Walk and talk

Communication in the hills can be as difficult as it is essential. If you need to stay connected to a mountain buddy, Decathlon might just offer the perfect solution.

Aquick story. A friend and I were exploring a remote area of crag. It was above a big drop, so we were roped together for safety. There was a point when I was low down on one end of the rope while he was high up on the other and we needed to communicate. The problem was that due to the wind, the layout of the crags, and our relative positions, neither of us could hear a thing the other was yelling. We even tried texting, but guess what? No phone signal. It all worked out in the end, but it could have been very different, and for the sake of just £30 we could have avoided the situation altogether.

You see, £30 will buy you a pair of these Forclaz WT100 walkie talkies from Decathlon. Now, it’s fair to say that these things aren’t exactly essential hillwalking gear, and maybe it’s because we are all fired up by the new Top Gun film, or hooked on the latest developments in Stranger Things, but chatting via radio suddenly feels cool again. And in all seriousness, there are plenty of times when simple, mobile network-free communication could be a godsend.

Whether it’s managing a group between a leader and a back-marker, sending your kids off to play on a family campsite, or staying in touch with a fellow adventurer as you explore different parts of a peak, reliable radio communication can increase safety, add reassurance, and introduce an element of fun. Do they need to be used all the time? Absolutely not. But on the odd occasion where they could provide genuine benefits, here’s what the WT100s have to offer…

Ben Weeks, Trail senior writer