Tonight I reluctantly boxed up the half dozen new submersible hand-held VHF radios I've been testing over the summer to send them back to the editors at Sea Kayaker magazine. It would have been nice if they had just "forgotten" about them, but at least by doing this test I know exactly what I'll be looking for when I get ready to shop for a new hand-held sometime next year.
The models tested are shown below. From left to right: Uniden MHS 550, West Marine VHF 150, Cobra MR HH 425 LI VP, Standard Horizon HX75OS, Humminbird VHF 55 S, and ICOM IC-M34.
These radios are all rated as submersible to one meter for a half hour. I dunked them underwater to find out and compared features, ease of use and ergonomics with the focus on use by sea kayakers. The results will be published soon in an upcoming issue of Sea Kayaker, and I'll also publish the full article here after the print version is released.
Update 1-10-2009: The full article is now available here
