As mentioned above, to legally operate that type of radio you need to have your amateur radio license. The technician licence test is pretty easy to pass and only costs like 10 or 15 bucks total for 5 years. With the introduction of the cheap chinese handheld radios it puts another tool in the quiver that may save you or help save someone else out in the middle of no-where.
I've got one of the ubiquitous Bao-Feng HT radios. Replace the stock rubber duck antenna with something like the dual band Diamond SRJ77CA and they are pretty decent little rigs. I usually pack mine in my backpack when I'm hiking and program with any repeater that I *might* be able to hit in the area. I also try to program in any NPS and USFS frequencies to monitor.
The other thing to remember, if it is a TRUE EMERGENCY then you can attempt to contact help on any frequency without repercussions from operating on a frequency that you are not licensed for.
psykokid, would you please start up a new thread on HT radio.
This is the best performance/price value for back-country comms that I've seen. I've used the cheap walkie-talkies extensively, and they are good for heading off problems. This tech can get you in touch with SAR authorities on a 2-way basis in an emergency.
We'll ask Steve C to put it in the "How not to die on Whitney " area.
That said, please please please keep the signal to noise ratio as pure as possible. Needless chatter destroys the wilderness experience of others, so keep messaging to the minimum.
