CB Radio vs GMRS Radio Which Should You Choose

Struggling to choose between a CB radio and a GMRS radio? 📻 In this short video, we break down the key factors to help you decide which radio is best for your needs. Whether you're part of a Jeep club, need emergency preparedness, or want reliable long-range communication for your UTVs, we've got you covered! Watch now to make the best choice for your next adventure. #CBRadio #GMRSRadio #EmergencyCommunication #RadioGear #UTVRadio

[felaxchow]

I have both for the reason is that 2 is 1 and 1 is none.

When I’m on the road, I have a custom made magnetic sign that says “Monitoring GMRS 19 and CB 19” and it sometimes strike up interesting conversations while bouncing between 10 mile exits.

[mikeingeorgia]

I use CB if I wanna get random road information and GMRS if I’m traveling with other vehicles and want to talk just to them

[sean]

Recently acquired both. CB is relatively easy. Just push and talk. Also got my GMRS license and trying to figure it all out with rules and repeaters. Looking forward to it though.

[jamesshackelford]

Get and have both. I do and use both of them for a number of things every day and at night to

[clydeosterhout]

I just use both. The small size of radios these days means that mounting two is a pice of cake!

[ashadowawhisper]

Get both. But get a 50W mobile GMRS radio like the Btech 50v2 and just use the handheld cb or FRS

A Garmin Rhino is also a great handheld. It is FRS AND GMRS, it also does GPS and you can send your location to other folks in your party AND send radio text messages.

I have a 530 that I got 20 years ago when they first started producing them. Worth it.

[SpinningSpur]

I’ve got an old GE and a JC Penny brand CB for me and my Son to convoy with. I’m Snowman and he’s Bandit of course 😊. I’ll never forget listening to truckers tell crazy stories on the CB when we took a long family road trip to Wisconsin and back as a kid. I was only 6 years old and I still remember a gravelly voiced truckers with a brawny laugh whose handle was the Flying Dutchman my dad and him must have been driving in the same route about the same speed because we listened to this Dude tell old tales and make comments about roadside attractions for hours.
My dad was a man of few words and I remember him laughing quietly as we drove along and my Mom getting tired of the trucker talk. Good times. It was hot ass he’ll in the back of that Ford LTD station wagon and the dog puked all over me. I can’t say it
Was great being crammed into the back of the wagon while my brothers and sisters had proper accommodations. Oh those were the days. About 1982…

[marzinjedi]

The ground plain of the mounting surface on a vehicle is more important than the amount of money you spend on your radio ! Ground straps are required on basically every vehicle I have ever put a transceiver in and the power ground for the unit must have a battery connected directly into the radio with high amp fuses before you even start testing your SWR standing wave ratio on the antenna or your just wasting your time get out your fluke meter and test the resistance on all antenna mounting points and ground strap everything to the chassis ground or battery ground I have installed twenty ham radios for licensed hobbyists on vehicles using Linear amplifier equipment and never had a complaint and many times straps fixed high standing wave problems without touching the antenna !

[johnnorman]

If you are gonna be radio active, both types are good to have. A hot CB set up has great utility. A GMRS set up working a local repeater is very good stuff too. Your extended local network can be vast with GMRS.

[rpcomms]

Answer- both !
UHF-line of sight
Cb VHF low long range !

[jorgenave]

We can also equate VHF or UHF... amateur radio.

[discofishing]

Have you considered the ionosphere bounce that CB can sometimes get?

[haxboi]

Also CB is longer range because it can sometimes bounce off the atmosphere

[FISTCUF]

I’m new with a 2000 F350 CCSB and looking for a CB to install what should I get that’s good and under say $1000? I’ll be installing my self as well. I’ve been cruising the comments of different CB radio videos and I keep seeing Galaxy popping up. What should I get? I have no knowledge about radios also I only want and need for local traffic emergencies and what not. I have no need currently for something that can talk to the space station. 😂 Thanks in advance.

[CNAT]

An emergency I'd use a UHF VHF because you can have a small stubby little antenna and it'll be hard for that's break off so I'd use a UHF VHF for an emergency

[johnnorman]

It has been my experience that it is VERY difficult for a lot of people to grasp and understand how useful any type of two way radio can truly be. Its kind of bizarre actually. My own father never truly got how useful CB was clear back in the 70s and he passed away before cell phones became a real ubiquitous thing. Instant communication and especially stand alone systems are still magic in 2025 in what they can do for you on demand.

[MadDragon]

Just a word of advice from someone that talked on the cb radio in the 90s... Don't keep repeating
"Breaker breaker radio check... Breaker 1-9 can I get a radio check?"
Especially if you're not even on channel 19, every 5 seconds. Nobody's going to reply.

[noelp]

I love cb radio but unfortunately cb radio are dead in florida, so i chose gmrs.

[spaghettibender]

Mobile CB with at least a 4 foot antenna and a hand held GMRS

[meeetloof]

CB has gone silent here and GMRS is now king