Lightweight HAM Radios…

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The Kenwood TH-F6A is a nice handy talkie… but Amateur VHF/UHF is line of sight. So hills will significantly limit your range if you are running simplex. Repeaters can greatly extend your range provided you have line of sight to the repeater. But even when there is a repeater on a local peak doesn’t mean that you will have coverage because ridges and other obstacles could be between you and the repeater tower. Don’t just expect you will find repeaters that you can use, check for what coverage you can expect.

If you really want to give them piece of mind I would suggest a PLB or maybe a satphone.

If you really want to do ham (for nightly check-in rather than a “I just got hurt, come get me”, I would suggest doing CW which requires less power. Something like the AT Sprint III can be something like 4oz.

Links to a bit more information on my survival signaling page.

If I'm in Utah I know where several key repeaters are that, granted I can hike a bit, I could hit via line of sight. If I'm in a situation where I can't hit a repeater, my thought is that (worst case scenario) a search plane flying overhead would be able to pick up my signal for quite a ways. (Of course they would know what frequency I am on and the itinerary for my hike).

One good thing is that my family, extended family, and a group of family friends all go jeeping in various places of Utah and are always monitoring the same frequency. There is a slight chance that I could catch somebody out and about if I was high enough. Maybe a handie-talkie doesn't have the power though.