While I can't find the exact model I purchased (I can look up the model number when I get home), this one is a lot like it:

FRYS.com | 4KAMM

It's a crank-up radio that's also rechargeable battery powered if you want (no solar though), has an emergency light, cell phone charger and (I think) siren...and I think it was less than $30.

CB's definitely have their place and benefits (I've got one in the Jeep), but I think in an emergency situation the channels will be all clogged up. I guess it depends on the current usage of those bands in your area. Out here, there's lots of offroaders, and they use the CB pretty frequently anyway. I imagine that if the SHTF, the CB may very well be useless.

 

Pretty old thread lol. I'm looking for a new crank radio because my Eton turned into a sticky mess. The red paint breaks down and becomes wet after some time in storage. Radio still works, but leaves paint all over your hands that requires a solvent to remove. Don't buy an Eton!

 

Sangean DT-210 FM-Stereo/AM PLL Synthesized Tuning Pocket Radio

A good AM/FM radio is good to have to determine is a problem is local or wide-spread.

Is the power outage just in my area or is half the county blacked out? Knowing that kind of info will help you decided on a course of action.

 

Your cell phone will give you the same information, and a lot faster and handier. Some drunk taking out a power pole and sending the neighborhood into a blackout never makes the 6-o'clock news.

Got a signal? Try sending someone a text and wait for a response, If you get one, it's a local outage. No signal means a larger issue.

 

Really?
If I have no signal, I can't text any one.
If I have no signal, maybe it's just Clark County WA.
Or maybe it's All of WA & OR.
Or Maybe it's everything west of the Mississippi

At night with skip on AM, you can pick up stations from 1,000 plus miles away. Especially if all the radio stations around you are dead.

I think you are giving your cellphone system far too much credit.

 

Let me know how many times you carry a radio all day every day with you.

 

Interesting post, most cell networks can be overloaded durring a disaster (like 9/11). Many amateur radio repeaters have battery power back-up that can last for days. In the event of an EMP event, buy a horse, a direct EMP event will destroy all semi-conductor devices. That EMP blast will take up right back to the 1880's. We are talking about a 70% loss of life.

 

You'll have to point out where it states...EMP.

 

Um... what else would take out the electrical grid for most of the country? Do I have to spell out everything for you in detail minutiae? Stop trying to sound smart by acting dumb.

 

Where did he say "most"?
Half is not most.

Power grids going down does not automatically equal an EMP.

 

As it happens I work in the power generation industry.
Many things can take out huge sections of the power grid.

• A squirrel took out a good chunk of the grid several years ago.
• A simple switch failure caused a cascade failure and took out a good chunk of the grid several years ago.
• Texas last winter.