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I have a dozen HT's and about six mobile units. The portability of an HT as a first radio is hard to beat on a small budget. I have two Yaesu Vx-7r's . They are dual-band and very water resistant. You can also get a water-resistant mike for it. If you are wheelin' with an open top or while hiking you drop it in the water, you don't have to worry so much.

A buddy in town had the same issues as you and he has a open-top 40. He strapped the Vx-7r to the inside of the roll cage with velcro and pulls it out when in camp to talk.

The biggest limitations of the HT's are limited power (usually 5 or 6 watts) and the antenna efficiency/location. I would DEFINITELY opt for an external vehicle antenna and cable adapter for each rig - you can use that same antenna later if you upgrade to a mobile unit. Be wary of long HT antennas that mount directly to the hand-held units - they tend to put A LOT of stress on the connector and can easily break the circuit board if dropped. Another limitation is the small screen/keys when driving.
The VX7R can be configured to have a BIG playschool font (with less info) though.

The casing of the VX7R is magnesium. It is mil-specd. Every connector is gasketed. My VX7R's have worn paint edges like a well-iused gun or camera (brassing). I have them for many hiking expeditions, travel-trips and offroading. I used to carry my VX7R strapped to my belt during the day because that was the alert method for our office of emergency managent in San Francisco. I carried the VX7R strapped to my backpack whenever I mountain biked (rain or shine) and pulled the extension mike to my shoulder - lots of intense vibration, dust and moisture. Neither unit has ever failed. The radio can be either s/w or h/w modified to have expanded Transmit capability (if you are licensed for that).

The free Commander software is much better (and cheaper) than the Yaesu s/w.
You will need a programming cable for it.

These radios have been in production for about 5 years so there are no s/w or h/w revision issues any more (ALL of the manufactures have h/w and s/w bugs when first released). There are variants of the same radio for Aviation (different internals) with aviation headsets (that ARE compatible!).

One other thing: This radio does not have built-in APRS. You can adapt any 2meter radio to APRS, but that is a lot of wires. There is a next-generation call the VX8R coming out next month that does APRS if you can wait (and risk bugs).


One other HT option. There is NO brand of radio that is more rugged and available in the USA than Motorola commercial HT's.
One specifically that I own is the HT-1000. It can transmit up to 7 or 8 watts. This is the radio that many 80's/90's cops have worn. It's speaker and speaker mike are meant to be louder than a crowd and be HEARD! It has a large battery. The dials are simple, responsive and hard to knock off frequency. The quality of the sound, tuning and accuracy of the radio are professional grade. The speaker mike cable bolts into the radio so a fall will not separate the super-tough cable. This unit is meant to be in a life&death scuffle so you know it is TOUGH!

The extra's available: vehicle cradle/adapter, several speaker mikes, factory earpieces, sturdy cop-belt holster, gang battery chargers.
The problems are:Requires a radio shop to program the frqeuencies, single band, typically has no lcd display, typically not water proof but water resistant (but there are EXPLOSION proof mining/fire variants!).

If you need more details or help I would be glad to respond on any of this.