Nobody uses CB radios these days?

Going back a few decades-- when the CB radio craze was hot--- they were all over the place. Last year on a long trip I dug out an old CB scanner figuring that the chatter one hears is a great way to stay awake if nothing else. However, I found very little by way of CB radio traffic. Certainly nothing like it was in the "old days".

Yeah, everyone has cell phones & Internet apps today but there's a number of things that can ONLY be done with a CB radio. Maybe drivers just ran out of things to argue about?? 

I think maybe I've got an old CB set down in the basement. The profanity heard last time I turned it on was too much for me.

I can't think of anything a CB can do that a cell phone could not do.

SeilerBird said:

I can't think of anything a CB can do that a cell phone could not do.

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One thing a CB can do is alert other drivers to traffic conditions ahead. You can't do that on a cellphone if you don't have the other driver's  phone number.  On the other hand, if you are using your cell phones navigation app, you might get the same information.

I also gave up on CB a number of years ago due to the profanity expressed over the air.

Lowell said:

One thing a CB can do is alert other drivers to traffic conditions ahead. You can't do that on a cellphone if you don't have the other driver's  phone number.  On the other hand, if you are using your cell phones navigation app, you might get the same information.

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FWIW you don't have to be using your phones navigation app in order to see traffic conditions around you; just activate the "Traffic" icon on Google Maps.  Furthermore, if you need/want to detour around a problem, the navigation app is far more effective than relying on what you heard on the CB!  Last month, to avoid a massive tie-up on I-10 at the TX-LA line Google Maps took us on a ~45 minute detour which saved us from hours of delay.

We used CBs on a recent multi vehicle 4WD trip in Death Valley. Not much cell service, and the area didn?t have good LOS for FRS radios (lots of curves and rocks). We actually had to dig around to find ours since we hadn?t used it in a number of years. Worked great for that purpose, but not many other places would it be the preferred communication method.

Lowell said:

One thing a CB can do is alert other drivers to traffic conditions ahead. You can't do that on a cellphone if you don't have the other driver's  phone number.  On the other hand, if you are using your cell phones navigation app, you might get the same information.

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But since virtually no one is using a CB radio who are you going to notify?

SeilerBird said:

But since virtually no one is using a CB radio who are you going to notify?

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I think truckers may still be using them. Most of them have antennas.

Truckers do use them, at least out here they do. The Jeeping community uses CB radios around here and around the Western USA. My Dynamax came with a CB Radio, which will be a good thing to have when we are out and the lot of us (local Jeep club) traveling together have a CB Radio. 

Last week I made an effort to get my Ham License, I failed the test, but sometime in the near future I'll give it another shot. Ham Radio is where it's at. Cell phones just don't measure up to Ham Radio.

John Beard said:

Last week I made an effort to get my Ham License, I failed the test, but sometime in the near future I'll give it another shot. Ham Radio is where it's at. Cell phones just don't measure up to Ham Radio.

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My son and I use Ham Radios when we hunt or go off road. If  you learn where the repeaters are, you can talk to some one a long way off.

SeilerBird said:

I can't think of anything a CB can do that a cell phone could not do.

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I can. As Lowell pointed out you could talk to others in your general area without knowing their number. Going back when they were popular and widely used you could ask northbound traffic why southbound was backed up and how far. You could warn traffic going the other way about that trooper checking speeds. You could ask warn another driver that they had some kind of issue  with their vehicle that they weren't aware of. As an extreme example there was as time around here when a local trucker was able to rescue another driver who had run off the road, down a bank and called for help with his CB.

I never leave the house without my cell phone and while coverage is getting better, there's many areas around where I live that there is no signal at all. Hard for some that are always on to imagine I guess.

But having said all this, what others are saying about the profanity that seemed to be so prevalent is something I forgot about. I didn't mind it myself as there were some really amusing, albeit profanity laced "discussions" that listening to kept me awake  driving in the wee hours.

Given that all things old are new again at some point it wouldn't surprise me if some celebrity started raving about CBs and they make a comeback. But, I'm not holding my breath...  ;D

You've got several good answers above, but another factors is the FRS (Family Radio Service) radios which you can find almost anywhere -- sporting goods stores, department stores, etc. -- and have taken a lot of the (short range) traffic that used to be mostly on CB.

As others have said above, CB is used a lot among 4WD off road folks, and most OTR rigs seem to at least have the antennas, though the chat isn't as heavy as it used to be. But the 'craze' was just that -- a craze -- and has gone the way of all fads.

Lowell -- you've got a great solution, for ham to ham, but that still leaves most people out.

If you are the really adventurous type, they still seem to be used in areas with no cell phones.  The haul road in Alaska, the Dempster in the Yukon, The Trans-Labrador highway, the James Bay road in Quebec, some logging roads in British Columbia, and so on.  90%+ of the traffic on such roads are big rigs, and I hear the drivers there make extensive use of CBs still.

SeilerBird said:

I can't think of anything a CB can do that a cell phone could not do.

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Where as I can and that's why I run with Chan 19 on for most long trips (i sometimes forget on short ones)  Twice so far, once more or less recently I have had warning of an incident up ahead with soon enough that I could either avoid the mess entirely or avoid adding to it.

CB can Broadcast to a group be it like the situations above or link together a group of travlers on the same road.. Cell can not do that effectively.

Also Cell phones are much more "Distracting" and illegal for drivers in many places unless hands free.    CB is often exempted under those rules.

We use CBs extensively on the motorcycles (Goldwings).

John From Detroit said:

Where as I can and that's why I run with Chan 19 on for most long trips (i sometimes forget on short ones)  Twice so far, once more or less recently I have had warning of an incident up ahead with soon enough that I could either avoid the mess entirely or avoid adding to it.

CB can Broadcast to a group be it like the situations above or link together a group of travlers on the same road.. Cell can not do that effectively.

Also Cell phones are much more "Distracting" and illegal for drivers in many places unless hands free.    CB is often exempted under those rules.

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X2. I have our CB on all the time.. out on the Big Roads. Very handy for what's happening within the next, or previous few miles. Handier than a Cell.. IMO. I also have a Portable to loan... if we're traveling with another RV friend.

BIG JOE said:

X2. I have our CB on all the time.. out on the Big Roads. Very handy for what's happening within the next, or previous few miles. Handier than a Cell.. IMO. I also have a Portable to loan... if we're traveling with another RV friend.

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  We also have and will continue to have the cb. While, we don?t run it all the time .....we can get minute to minute updates on weather and/or road conditions to the exact mile marker. If something is happening....the truckers are quick to report it and talk about it!

malexander said:

We use CBs extensively on the motorcycles (Goldwings).

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  WOW! You certainly ?go against the grain?....I thought that the ?Milwaukee Vibrator?  was the ?only? socially acceptable bike of today?s biker! ?

BIG JOE said:

X2. I have our CB on all the time.. out on the Big Roads. Very handy for what's happening within the next, or previous few miles.

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Ditto. Don't actually use it much but it's always on. (I've always got it squelched so it's mostly silent.) Recently I let a trucker know he had a smoking tire - he pulled over to check it and thanked me. I'd like to think someone would return the favor.

If you were smoking out the rear Scott, I'd let you know.