Have you considered a decent portable shortwave receiver?

I recently purchased a Sony ICF-SW7600GR.

It's small, light weight but sturdy, and seems to have great range. 4 AA batteries should get you about 40 hours of life.

The radio has great reception of the area AM/FM Stations, includes NOAA weather channels, and access to the full spectrum of short wave channels.

I think it will be great to take camping as you will be able to find local radio, NOAA, and many of the national (or international) stations that broadcast on shortwave. You can preset them into the radio for easy access.

In a big picture catastrophe from massive earthquake up to and including a terrorist action, the shortwave radio might be the only access to outside media reports.

From what I've seen recently, most newer AM/FM radios are not strong on components - they rely on a stong signal from the station, where a decent portable shortwave receiver has a much stronger ability to pick up distant or weaker signals.

This model I purchased cost about $150.00, and so long as I keep it out of the hands of my 2 year old son, it should last a long time. Even when commercial radio goes digital, there will still be a wide range of communication on the shortwave spectrum worth listening to.