Equipment Bag Essentials: Walkie-Talkies

One of those questions that is constantly asked of paranormal investigators is, ‘what types of equipment would you recommend to those new to this field?’ The paranormal field is full of really fun, unique gadgets marketed as tools to communicate with the other side. It’s also saturated with tools designed to measure and record audio, video, and fluctuations/anomalies with environmental factors. It seems like each year, new and improved toys are hitting the market with promises of being the ONE THING you need to gather solid proof of the afterlife.

Unfortunately, at this point in time, we have to accept the fact that not one single piece of investigation equipment we use can 100% without a doubt PROVE that ghosts exist. So, while these new toys are really fun to play with and may offer some head scratching data, I always suggest to those who are new to this field to start with some basics—a good voice recorder, a way to record video, a means of measuring temperature and EMF fluctuations, a reliable flashlight, and if feasible, a set of walkie-talkies!

Walkie-talkies (or two-way radios, to sound more proper) are probably not the first thing you think of when it comes to paranormal investigation equipment, but I personally feel they are a wonderful addition to a team’s equipment bag. They’re versatile, portable, and can be found in a range of price ranges, starting from quite reasonably inexpensive. Let’s take a closer look at how walkie-talkies can benefit your ghost hunt, as well as examine some things you need to watch out for!

Pros of Using Walkie-Talkies on Investigations:

*Keep in Contact with Your Teammates:  The obvious use of a handheld two-way radio on an investigation is to keep in communication with your teammates. Some places we investigate, both indoors and outdoors, are large enough to require that we break into two or more teams while on location. Many locations that we investigate are out in the middle of nowhere, and cell reception (even in 2023) is spotty at best. But, even if we had reliable cell reception, walkie-talkies allow instantaneous contact with multiple groups at once, as opposed to trying to text or call several different team members and waiting for a response. Those few moments saved could be critical if you have an event happening in real time, or if there is some type of emergency situation. And, in addition to the communication benefits while on site, walkie-talkies can be used to communicate between team members driving in different cars TO the location, granted they aren’t that far apart. Speaking from personal experience, this has come in handy when trying to figure out directions in places we’ve had multiple cars carpooling to sites with absolutely no cell service whatsoever. 

*Communicate with the Ghosts: Theoretically, walkie-talkies can be used for more than just staying in contact with your teammates; they can be used as ITC devices! ITC, or instrumental trans-communication devices are basically just any sort of electronic device that can be used to interact with paranormal entities. If a living person can send a message via a two-way radio, why couldn’t a spirit/ghost? Spectral Research and Investigations has actually had this happen to us, during a public investigation event we assisted with at the Haunted Haymond House in Sutton, WV. We clearly heard the voice of a fellow investigator come over the radio, in a frantic, almost panicked voice say, “hello? hello?” However, she wasn’t even TOUCHING her radio at the time, and neither were we–it was sitting on a table in front of us. So whose voice did we hear?

There’s also an experiment laid out by Dr. Lloyd Auerbach that involves the use of a walkie-talkie. Instead of having investigators INSIDE a room doing EVP work, you can seal the room off, with just a walkie-talkie and a voice recorder. Ask your questions from another location, via the walkie-talkie. The idea is that not having a living person on site might allow the spirit to be more comfortable in answering questions, or may even assure that the recording device is not being psychically imprinted on by the living investigator. Yeah, it gets complicated, lol…but just try some of your own experiments. See if keeping only ONE walkie-talkie on yields results over multiple units being turned on. See what channels seem to be the most open to communication. Experiment with anything you can think of and document, document, document!

Cons of Using Walkie-Talkies During Investigations:

However, remember that as with any piece of investigation equipment, walkie-talkies have their drawbacks. They aren’t infallible. They require batteries (which can get expensive) or charging (which can be time consuming), and can quickly lose their charge…because of NON paranormal reasons. Having a non-functioning communication device can be both dangerous AND frustrating. Unfortunately, the higher quality radios may be more reliable, but they can run into the hundreds of dollars—money that may be better spent on other items for your investigation toolkit.

They can also interfere with other pieces of investigation equipment. They will absolutely set off your K-II and other EMF detectors, so experiment around to see how far away they have to be to react, and just keep that in mind if you get an anomalous reading that can’t be explained. 

And finally, two-way radios can pick up other frequencies. If there are truck drivers or other CB users in the area, you can absolutely accidentally pick up their transmissions.If there are road construction crews, hunters, or even kids that are using two-way radios, you run the risk of picking up their conversations. During my work with a previous team, we even picked up a signal from a nearby baby monitor! And, while not many people have them these days, it wasn’t unheard of to pick up conversations from cordless phones as well. 

In conclusion, I think that two-way radios are a great addition to your equipment bag, but as with every piece of equipment we use in this field, must be used with a full understanding of their limitations. But, walkie-talkies make a great, versatile tool that I think you’ll get a lot of practical AND experimental use of. Let me know in the comments below whether or not YOU carry walkies with you on YOUR investigations, and if you’ve ever had anything strange come across them! Happy Haunting!