G'day to you all

I have been an interested follower of your discussions on survival hardware and skills for sometime now and I am curious that communications hardware never seems to feature on your list of survival tools. I should declare an iterest at this point, I hold the position of "National Voice Communications" with the Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand and I am also a member of the NZ Land Search and Rescue technical subcommitee.

Given that a radio has the ability to mitigate the consequences of ANY accident I am surprised that it is not discussed more. Weight for weight it will probably do more to save a life than a firstaid kit (the life saving features of which can be extemporised from clothing etc...).

By using HF and VHF radio DOC has created a communication system that can raise the alarm withing 15 minutes of an accident, at ANY time and ANY where within North Island and South Island of NZ (I am quite proud of this). DOC personnel also carry PLBs as a "safety net" although I am glad to say no staff member has been in such dire straits as to need to use one. For members of the public there is an organisation called the Mountain Radio Service (MRS) who hire out HF radios and man the base radio at preset "sked" times.

Are such facilities available to the general public (trampers, hunters, etc...) in the USA, Canada, and other parts of the world, and do you have opinions as to which radios and radio types are better than others?

Many thanks
Matthew