Well we had a situation in the field yesterday where cell phones (although only a mile from each other-line of site) would not call each other to warn of a potential on coming hazard. As a result I have decided to invest in 2 way radios for my staff to be able to communicate with me and each other to avoid potential problems in the future.

So I'm reaching out to the all wise OB on recommendations for radios.

A couple of key considerations:
-Only need a 1-3 mile range. Users will be within site of each other
-Radio has some rechargeable capacity, preferable plug in that does not require removing the battery
-at least 4 hours of operation on full battery
-Compatible with a head set as not all users may have a free hand to operate
-Preferably less than $50 each

I use to think Motorola was the standard for these type of devices but googling looks like Midland brand may be just as good.

Yield to the all wise and experience of the OB.

Our Motorola 2-ways have always worked great.

Those little GMRS radios should be fine for that.

are those the *talkabout model?

seems like there are different reviews online regarding talkabout models

Bump for the Wednesday crowd

I work my Lab with a group of Pro Trainers and they all use the one below. I just bought a pair on Amazon for $32 and seem to work well.

• Midland LXT500VP3 22-Channel GMRS with 24-Mile Range

edit: I used the talkabout for years and never had issues until I let them sit for a long while and the batteries corroded the hell out of the insides.

In the office at the moment, when i walk out to my pickup I will get you the exact model it is.

I had a pair of talkabouts and they didn't work very well at distance.. I'd go with the longest range devices that are in your budget. Edit: It does appear that Motorola has a wide range of devices with the talkabout name. I'm guessing YMMV based on the version/range.

We have the XPR 5550's. Apparently the farm splurged on these. They are out of the $50 price range by quite a bit, but they work awesome.