Home > Consumer Reviews > Uniden MHS 350 Handheld Marine 2-Way VHF Radio

I bought this radio for safety purposes during a kayaking trip in Glacier Bay National Park. I didn't have a dry bag for it, and kept it around my neck at key points during the trip where it was exposed to rain and seawater.

While I can't say I used the radio extensively, it functioned well when I needed it. We had a brown bear wander into our camp, and I used the radio to communicate with a nearby touring boat so it could keep us advised of the bear's position while we broke camp. The boat's communications came through crisply and they appeared to have no trouble hearing us. The radio also held its charge through four days of kayaking, being turned on and off intermittently. In short, I bought it in case of an emergency and it worked perfectly when I needed it.

I do a lot of kayak fishing off the coast of So California, and sometimes get a mile or more off shore. This is a great unit, and the best price-performance that I found available. It is submersible, which is a huge benefit for kayaking, since things tend to get very wet, especially during surf entries and exits. It regularly (nearly every time out) gets dunked in sea water, and when I get home I literally drop it into a sink of fresh water to rinse it out. I air dry it, and it is good to go! (It even works *under water* but it is hard to hear. :-)


I have not had to use the unit for transmitting in an emergency yet, but I do listen to it while kayaking. The battery life is amazing - I have been using it for at least 10 hours a week for almost a month now and the battery is still more than 1/2 full.

My favorite feature is the ability to program the unit with all the recreational channels and have it continuously scan all those channels (plus the emergency channels 16 and 9) and pick up all conversations around me. I frequently listen to Vessel Assist and Coast Guard calls from hundreds of miles away (though usually can't hear the other side of the conversation). Because it is a hand held, the transmitting range is probably not that great, but it is perfect for the two things I care about:

1. Kayak-to-kayak communications while out fishing with buddies
2. Emergency assistance - if I ever "hook a big one" and get towed out to sea, I have the confidence of knowing I can hail a boat to help me out.

Another great feature is the built in NOAA weather. I have traveled all over California and Oregon with this radio in my car, and have always been able to pick up a least one weather station (usually two).

The charging stand is really slick and having an extra battery means I can literally go on a month-long trip without bringing the charger.

All around this is a great package for the money. It would be interesting to see some empirical data about transmit and receive range compared to others in this price range, but from a feature standpoint, this unit cannot be beat.

I bought two of these radios for kayak fishing in Galveston, TX and also local lakes. Before these radios, we tried "waterproof" Midland 26-mile GMRS/FRS radios. Those were quickly destroyed as they readily took on water through the speaker holes.

The Uniden MHS 350 radios are of the highest quality. They feel great in your hand and are not at all plastically. The range is amazing and the quality is great. In nasty weather conditions, you can turn up the volume loud enough that we never had an issue not being able to hear the other person. Using VHF radios for kayaking is superior in terms of safety over the GMRS/FRS/CB radios because boaters are required to scan channel 16 when not transmitting on other channels. Therefore if you ran into trouble, you can send a mayday or hail a nearby boat easily. Also, the battery has a very long life.

I have beaten the heck out of these radios and so far they work like new. We had several cases of people flipping their kayaks in the Gulf of Mexico. The radios were completely submerged in these cases and never had a problem. I never saw moisture and condensation building up inside the LCD display like I have other radios. When I got home I did notice that some water got in behind that battery pack. However, that area seems to be adequately waterproofed and you only need to worry about cleaning the contacts that connect the battery. Just to be safe, I applied silicon grease around the battery compartment and that solved the water-in-the-battery-compartment issue.

Kayakers - A couple of tips I learned over several trips out with these radios. First, be sure to tie the radio to your life jacket so you don't lose it when you flip! Second, don't try to protect your cool new toy by putting it in a ziplock bag. At least in my experience, water always got trapped in the ziplock and therefore created a situation where the radio had prolonged exposure to water. The best idea is to put the radio in a place where, if it does get splashed, it will be able to dry out quickly. I ended up taking the belt clip that came with the radio and epoxied it to my left shoulder-chest area part of my life vest using marine epoxy. I further strengthened the clip with plastic ties.

This is a great quality product. I would recommend it to anybody looking for a great radio for a small vessel or emergency radio for larger vessels.


Update(2/15/09)
If you are taking this radio into salt water environments, I suggest packing silicon grease in the areas between the volume and squelch knobs. I've seen the knobs lock up due to corrosion as this area is not protected by o-rings. With silicon grease packed between the knobs, I have not seen any additional issues.

I purchased this radio for use in the Voyageurs Natl Park. I wanted to be able to call for assistance if I had boat trouble. I did not need to use it for any emergencies, but it was nice to have it available. I did use the wx radio function several times a day, as we had some rapidly changing wx. It worked very well.
The radio is a bit heavier than I thought it would be. It feels solidly built, but this may be a consideration if weight is a factor.
Although I don't know how it will hold up long term, I have so far been pleased with the purchase.

Con: Apparently with this model each time one turns it the device off, one must code in the weather channel for your area. This device does not save your settings. Pro: When this is done then, Yes, it works beautifully.