So how would you communicate with your family or get help if communications go down? If you found yourself in the middle of a wide-scale disaster such as a hurricane or other catastrophe and you had no government coming to help for a while, how would you communicate with your family or others? What if the power grid went down? You won’t be able to rely on your cell phone. There are alternatives, however. This is a pretty long article that goes into some good detail, but if you want the short answer, this is what you need.

 

Group Communication

This would be for coordination with your group. You might justify battery storage or even getting a solar charging kit for this. For short term disasters, having a solution for intra-group communication when out of direct sight but still close by could be invaluable.

 

Informational

This is the most critical application and fortunately, it is the area that is most addressed by available products. There are a large number of crank/solar charegable radios available on the market that support AM/FM, weather, emergency alert, long-wave and short-wave bands. The more bands supported, the more robust the radio, the more expensive, but this is an area you might appreciate having money outlay.

 

Ham Radio (Suggested)

This is a radio at a different level. Assuming the worst types of doomsday scenarios, it is likely and even possible that the only communication mechanisms that function will be amateur radio. If you want to pursue this route, you have some work to do. Obtain a copy of the ARRL Ham License Manual [link: http://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-license-manual] and start doing your homework. If you put the effort in, you’ll be well prepared and have a skill set that will be in demand at a time when most other skill sets will seem silly.