Eric wrote:
Was thinking about getting one of these things...

There seems to be a lot of these on the market out there with a huge
range in prices. Among the cheapest ones I found was the Humminbird VHF
Radio for $60, but they can apparently cost as much as several hundred
dollars.

So, how much does price matter? Do you really need to spend more then
$60 to get something worthwhile? If you own one, which one did you
decide to get?

As with most things, you get what you pay for. All marine VHFs have
similar transmit/receive functions and weather channels. The main
differences are that the cheap radios are bulkier and are not
submersible, so you have to keep them in them in a dry bag. The
downsides to bagging a radio a

1) It reduces the speaker volume of the radio, making it more difficult
to hear and understand.
2) It muffles your voice when speaking into the radio, making it more
difficult for others to hear and understand you.
3) It makes the radio more difficult to operate.
4) It makes the radio much bulkier and more difficult to mount on a PFD
shoulder strap, hence it often ends up in a pocket or strapped to the
deck, which compounds all these issues.

These become real problems when you get into a situation where you
actually NEED to use your radio. When conditions are rough with lots of
wind, waves and noise, you need to be able to hear your radio clearly
and operate it while keeping one hand on the paddle. Bags make the radio
less useful when you need it the most. I've experienced serious
communication breakdowns in groups paddling in rough conditions, due to
people not being able to access their radios.

There are good submersible radios that work reliably under adverse
conditions, don't require bagging and are sized for convenient mounting
on a PFD shoulder strap. I find them to be very advantageous. Currently,
the threshold price for a JIS-7 submersible radio is ~$140 (any rating
below JIS-7 is not submersible). The better units can often be found on
sale and rebates are common, bringing the price down under $200. For
example, the Icom M88 currently has a $50 rebate and you can buy one for
$239.99 at:

http://www.defender.com/cgi-bin/Web_...e.cgi?cart_id=)

That makes it only $40-$50 more than a basic submersible unit. For the
difference in price, you get superior construction, extended battery
life and near bombproof reliability (it's actually a mil-spec radio).

If you buy a good VHF the first time, you won't have to buy another one.