One unit as opposed to two, to:

Conceal more easily as and when necessary,
"Worry about", i.e. not to lose,
Charge/change batteries, and have on "standby".

Having never travelled in a convoy in the middle of nowhere though, I don't really know how much, but would it not be useful if you beacame separated to be able to quickly transmit your location to your fellow travellers which they could use as a GOTO? OK, you could radio them and give co-ordinates, which they could enter on their GPS, etc., but it's got to be a time-consuming and error-prone process in comparison to pressing a button (which I assume you can do with these).

Having said all that, perhaps you're unlikely to be out of sight and still within radio range? And of course if the unit breaks or gets lost or stolen then you've lost two devices.

Going back to the cheap "toy" radios, I can only vouch for the ones I bought just under 3 years ago, being very sceptical that they'd be any use at all. Admittedly they're only used on occasions, surveying on construction sites, and have been fairly well used and abused in all weathers - rain, mud, dust, etc. etc., and they're still going strong! The make of these is actually "Telcom", made in Thailand, bought from Dixons as I recall. I would have thought the Motorolas must be better, though not sure in what way.

[This message has been edited by IanC (edited 26 February 2003).]

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