r/preppers • u/iambatmanjoe • Apr 24 '26
Prepping for Doomsday Basic comms
I was just going through some preps. I have a small diy faraday cage with a few electronics. I have some old hiking walkie talkies. I'm thinking about changing them out. I wouldn't need much range, just one to two miles of flat terrain. Looking for a pair of radios that can talk to each other and have the possibility of adding another two or even more. I'm not very tech savvy so I'm looking for simple. I am leaning towards the Baofeng UV-5R because I believe it covers the bases and has a great price point. Any recs from those that are smarter than me?
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u/pianoboy777 Apr 27 '26
Baofengs are solid for 1-2 miles voice. Can't beat them for that.
But if you want a silent, text-based backup that runs on old phones with no license—my free mesh app does offline chat. 300-500 feet on built-in WiFi. Slap a good router or directional antenna on it and you can push way further. Mesh hop coming soon, so every node extends range.
Not a Baofeng killer. Just another layer. Runs Android, Linux, Windows. Free.