Based on your updated question, I’d go with cheap and nasty. The radio will be subjected to abuse and the cheaper it is, the less you’ll cry when someone drops it, as opposed to having a Yeasuu handheld, or mobile base station dropping on the floor.

The other thing to consider is that you can purchase a several dozen cheap Chinese radios and drop one on the floor every month for the next few years and still spend less money than buying a Yaesu FTX-1F Portable when it becomes available.

There’s debate about Baofeng vs Wouxun, buy one of each and see what you like. The Baeofengs are cheap and sometimes hard to program, the Wouxun is more of a robust radio, but you might not need it.

Consider for example what happens when it rains.

We tested a whole bunch of radios during our hamfest in 2023, report is here: github.com/vk6flab/rhp