Cobra MR HH600 Floating VHF Handheld
At under 12 ounces, the Cobra HH600 has no business packing this much capability into a package you can clip to your PFD and forget about — until you need it. And when you need a handheld VHF, you really need it.
This is a 6-watt radio with selectable output down to 3 or 1 watt for close-quarters chatter, and it comes loaded: built-in GPS, Digital Selective Calling with 19 dedicated channels, Bluetooth for hands-free phone calls, a noise-cancelling mic, and Cobra's Rewind-Say-Again feature that records the last 20 seconds of incoming transmissions. That last one alone is worth the price of admission. No more "say again?" on a busy channel — just tap and replay.
DSC paired with onboard GPS means your SOS goes out with your exact position. Register your radio with the Coast Guard (instructions are in the box, and its free) to receive an MMSI (it doesn’t matter what it stands for) number, punch it in, and you've got a genuine lifeline in your hand. The HH600 ships with both a rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack and an AA battery tray, so you've always got a backup plan when shore power isn't an option.
It floats. At 11.6 ounces, that feels like a magic trick. Drop it overboard and it bobs antenna-down with an auto-activated strobe flashing for retrieval. Available in black, black/orange, or white/orange, it looks right on any helm.
Now the honest stuff. It floats, yes — but with maybe a half-inch of freeboard. In any kind of chop, you'd better have sharp eyes to spot it without that strobe, so keep it especially secure during daylight hours and don't go swimming at night without it turned on. And while the drop-in charging cradle is solidly built for bulkhead mounting, there's no USB-C charging option. You're tethered to that cradle. In 2026, that feels like a missed opportunity.
Street price hovers around $200 with a 3-year warranty. For a floating, GPS-equipped, DSC-capable handheld with Bluetooth and message playback at that number, the HH600 is a seriously hard package to beat.