We talked about this a little earlier in the article. However, let’s take the gloves off and be real for a second. Often radios are advertised at silly distances like “35+ miles”. These advertisements quickly fall apart when you realize this is a “unobstructed” number. If hills, walls, houses, buildings, trees, or mountains are in the way you can see this number fall by 90% or more. Most recreational radios will operate between ½ – 2 miles on average.