The advantage of walkie talkies over a cell phone is you don't have to dial and wait for the phone to ring. (just realized I used to terms that are now obsolete, dial and ring!).
We us ours when caravaning, you can call out a warning or a sighting that would be too late if you used a phone. Example: there was a 4x4x8' sitting in our lane that I barely missed and I was able to warn my brother who following. Another, my wife was backing up the towd and was heading for a short post that was out of her sight. Was able to yell "stop!" just in time.
Most of the time we use it when camping w/ friends. You can call meal times, gather the troops, does anyone have any butter, etc.
We use cheap Motorolas. Dry batts are my favorite. Left on, they're good for 3-4 days. Switching on and off, as someone mentioned, they're good for years. For camping, you don't need another charger draining your house batts.
Norm
