There’s nothing like a good cup of coffee and a clear radio.
ANONYMOUS
The CB vs GMRS debate is an apples to oranges comparison for me. This is because I see GMRS as a walkie talkie instead of a replacement for CB radio. How did this debate begin? It began with the Jeep subculture.
I despise Jeeps. I have hated them for my entire life. They ride rough. They are hot in the summer and ice cold in the winter. You can't haul tools, equipment. or supplies in them like you can with a good ol' pickup truck. And most Jeep owners spend a lot of money and time to buy these things and trick them out in order to go flip them over on the weekends in the backcountry. Just being a Jeep owner makes you an idiot right out of the gate.
When you flip your Jeep over in the desert or wilderness, you will need to call for assistance. The problem is that many of these remote areas don't have cellphone coverage. This requires having some kind of radio to call out to your friends who also need the same kind of radio. For a generation, their preferred radio was a CB radio. Then, the GMRS radio started to gain traction as an alternative.
The GMRS radio has clear sound instead of the static you hear on AM CB radio. That is the upside. The downside is that the crystal clear sound of GMRS gets wiped out by obstructions. This is why desert areas out west like them while folks on the eastern side of the USA can take it or leave it.
The biggest cheerleader for GMRS is a fellow on the
NotaRubicon channel who makes wildly entertaining and hilarious videos. They are also profane at times. He slams on CB radio guys like me and "sad hams." Here are some videos of his that I found interesting:
Jeep Rollover And Off-Road Recovery at Hammer Down Trail - Cougar Buttes
This video illustrates the pure idiocy of the Jeep cult that I already mentioned.
CB vs HAM for Off Road 4x4 Use: Which Is Better?
This video shows that Randy was a lot more charitable to CB radio once upon a time.
Why GMRS Can Never Become As Bad As CB Radio - Another Reason That GMRS Is Better Than CB Radio
The essence of this argument is that no one is talking on GMRS for various reasons. Consequently, no idiots are talking on GMRS. That can always change.
CB Radio For Emergency Comms & SHTF - Why A CB Radio Can Be Good For Preppers for WW3 Or Disasters
This video shows Randy's comedic side but also makes the point that I make about CB radio being great for prepping.
I will point out the most glaring flaw of having a CB radio or a dedicated GMRS radio hardwired in your Jeep. It is difficult to talk on these radios when your Jeep is flipped over with a destroyed antenna. In that scenario, I recommend having a walkie talkie.
The GMRS radio is essentially the FRS walkie talkie radio you can buy in blister packs at Walmart and sporting goods stores. Hunters and families with kids love the FRS radios because they are cheap, easy to operate, and require no license to operate. The GMRS radio is the FRS radio on steroids with more power and repeater capabilities. It is still easy to operate but requires an FCC license but no ham radio style test. The interoperability of FRS and GMRS radios is a selling point.
Where I disagree with the GMRS fanboys is on the claim that GMRS is a replacement for CB radio. It isn't. It can complement CB radio as a walkie talkie option, but it is never going to have the same popularity of CB radio.
CB radio is like the VHS videotape format. The Betamax format was superior but never went anywhere. I can say the same thing for Blu-ray disks vs DVD or the Dvorak keyboard vs the QWERTY keyboard. You can see the virtues in the new format except the one glaring drawback. People already owned one format that was good enough for their needs. Why upgrade?
CB radio is good enough for most people needing radio communication. Consequently, there are many more CB radios in circulation than GMRS radios. Where GMRS radios have found adoption is in the niche of the Jeep cult. As long as your Jeep group has GMRS/FRS radios, you are good to go. When you hit the highway, you are better off even with something like an ancient 23 channel radio that gets channel 19.
If I owned a Jeep and went offroading, I would get the radio my peers were using whether it was CB or GMRS. I'd probably get both. But I am not a Jeep enthusiast. I just stick with a CB radio.
If I needed a walkie talkie, I prefer MURS to FRS/GMRS. MURS is not popular which is great for two way communication. It is also stone simple to operate. That whole thing with privacy codes and repeater channels on GMRS confuses me.
The bottom line is the radio you need for any situation depends upon what everyone else is using. There are more people on CB than GMRS. GMRS is going to be mostly for two way communication. For everyone else wanting to talk to the world, CB radio is the better fit.
UPDATE: Randy posted another CB versus GMRS video:
Why GMRS Has Replaced CB Radio
Obviously, I disagree. Some combox commenters also disagreed. Here are some of those comments:
I have both CB & GMRS. There is zero highway information available on GMRS. There are still drivers on CB channel 19 and traffic information and Smokey reports are still available. It varies regionally with the good ole boys in the southeast the most active. Your idea of using GMRS channel 19 to replace CB 19 has not caught on. Just so you know, I thought that was a good idea.
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<——— truck driver here. I have a cb, gmrs, and ham radio in my truck.i get use out of all 3 radios on the road but CB is still hands down the most used radio out on them highways and byways. Got my first HT cb radio from my grandpa in 1994. Was a crystal channel radio. Current offerings of HT CBs are junk for sure.
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Ok, one more comment! In the last few years traveling the lower 48 in my truck I have heard more GMRS simplex traffic than I have HAM radio, but more cb than the others! 146.520 have heard people keying up maybe 4 times this year, GMRS 16 and 19 several times as well as several times for Cb! What I have noticed is calling out for a cber gets you a contact every few minutes! I have well over a 100 repeaters programmed in my radios and repeaters do well.
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As far as GMRS radio goes, I bought a couple of them and have NEVER heard anyone talking on them. I've tried testing the distance between them and it was about as good as a kids walkie talkie and this was when they were set to 5 watts. I'm sure they serve a purpose, however a cell phone is king for communication for me. CB radio would be my second choice. With 2000 watts on my base station I can talk to stations all over the country. I can also use my mobile with 800 watts to talk a good distance locally, long distance skip and can call for help if needed. I know many off road guys say they use GMRS, however I can't hear them around here which tells me they must be very short distance without using a repeater. I don't like the fact that you need a big antenna for CB if you really want to get out, but that's the way it is. As you know, SSB is another great option which can reach further. I tried liking GMRS, but I haven't been impressed with what I've seen.
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You have done well to talk yourself into your opinion here, though let me just say that while GMRS has is practicalities, it is incapable of doing what 11 meters (CB) does. CB will never die, take a listen when the skip rolls and tell me how are ever going to shut that down. By the way CBers are the king of AM mode, they've got it down way more than HAMS or other people that are radio professionals.
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There are websites that have a waiting list after purchasing a cb base station antenna of up to 12 weeks. The hobby of cb is very much alive.... Walcott cb shop, trucks cb sales, bells, and even Amazon will sell out of popular cb's frequently
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I have both, but the CB still gets more use. Not many truckers still run them, but some do, and they continue to save lives in that you can hear about upcoming road conditions or broke down vehicles blocking a lane before you get there. There is the possible argument to be made about states with “handheld communications device” laws that make gmrs handhelds illegal to use (and the associated large fine) whilest driving vs CB being a vehicle mounted communications device and legal. With the hills and forests around here, GMRS does outperform CB but not by much.
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I think it depends on the area. GMRS does have a following here in Western PA but the terrain doesn't allow for long distance comms unless you have a repeater. My girlfriend and I tested FM CB and got better range with FM CB simplex as opposed to GMRS simplex.
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There is one truck driver on the road with gmrs. I’m a trucker. I’m an avid gmrs user. I am the only one with gmrs in a kenworth. Not once in 20 yrs have I came across another gmrs trucker.
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Global Sales of CB radios in 2024 was approximately 206 million dollars. 2024 Global sales of GMRS Radios was approximately 131 Million Dollars. These are facts. You should be a bit more informed before you post bullshit.
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A few truck drivers still use CB but few of them use GMRS, so GMRS didn't replace CB. A4 watt CB compared to a 50 watt GMRS and the different frequencies make GMRS a better radio, but the fact I can drive across country with a GMRS in scan mode and get nothing, but a CB will have chatter all the way, not for the faint of heart or those with delicate ears.. A good understanding of bad Spanish helps too. I used to talk skip on my old CB base station, I have yet to do that with my GMRS base station. CB isn't dead it just smells that way
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CB is still king of the road! I’ve heard nothing on GMRS channels 19 & 20 while on a roadtrip to Florida recently.
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Be smart, use both.
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Yea CB has way more people on it compared to gmrs. I got tired of listening to the gmrs world because the only thing people wanna talk about is their signal reports and how many antennas they have. Describing each by their model number and serial number. NO ONE CARES PEOPLE THAT YOU GET ON EVERY DAY WITH THE SAME DISCUSSION ON ALL YOU AMAZON ANTENNAS. And you wonder why there are way way more people talking on CB. ITS MORE INTERESTING. Biggest waste of money ever on gmrs liscense. I’ll stick to 6-80 meters.
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GMRS Vs. CB Radio for Local Communication (Test #1)
