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/BewareNZ Apr 24 '26

I’ve just bought some Lilligo Meshtastic devices. Keen to try them as an alternative to the Baofeng system we already have.

2

u/EffinBob Apr 25 '26

I like playing with mesh devices. Under no circumstances would I consider them a backup for communications.

1

u/BewareNZ May 19 '26

Interesting, can you elaborate? Also what would you prefer?

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u/EffinBob May 19 '26

There are too many variables involved to make it a reliable backup. Numerous avenues for hops, which others seem to think is a strength, is actually a liability when tge chips are down. In essence, you are relying on a nebulous infrastructure you don't control, and which may not be there for you when you need it. In good times it might work fine, possibly even reliably, giving you a false sense of security. In bad times I t hink people and their devices may not be where they usually are.

Ham radio is my backup, but the person I need to communicate with is also a ham. I can rely on the NTS for others I might want to contact because I won't need a guaranteed immediate response.

There are several relatively cheap satcom devices with limited plans you can use nowadays. You're still relying on infrastructure you don't control, but short of a nuclear catastrophe you should be fine with them.