyone thinks about radio use differently. I primarily see radios as really good for injury prevention and accident prevention. It keeps you on the same page within your party, so hopefully, for example, you don’t get off route and make bad decisions.
Then, satellite devices come in when things go wrong. Radios are also becoming more useful when things go wrong, but we still recommend a satellite device. We haven’t considered adding satellite functionality to the Rocky Talkie; we have considered it but haven’t done it for two main reasons.
First is the high cost. Then, there are the ongoing subscription costs for satellite access. A big part of the market uses radios for basic communication where they don’t need a satellite device. And in those cases, it’s nice having the two units separate.
But the second reason, which is a pretty big reason, is how the market is trending for satellite devices: it’s becoming standard in every cell phone. I don’t know what Garmin’s response to that will be, but it’s built into the recent iPhones and Samsung, and many others are adding it within the next year or so.
[Editor’s note: Currently iPhones with sat connectivity can alert emergency services, request roadside assistance, and drop a pin location, but do not allow two-way communication (by text) as a traditional sat messaging device would.]
So, within the next couple of years, in my mind, the ideal setup is your super easy-to-use rugged radio that clips onto your pack. It’s really small and waterproof, and it keeps you in contact with your buddy. And you keep your cell phone in your pocket or your pack in an emergency.
