Midland ER10 Portable Emergency Weather Alert Radio - ER10VP

Small and compact - keep extra batteries on hand!
I really like the concept of the Midland ER10VP. We travel the U.S. full time in our RV and so are not always familiar with local weather situations to look out for. I do have an app on my phone that will alert me to severe weather conditions, but the problem with that is that we are frequently out of cell range when we camp in the back country and so have the potential of being caught in a bad situation. This is my first time trying out a little emergency hand held radio like this one, and I like how small it is - living full time in an RV we really need to prioritize space efficiency. I like how simple and basic the functions are, and how easy it was to set up. From reading other reviews I understand that some features have been removed in order to keep this model as small as possible, however, I would prefer that the radio had some other charging options other than only being able to be powered by battery. I’d take a larger radio if we could charge it via crank or solar or USB. I will be purchasing some rechargeable batteries to accomplish this. We’ve had the radio for about 3 weeks now and the batteries are already flashing the low battery signal, and the radio has been on standby the entire time, we have not used the radio or the flashlight at all. We’ve been enjoying sunny California this month and have not had any weather emergencies yet, so we don’t know how the radio will alert us. We do have dogs and I worry if something happens while we happen to be away from the RV, if the strobe light and alarm sounds will cause our dogs to go into a panic, so I try to remember to turn off the weather alert function when the dogs will be by themselves. Overall, my recommendation is that this emergency radio would best suit backpackers or campers going on shorter trips, who need to keep weight and equipment down to a minimum, and for whom the batteries will last their whole trip.

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An essential piece of emergency equipment
We’ve been needing an emergency alert radio for our adventuring and this Midland Emergency Alert AM/FM Weather Radio is perfect for our needs. There are so many features packed into such a small, lightweight package that you can easily throw into a hiking bag, backpack, car, or emergency kit. It has AM/FM radio and NOAA weather alerts (which we have already had to use when we were out of town and a big snow storm hit!) This is great little radio has had reception in the few places we’ve tried it so far, including on a couple mountain hikes and snowboarding where we’ve had spotty cell reception. It is super easy to operate, in fact my 4-year old figured it out and loves carrying it around to listen to the radio. The flashlight on it is awesome. It has multiple dim options and a strobe. I can think of multiple times this would have come in handy. Also, love that it comes with batteries – it is ready to go! It takes 3 AA batteries, so we’ve had to add some extra batteries to our kit in case these run out. For this price point, this is easily something that everyone should consider having in their emergency kit.

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Smart addition to your gear
Midland’s ER10VP Emergency Radio has filled in a very specific gap in gear for us. While our cell phones are our main go-to for weather updates, once we’re out of service zones (which is more frequent than you might expect), it’s necessary to make sure you can see any changes in weather coming. From mountain-top hikes to camping in the backcountry, it’s important to make sure you can react according to impending weather. We’ve learned our lesson (more than once) and the very reasonable price point of this emergency radio helps us to mitigate that risk in the future. I’m not a big fan of complicated instruction manuals for something that may be needed in an “emergency.” Lucky for me, the radio is super easy to operate and won’t require hanging onto that manual. Set-up is very straightforward and if you’ve ever used a car radio, you can use this device. The most important factor is that it runs on 3 AA batteries (included in the box) that will drain, so you may want to remove them when not in use or have a set of extra batteries nearby for when you need them. The radio had good reception while being used in most areas we’ve tested so far. The only issue we encountered was while tracking the massive winter storm in Texas while in San Antonio, we stopped receiving frequencies from any WX channels. A bit surprising around a metropolitan area, but it was lousy weather and we were covered with cell data in these areas so it wasn’t a critical moment. The manual says it will “receive broadcasts up to 50 miles from the weather stations depending on your location and conditions of weather, terrain, etc.” The device, therefore, is not a bulletproof system, but can offer a critical alert when it’s needed. The radio is super lightweight and easy to carry in a pack or tuck into your car seat pocket. It has a flashlight/strobe feature which comes in very handy if you need to navigate a trail after sunset or are having evening car troubles. My favorite feature is that you can turn on the weather alert feature while the radio is off and it’ll signal you to any incoming weather alerts with an alarm and strobe to get your attention. There is no price tag to put on having a bit of peace of mind when heading out into nature, but Midland makes sure it’s within your price range to have the added security. Bonus points that it can fuel a dance party, too!

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Slip it into your pocket or pack
I’ve had the Midland ER10VP Emergency Alert Weather Radio with flashlight for the past week. With its rounded edges and palm size, it fit comfortably in my hand and slid easily into a zippered pocket in my ski bibs when I headed out to explore a nearby park. Oh, and it weighs less than my cell phone with case. To achieve that size, it gives up the crank and solar charge options you see on the ER210; it runs on 3 AAA batteries instead. On the other hand, because of it’s size, you’re more likely to take it with you on a hike or toss it into a pack. You can tune into AM, FM , or the WX weather band, the latter offering nearly nationwide coverage. There is a headphone jack if you want to listen to the radio while at an outdoor event. Sound quality is similar to the ER210. Take this along when you’re heading out on the water or the woods and it will sound an alarm with weather warnings and watches for your area. It’s great for regions where you might not have cell phone coverage. An early warning can make all the difference. Turn off the weather alert standby function when you don’t need it to preserve battery life; I found battery life dropped to a less than a week in standby mode. That included a period with a couple of alerts with battery and strobe light. Rechargeable batteries will mitigate this one issue. Oh, and you can’t beat the price!

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