It somewhat depends on what you're looking for. For the cheapest, almost "disposable" radio it's hard to beat the Baofeng UV-5R[1] at $30. However they aren't

It somewhat depends on what you're looking for. For the cheapest, almost "disposable" radio it's hard to beat the Baofeng UV-5R[1] at $30. However they aren't the most reliable and they tend to be pretty spotty in terms of how clean they are(broadcasting on frequencies other than you're transmitting). They're also a total PITA to program, but for emergencies you can put them on 146.520(national calling frequency) and leave it there. A little step up from that is Yaesu's FT-60R[2]. It's a lot more robust, easier to program and generally much more solid. It also costs a fair bit more($180). I usually carry a Yaesu VX-8DR[3] however it's overkill for most people. I mostly have it because you can drop it into a few feet of water without issue and it does APRS so I can send "text" messages and see status of other APRS beacons near me. It's also pretty darn expensive at $370. All of these will also receive FM radio, NOAA radio and any of the un-encrypted Fire/EMS/Police bands so that's handy as well. With a handheld tranciever the best you can look for is 2-5mi depend on terrain between who's receiving you. If you've got a repeater nearby, those tend to be ~100W(as opposed to 5W HTs usually do) and positioned well. Usually they cover anywhere from 30-100mi(we've got one in Centralia that I can pick up from Portland to Seattle). Regular radios start in the 25-100W range and get out 10-30mi depending on terrain but those are usually a lot more involved to setup. One nifty thing is most dual band radios these days will do cross-band receiving so you can put your HT on 70cm and have it retransmit via the larger radio on 2m. If you have it setup in your car that's a nice setup for a quick an dirty repeater. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HX03AMA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HX03AMA [2] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q1UYR1G https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q1UYR1G [3] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MAKK7W https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MAKK7W