Communications - How Will You Keep In Touch?
We often take communications for granted when we are in our towns and cities where mobile phones can easily pick up the signal. But as soon as you start hiking on mountains and in remote places you will find it difficult to obtain a signal from your service provider. Sometimes on mountains we have found that just moving 50 yards/metres or so can make a difference in obtaining the required signal, as can generally gaining height. It all depends where your particular service provider has sited its aerial towers. Some service providers have better coverage than others in particular areas so it is always worth trying another phone network on someone else's phone if you are having problems. Also in some countries you can dial one emergency number such as 111 which is apparently recognised by all service providers even if you are not subscribing to them. Before packing your phone in your rucksack do not forget to make sure that the battery is sufficiently charged and wrap it in a plastic food bag to keep it dry.
Walkie TalkiesApart from phones we have found that cheap hand held walkie talkies can be useful in remote areas often with a range of up to 4 miles (almost 7 kilometres).Bought in pairs and powered by rechargeable batteries they are useful for staying in touch with one another if you temporarily split the hiking group for whatever reason. We found that they even work on motorways between two travelling cars provided the cars are in range of one another. As with phones keep them charged up and store them in plastic food bags to protect them.
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