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Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio Review

By

Jason Albert

The Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio brings to market a relatively easy to use GMRS radio units with a feature set that may appeal to some backcountry users.

The Rocky Talkie 5 Watt Radio brings to market a relatively easy to use GMRS radio units with a feature set that may appeal to some backcountry users.

  Rocky Talkie began selling the venerable 2W Mountain Radio in 2019. In a short time, the company has become known for hardened and reliable radios. I’m certain issues have befallen some units, but I’ve heard of none among my community of climbers and backcountry skiers/riders who use the radios. The Mountain Radio has been…

Responses

  1. Patrick Fink

    I jumped on the 5-watt bandwagon with you after your first look. I’ve been dissatisfied with the available options for years. I’ve tried:

    1. Blister pack radios: cheap, but poor function and die in the wet and cold
    2. BCA Gen 1: Much better than the blister pack, but the mandatory mic had channel switching issues.
    3. BCA Gen 2: Fixed the channel issue, but the mic connects to the radio with a connection that breaks easily.
    4. Baofeng UV5R: Nerd alert! It can talk to planes and ham radios and transmit at higher than legal power on FRS channels, but it’s just too complicated and hard to program.

    So far, the 5Watt RT is a huge jump forward. I’m running it with the longer antenna, clipped to my pack with no tether or mic. It has really positive haptics, and is easy to use with gloves (mostly, see below). The battery life is superior and it’s simple. The requirement of shoulder mics on BCA radios is a liability, as I find the connection to shoulder mics a failure point. Accordingly, I stick this radio on my backpack strap and KISS. The only issues I’ve noticed with the radio so far are these:

    1. The volume up button is impossible to use with a glove on because of its proximity to the transmit button bevel.
    2. The scan function is slow, so if scanning, you often pick up only the second half of the transmission.
    3. Biggest issue– there is no way to lock the radio in Power: Off, and it’s darn easy to turn on. You couldn’t reliably pack these in a pack and hope that they’ll stay off.

    Just my 2 cents.

  2. Jason Albert

    Thanks Patrick for the insights. So far, I’ve had the unit free floating in the main compartment (while I’m using the hand mic on the shoulder strap)—and I’ve only had the radio powered up…no accidental shut offs yet. I’m turning the radio on before I leave the house (as I do with my transceiver so I don’t space turning it on) and turning the radio off when I return to the trailhead/car.

    1. Patrick Fink

      Accidental shutoffs aren’t an issue because you can lock it in the on position, and should, as it’s pretty easy to change channels with the channel flipper. Im thinking of bringing it in to a hut or similar, for example in June I’ll be hopping a heli up to a hut in BC for some rescue training and I’ll be bringing the radio. It’ll be a bummer if it turns on in the bag, and for now I think I may just have to take the battery out for transport to guard against that.

      1. Gavin Hess

        Hey Patrick,

        I have often used a hard sided sunglass case with my Baofeng radio to prevent accidental transmission in my pack – I even cut a little hole for the antenna. That might be a good solution for traveling with the rocky talkie

  3. Jason Albert

    Let me know if I missed something. I lock out both the Mountain Radio and 5 W Radio by habit—solid for locking channel(s) in place, but I can still power down the unit when “locked.” I searched the manual before reviewing about locking in the “on” position, as that was my concern, but did not find any hints—but I certainly could have skipped passed it.

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