I have been a ham since I was 12. I have several expensive hand held radios (Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom) but I usually leave them home and take a $25 Baofeng when I am outside. If i drop it, it is stolen out of my car, or if I lose it I can easily replace it. It works as well as the expensive radios but just doesn't have all the features of the name brand radios. I never use most of the special features anyway. If I am out in the woods I usually keep it in a Ziplock bag in case it rains.