Posts 89 and 90 are educational.
I had tried the handheld thingies for communication (emergency) with the caregivers of my now deceased parents a few years ago, in the event the San Andreas fault decided to take a massive dump; their home was maybe three miles down the hill with a couple of humps which took out the line-of-sight thing........all those disappointed, and got returned to Big Five Sporting Goods.......sigh.
The great thing about the 2 meter handhelds is that in addition to having the output power (say, 4-5 watts), the radios can use existing repeaters which are up on the hilltops and maintained primarily for emergency communications. I carry an improved gain antenna for my Wouxun handheld but the standard antenna seems to be quite adequate. The primary site for my radio:
http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=216&category_id=46