I was trolling through Backcountry.com when I came across something that floored me: they have a Motorolla two-way radio available! Liz and I have been shopping for radios for some time now and just haven’t committed to anything as of yet. Our research led us to the Motorola Talkabout series, but there are many models and we get conflicting reviews. For instance, cnet gives good reviews from its testers, but users were less supportive. It also seemed that many of those reviews were dated.
Also, we didn’t know where to shop for two-way radios. Target? Ebay? Other web sources? We did find something at Costco that we were almost committed to, but I wanted to wait and see just in case something better came along.

It seem’s Backcountry carries a radio with pretty good range and a competitive price. And with their unbeatable guarantee, we can buy them with confidence. I checked on Motorola’s website and got the following:

(pasted in from www.store.motorolla.com)
Motorola Talkabout® SX600 Two-Way Radio Series
One of the rugged “Value Series” models, the SX600 has a range of up to 14 miles1 and is designed specifically for active families. Combining General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) technology with the Motorola engineering, this radio is ideal for active outdoor communications. With a compact and rugged design, the SX600 is light enough to fit in a pocket and sturdy enough to take anything that is thrown its way. Take it to the lake to keep in touch while boating, or stick it in your child’s pocket so they can communicate with you without racking up expensive charges or relying on cell towers.

EASY CHARGE – 4 WAYS TO CHARGE
Designed to fit every lifestyle, the SX600 allows you the convenience of charging four distinct ways. Use the provided desktop charger at home or a mini-USB car cable on your way to soccer practice. Pack a mini-USB wall cable for recharge in the hotel during your family vacation or simply charge from your PC when no power outlet is available using a mini-USB PC cable. (Mini-USB car, wall and PC cables are sold separately.)

SX600 Features:

SERIES MODELSX600R Includes:

This model isn’t quite as powerful as the model sold by Costco, but the disclaimer indicates that the boasted range is subject to perfect conditions. I figure then that these are likely pretty comparable. And we don’t expect to be able to use these when I am miles away from shore on a diving adventure. Really, we’re looking for something light and compact that we can use for Belize and in the mountains this winter.

I’ll pick this up shortly and Liz and I will do some field testing and report back. If these radios don’t make the grade, we want to replace them with something that will.

To follow up on Courtney’s post, I really do not like tandem kayaks.

I have always had the joy of using a solo kayak- from the sit-on tops to the internal kayaks. I prefer both actually. Not once have I used a spray skirt on an internal kayak until this past Saturday or a tandem kayak. The spray on skirts we used as this exact one:

While Courtney and I will be kayaking in the Caribbean, the spray skirt typically helps to keep cold or unwanted water out of your kayak. It also helps to shade ones legs from the pounding rays and helps to keep heat in. We don’t need a spray skirt while kayaking in the Caribbean. However, it might be something to consider for the future.

Splashing Courtney on the Tandem Kayak

I do, dislike the spray skirts, because they confine your legs to a small area and I do like to get some sun rays on my legs whenever possible. I also, dislike tandems. I believe we should rule out tandems for Belize entirely. This has nothing to do with Courtney but my sense of adventure and exploration. I like to avoid confinement and keep my independence. A tandem kayak usually requires the man to sit in the back, and that means, he gets all the control over what direction we go. While Courtney did a good job steering, a great job, it’s just my own stubbornness to do my own thing.

Also, here are the results from the improv race around the barrier islands in Bar Harbor, ME- where Courtney decided to be the announcer and had us all laughing to almost tears. It’s a natural talent of his. I think he should look into it.

1. California Dreamin’ (Lynn and Josh)
2. MacGyver Reruns on USA (Alicia and Chris)
3. Dirty Thirty (Kelley and Matt)
4. Avocado Salad (Julia and Diane)
5. Shark Fin Soup (Courtney and I)

Liz does not like tandem kayaks.

After a weekend camping trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, I can conclude, without hesitation, that Liz does not appreciate the bonding potential of sharing a kayak with me. I respect this and appreciate her sense of independence. But we’ll have to keep this in mind when we kayak in Belize. Some outfitters require advanced notice if renters want a single or a tandem kayak. Since we weren’t aware of this requirement before we arrived, we were forced to use the tandem kayaks for a trip around the barrier islands.

Extreme Kayaking

Liz was a very good sport about the whole thing and the experience did not cause any major rifts in our relationship. In fact, I think we both enjoyed the experience (I know I did) and we’re very happy we did it. The weather was amazing and the water was a perfect 52 degrees F – almost enough to cause instant death. That didn’t stop Lizzy from jumping in on more than one occasion! One such exploit nearly cost me a new pair of Smith sunglasses I’d lent her!

I did learn to steer a kayak using a rudder, rather than just the oar and got a better understanding of just how important situation awareness is! We had a few crashes, a few close calls and a lot of laughs. I think I know more about what kind of kayak I’ll be buying in the future, too. I’m cool with the internal kayak, but Liz may prefer a sit on top so she can catch some sun on her legs. And it’s clear she doesn’t like the spray skirts!

Curtsey

Well, If Courtney can do it, so can I. He may want a more sophisticated camera, which is great, but I’ll leave that up to him.

What I want is a POS (You’re smart, I”m sure you can figure out what POS means) video camera. I want a cheap (because we’re on a budget here, remember?!) but efficient camera that I know I can take on wild adventures and not worry too much about it getting dinged up, dirty, etc. I don’t want to worry about the camera all the time and it being a big loss if anything ever happened to it. I don’t take care of my electronics. I have a busted up digital camera that barely works and a MacBook that is also all busted up and falling apart. I will grow responsible one day when it comes to my electronics, but for now, I’m happier with the cheaper-more-affordable-but-producing-decent-quality-to-get-me-by electronics.

I did a bit of research and came across the Sony Webbie MHS-CM1 HD Camcorder. This video camera is all the rage right now. It’s plastered all over the web commercials.

It’s gotten really great reviews and seldom bad reviews. I’ve read a few reviews that mentioned it is very bad at taking video indoors. The videos turn out grainy and very cruddy in quality. But I cannot begin to tell you how great the reviews are for all outdoor footage. And think about it- the camcorder would only be used for all my outdoor adventures, never indoor. Yeah Courtney might get his snazzy VIO POV camera, but I have free hands too to capture some of this stuff too! And as we break off and do separate websites after this one, I’ll need something to help me capture all the fun excitement in my life to show my visitors.

I don’t know much about camcorders and have had the privilege to use only one a few years back. I have no idea what the make was (actually, probably Sony). It was a phenomenal video camera. And nowadays I’m sure it wouldn’t cost nearly as much as it did back then. However, it wasn’t HD. Today, everything is evolving to be HD. I want to stay with the emerging technology. I want to offer crisp, clear pictures to my viewers. This webbie camera has just that.

I have searched a few websites and found it to run pretty much in the $180-$200 range. Although, I was bidding on one on ebay and lost it to a $122 bid. So depending on where you look for it, you an score it for a great deal.

What about your budget, you ask? Well, okay. This is NOT in the budget. This is something that I would need to babysit a weekend or do some sort of extra job to pay for. Or maybe I could sacrifice a few more things on eBay. Ultimately, I could write it off as a business expense if all goes well on here. Honestly, I’ll probably charge it. (I see my dad getting his rifle out to as he reads this to come teach me a lesson about using my credit card) EEK! Okay. EBaying stuff it is. Next week is designated sell stuff on eBay and craigslist week! Time to get finances rolling and in control for this trip!

I’ve been thinking about buying the VIO POV 1.5 helmet mounted camera for a few months now. I think it would be an awesome resource for the trip and the videos would be outstanding for
the Belizean Travel website. Liz is all for it. She wants lots of video and photo documentation of our trip. And we could certainly find other uses for it once we get back (besides for our next awesome adventure).
I think there are a number of applications for this nifty device. We could mount it for zip lining and capture some clever images of our flight through the trees. With the optional water proof kit we could snorkel with it or maybe even diving. Rumor is this thing will handle deep dives. But I’ve got a friend’s HD camera setup for that. Kayaking is another option. The Mayan ruins would be well documented and the hands free operation make it great for the climbing and trudging, etc. Basically, we figure it could capture all the activities we do (assuming I have enough memory cards)! The system has a continuous loop recording capability that allows you to simply tag a period of time you wish to keep or you can just set it to record and it does so until it runs out of memory. I like the loop capability because you can sort of set it and forget it until something memorable occurs.
I’ve been researching helmet mounted cameras for a while now and this one seems to be the best. Teton Gravity Research, the guys that produce the best ski movies, use it. That makes me confident I can use it all winter as well. Wired Magazine recently did a review of helmet mounted cameras and gave this one best review. Their major critique was that it was not High Definition and very expensive to not be high definition. I don’t like the cost. It is very expensive, almost prohibitively so. But I am not so worried about standard definition resolution. I figure that is acceptable for DVD and I am no major filmmaker.
I looked further at many reviews on Backcountry.com and they were mixed. Mostly positive but a few people complain about color wash. I think that is something that can be overcome with video editing.
In summary, the decision to buy this is camera is going to come down to want vs. economics. Can I afford it? Can it be folded into the total trip costs? Will it get used sufficiently? I don’t know. I’ll keep thinking, salivating and calculating. If I get it, look for some clever, first person point-of-view videos on this site after the trip.