I'm curious if people have had trouble with weather radios in the BWCA. The last 2 years I have not brought one and I'm done tempting fate. We will be on the Ely side camping on lake Insula. Has it been easy to get reception up there? I have a hand crank weather radio and I'm curious how difficult it could be to get reception. Thanks everyone!
Attached is a picture of the radio that I have.

I have had no problem getting weather reports anywhere in the BWCA. Was on Insula in October two years ago and weather came in perfect. Use a Midland GMRS 2-way radio.

Having my weather radio last year saved us a few days in a storm and we got out in advance. We were on the far reaches of Knife Lake. The hand crank things are just way too heavy. Get a MUCH smaller and lighter battery powered radio. You're only out there a week or so. I have this by my bed and listen to it each night before I go to sleep. The batteries last about 6 months.
La Crosse model 810-805
Weather radio
This one weighs 5 ounces and has an antenna.

You can get them on Amazon for 34 bucks.

BW and Quetico - no problem. WCPP - not so much.

I personally bring the Sangean DT-400W weather radio. It's the size of a deck of cards and weighs 3.6 ounces. Sangean makes a good product. Be sure to bring the included antenna! With the antenna I've had no problem picking up NOAA everywhere in the BWCA & Q, but without the antenna it won't pick up anything.

unshavenman: "I personally bring the Sangean DT-400W weather radio. It's the size of a deck of cards and weighs 3.6 ounces. Sangean makes a good product. Be sure to bring the included antenna! With the antenna I've had no problem picking up NOAA everywhere in the BWCA & Q, but without the antenna it won't pick up anything."

This is what I bring as well. It works great for the weather and some local stations, especially your local PBS station

I’ve used a few of them over the years. The best one was one from a Motorola radio. Another was CCrane pocket radio that had good reception.

I like equipment that does double duty. My Garmin InReach Explorer + does just that. It is a satellite Communication device that I can reach anyone with a text or email. It has a compass, GPS mapping, SOS button, and can get a weather forecast for your area. I don’t think I will ever use a weather radio again.

Consider this: We bring in a small short-wave radio we purchased in Europe 25 years ago. Very compact, runs on two AA batteries. My wife actually uses it every day in the morning as she goes about her morning routine.

We opted for this over purchasing a weather radio because, in addition to the local "Ely and Boundary Waters Weathereye Forecast,™" we can get regular radio on it if we want. Usually we listen to WELY for the news and weather updates. We don't listen to the radio much during layover days, but we like to hear the news, and we often have deep conversations based on what we've heard. If you don't want the option to hear the news or listen to some of the crazy short-wave radio broadcasts that are out there (if even for a few minutes,) then a weather radio is probably what you need.

Occasionally we have to use the old tin-foil antenna add-on to enhance reception.

Mike

We take a couple of motorola 2 way radios so we can communicate between canoes while we're out fishing. I got the ones that have the weather radio option, and it works very well in the Quetico.

MichiganMan: "We take a couple of motorola 2 way radios so we can communicate between canoes while we're out fishing. I got the ones that have the weather radio option, and it works very well in the Quetico."

This is us...2 way radios that both can be switched to receive weather bands if needed. Scan thru the 7 channels or however many and there's always at least one that comes in well. Knife, Malberg, LLC, Crooked, etc and no issues.

KarlBAndersen1: "Having my weather radio last year saved us a few days in a storm and we got out in advance. We were on the far reaches of Knife Lake. The hand crank things are just way too heavy. Get a MUCH smaller and lighter battery powered radio. You're only out there a week or so. I have this by my bed and listen to it each night before I go to sleep. The batteries last about 6 months.
La Crosse model 810-805
Weather radio
This one weighs 5 ounces and has an antenna.


You can get them on Amazon for 34 bucks."

I've used this radio also for years. I've been all over both the Q and BWCA and always find a station.

We have also used the La Crosse 810-805 for the past several years with no issues getting a weather station. Usually just before bed we turn it on for a few minutes to listen to the forecast.

Blatz: "

unshavenman: "I personally bring the Sangean DT-400W weather radio. It's the size of a deck of cards and weighs 3.6 ounces. Sangean makes a good product. Be sure to bring the included antenna! With the antenna I've had no problem picking up NOAA everywhere in the BWCA & Q, but without the antenna it won't pick up anything."

This is what I bring as well. It works great for the weather and some local stations, especially your local PBS station"

+2 This is what I use as well, small, light, affordable, reliable, and batteries last a long time. You do not want or need the generator model, heavy and utterly unnecessary when batteries will last for many weeks in the Sangean.