For the rest of you, the question is, in a situation where one-to-one communication is critical, which is better: a two way radio or a cell phone?

To develop the answer, let's look at what constitutes such a situation.

Trips and Travels

The next time you take a long trip across your state or across the country, take notice of how many times your cell phone signal's availability fades or disappears completely. While many major cell phone service carriers are working to make coverage available everywhere someday, we are by no means there yet.

Now try caravaning across your state or across the country. What happens if one vehicle loses sight of the other or needs to take a break, or even has an emergency or vehicle problem? Call each other on your cell, right? Aha?but what if there IS no cell signal at the time? What then?

This is one everyday situation where a two-way radio (which does not depend on a third-party tower to function) would be crucial. As long as each radio has fresh batteries and you're within a certain range, your two way radio will allow you one-to-one communication with the other party regardless of available cellular signal at any given time.

Family Amusement

Going to the beach or an amusement park, or other public event or location? What happens if you're in a building or area, again, where cellular signal is low or nonexistent?

No two-way radio set means communication between the parent and the kids is impossible, even if you both are carrying phones. This could be a serious issue if you lose sight of one another.

Throw a set of two way radios into the mix here and it's a completely different story! Again, a set of two radios will save the day in this scenario.

Camping and Hiking

For outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, hunting and the like, two way radio sets are great. In the wilderness, there is a good chance you will not have the luxury of perfect cellular coverage.

Why Cell Phones Are Better In Many Situations

The reasons cell phones are better than two way radios in a variety of situations, although apparent, are worth noting. First of all, two way radio sets only cover a certain range. In the aforementioned road trip caravan example above, this could quickly mean a loss of signal between the two parties.

Another instance where a cell would be better is if you have a young teenage child who is going to go down the street to the park or out for a bike ride and you want them to check in. Two way radios, again, are going to be limited due to distance.

So Which Is Better?

The truth is that cell phones and two way radios both have advantages which set them apart from each other. Neither is better, and both are important to have on hand for a variety of situations.