[mikestew]

What does your family member do that they have one?

Goes on a hike and realizes that a lot of BC doesn't have any cell service?

I haven't used mine for an actual emergency, but it did come in handy in Yukon with an irreparable motorcycle tire. I mostly use it as a backcountry text message device to let the spouse know I'm not dead, or just general chat if I have messages left. Regardless, "long hike in a remote area" defines even a lot of day hikes in WA state, let alone the interior of BC. There probably isn't a month that goes by that I don't grab mine for one remote adventure or another.

[cf100clunk]

There are still some of us who have CB radios (with all their limitations acknowledged) in our vehicles for back country emergency use, and I occasionally see mobile ham radio operators. A Garmin inReach seems like it would be a good addition.

[Scoundreller]

CBs are good for the forest service roads so you know when logging trucks are coming or going.

[cf100clunk]

You'll need a special VHF radio for that kind of traffic tracking on Forest Service Roads in BC, and there are specific usage patterns you must follow:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/natural-resource...

A CB radio doesn't help much with that, but it is just another means of possibly getting contact with others.

[Scoundreller]

Ahhh, I remember it being possible on one of the Baofeng’s that can do almost anything.

Transmitting may require licensing, but listening should be fine.

[vel0city]

Citizen-Band "CB" is a pretty specific type of AM radio limited to a number of defined channels around 27MHz.

Those Baofeng radios are VHF/UHF (140MHz/440MHz) FM radios, not "CB". If you had a Baofeng, and your buddy had a CB, there is no good way they would be able to communicate. These radios can operate in a wide range of frequencies with various levels of legality. But yeah in the US and Canada its generally legal to receive a transmission...other than maybe old cellular phones but that's another complicated mess.

[cf100clunk]

I'm pretty sure the parent wasn't commenting on tracking CB radio, just the FSR VHF traffic I mentioned.

[cf100clunk]

That's an excellent point - using the channel maps at the site I linked to above, there is nothing to stop someone with a scanner keeping informed of FSR traffic.

Just one other point: on an FSR an average person's general sense of traffic "right of way" is generally wrong and can result in some terrible accidents far from help. To wit: the bus crash involving UBC students outside Bamfield.

[soperj]

Pretty sure that was UVic students.

[beebs93]

Agreed.

Said family member mentioned in the parent thread keeps a handheld radio (I don't know the exact tech specs, sorry) for such occasions. That said, they mostly use it to just listen for any logging trucks calling out checkpoints so they can avoid getting in their way when travelling to their remote campsites.

Coupled with a Garmin inReach w/ backcountry maps installed, it gives us peace of mind in case something goes wrong out in the bush.