You have two basic choices - Family Radio Service (FRS) or General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) when it comes to easily portable hand held radios. Both are "line of sight" ... which means terrain, trees, curvature of the earth, heavy rainfall, and even your body can attenuate the srength of the signal that reaches the receiving unit. Also electromagnetic disturbances such as GMD and lightning can reak havoc with the signal.

The FRS units are restricted to 0.5 watt out put. The FMRS units can operate up to 50 watts, with most hand held units operating with a signal strength of 1 - 3 watts. This additional power out put is a tremendous advantage in distance capability.

The "high powered" FRS units are usually rated 20 miles plus, which in my experience this is mythical in actual field conditions. The price of the FRS sets is usually 1/3 or less than a quality GMRS set, and does not require a license. License for the GMRS is something like $75 - $85.

In my opinion if you ever expect to need to communuicate in the field across a distance of 3-10 miles, the GMRS unit is the clear choice. Its only money after all!

If you are talking 1/2 - 1 mile or so, a good quality FRS set will do just fine. Motorola, Cobra, Midland ... all good.