Walkie-Talkie for Climbing and Hiking in the Mountains: Our Recommendations

If you practice climbing or hiking in the mountains, you are very familiar with the sense of freedom and total immersion in nature that these sports offer. Many choose to engage in outdoor activities not only because they are passionate about extreme sports but also because they first and foremost love the mountains and nature. Being on a rock face or at the top of a peak allows you to completely disconnect from the urban environment and find a sense of peace and sometimes satisfaction that is unparalleled.

Like all outdoor sports that involve significant physical effort and isolation in remote locations, climbing and hiking also comes with some risk factors, ranging from possible injuries to accidents along the way: it’s part of the game.

What can make a difference in these cases is having communication tools that allow you to stay in touch even in the most complex situations.

For example, a smartphone is not enough because you might have network problems, and above all, you will hardly be able to free both hands to dial a number (whether it is an emergency or your adventure companions).

Therefore, you need lightweight, durable, reliable communication tools that allow you to initiate communications with just one button or even without having to click anything, like walkie-talkies! Here are the best models for hiking or climbing, also recommended by Fabio Passi (@passidifotografia), photographer, hiker, and winter mountaineering enthusiast.

The Walkie-Talkies That Shouldn’t Be Missing from Your Kit

Put aside the smartphone (which on the one hand is good because you practice a healthy digital detox); what you need to take with you to the mountains is a walkie-talkie.

Walkie-talkies are transceivers that allow you to communicate even in remote areas without a cellular network with other people up to a range of 12 km.

This allows you to always stay in touch with your adventure companions or even stay in touch with people in the valley who can rescue you in case of an emergency. Walkie-talkies, besides being fundamental tools to reduce risk factors, allow you to communicate with your climbing companions even if you are in different parts of the wall, making the experience more enjoyable.

Similarly, if you are a mountain guide and you take groups to teach climbing (or via ferrata), using walkie-talkies in a group makes your job easier because it allows you to communicate with everyone in a simple, quick, and immediate way without losing anyone.

Walkie-talkies are easy to use; just press the PTT (push to talk) button to start communications. Some models also have the VOX mode integrated, which allows hands-free communication without having to press any button.

But which walkie-talkies should you choose?

Walkie-Talkie for Hiking

If you practice hiking, the ideal model is the Midland G13, which allows you to connect to the special Rete Radio Montana channel to report emergencies, has an IPX4 water resistance rating, a usage autonomy of up to 40 hours, the VOX mode that allows you to talk without pressing any button, and unparalleled robustness.

Fabio Passi has been using his G13 for mountain hiking for years, and sharing his experience with us, he gave a concrete example of how the transceiver was performing in terms of range during his treks. In fact, during a hike on Monte Viglio (Monti Cantari, Lazio), he received a signal from Terminillo (Monti Reatini, Lazio), and the two are about a hundred km apart.

Walkie-Talkie for Climbing

The needs are different when climbing because, in addition to having excellent performance and reliability, you also need lightness and low bulk.

Imagine being on a wall with:

• backpack

• gloves

• ice axes

• ropes

• all the climbing gear attached to the harness

The ideal is to have a handy tool that is easy to use even in winter, and the Midland XT30 meets these characteristics. It has a range of up to 6 km, making it ideal for coordinating with your team during climbs, has a battery life of up to 5 hours and can be recharged via USB, has the VOX function, allowing hands-free communication (essential when it comes to climbing), and weighs only 75 grams, making it one of the lightest transceivers in the Midland range.

Other Accessories for Outdoor Activities

As anticipated, walkie-talkies are essential, but other accessories might also be useful during your climbing or hiking sessions, such as emergency radios.

In the EK35 kit, in addition to thermal blankets and transceivers, you also have the ER300 radio and power bank (with which you can recharge your walkie-talkies), a multifunction tool equipped with an AM/FM receiver, an ultrasound dog whistle (in case of search and rescue), an LED flashlight, and the Morse code SOS function. 

It can be recharged in 3 ways: 

• via dynamo 

• with a solar panel 

• with rechargeable batteries.

The ER200 emergency radio also features an AM/FM receiver and is rechargeable in the same 3 ways as the ER300.

Finally, there is the ER250 radio, which, in addition to the ER200 features, has a Bluetooth function that allows you to play audio from connected devices.

Lastly, we asked Fabio Passi for one final piece of advice to share with all outdoor activity enthusiasts:

"Never go out without a walkie-talkie. It’s not just about your safety, but also that of others. A walkie-talkie must be ergonomic, practical to use, functional for the activity practiced, and obviously must have good reception both for incoming and outgoing communication to communicate with your adventure companions in any situation and weather condition. Of course, autonomy (battery life and longevity) is also important."

Fabio Passi is a photographer and mountain sports enthusiast. He was born in Rome and has practiced various sports in his life, including football, baseball, and motorcycling. His love for the mountains stems from his passion for photography: he initially started frequenting them to capture wild animals in their natural habitat, but over time he became increasingly interested in sports activities, first hiking, then winter mountaineering.

If you want to discover the experience of other people who have chosen to rely on Midland over the years, you can read the Midland Stories.

Now you just have to prepare your equipment and don’t forget your walkie-talkies!