I have a CB in both my Jeeps and hear frequent highway chatter.

 

In my opinion, it is completely worth having a CB for the highway. I don't always have it in but it's a great convenience to know what is ahead in regards to traffic accidents/jams and which lane to be in and where the "bears" are. There lots of other reasons to have one too, I'm sure (just can't think of then all right now).

If you get that cobra model, go ahead and get you an external speaker. The internal one seems to die after a year it two. It still works with an external speaker though (even sounds better with one IMO).

 

Here is another reason the have a CB. About 15 years ago I was running down I-30 coming from Dallas in my work truck when I heard a weak call for help from what turned out to be a cheapo emergency CB radio. About the same time I heard the call for assistance I saw a Ford truck broke down on the side of the Interstate. It was your typical 100* day in Texas so I turned around to see what the problem was. The truck had thrown a serp. belt and one of the passengers was a heart patient who was starting to overheat and get sick. I immediately put him in my truck to get him cooled down, helped them fix the truck and they went on their way. You just never know when they'll come in handy.

 

As a long-time CB "four-wheeler" (CB users who are non-truckers) it's one of the first things I got for my Rubicon. Nothing I've found comes close to a CB to detail instant info on traffic conditions, "Smokey Reports" or changes in weather. I've got a Cobra 29 LTD now so that should illustrate my dedication. It's bluetooth compatable (man, they've come a long way since I had my first one!) so the CB is dual-use now as well!

I'll echo some of the above comments - nothing is faster or more helpful than a trucker to tell you what's going on - NOTHING. Truckers usally talk about three things: Smokies, road conditions, and women (and not always in that order). Having said that the language or inferences can get a little salty at times but it's invaluable on the road - I keep mine on channel 19 and I'm good to go!

 

when i drove cross country i had my cb on the whole time. i had a trucker warn me of a cop catching up to me from about a mile back cuz i was speeding and i was able to slow down in time for him to come up behind me and follow me for about 10 miles and then catch a ricer doing about 20 over pass us. the other reason i had it on was just the shit they were talking about. for example in Tennessee there was a trucker talking about a town with a college where the girls were good looking and for 80 bucks they made you very happy after my wife heard this talk she was glued to it. if you have a women with you and get her to talk on it truckers will hound her for hours, and my wife loved toying with them. almost got our jeep on a flat bed going to texas for free lol.

 

I'd really like to know what HAM radio you are referring to that's $38. ???

 

i have CB in both vehicles... sometimes my wife n i will end up at same location but in separate vehicles n when we travel home we will use the CB instead of cell phone.. it's alot safer.

 

Yeah. Me too.

 

I always turn my CB on for a bit when I head down to Vancouver, but I can never understand anything the dam truckers say anyways. I usually surf through all the channels a few times. I have never heard chatter on Ch. 19 here, I don't know if they use a different channel or what. I turn it on once in a while in Whistler, but in the year its been in my jeep I have heard chatter once. I'm pretty sure it was one of the local buses. It's awesome to have for wheeling though.

 

I'm a trucker and a Jeeper. Here in southern Ontarion there isn't much chatter, unless there's something going on up ahead. Don't use the radio for work much as I only drive about 80 km a day and it's all city. But on the road in my Jeep or my wife's Explorer we have the CB on all the time. Sometimes you hear a lot of bs, but sometimes you hear something that will save your day.

And also when we take both vehicles and the extended family on a road trip, the CB's are free to use across North America and its real time communication. Way better, safer, faster and legal compared to texting or BBM'ing while driving.