Very good information here. Faith, Quiet and Dave5339 are spot on.

I too have incorporated Ham into my plan/operation. Hoping to upgrade to General sometime in the fall. I too believe the FT 897 is the way to go for the same reasons stated.

Just like ARs, the accessories can expand your radio's capabilities. In addition to the equipment mentioned here, a Yaesu Ft 8800R cross band repeating radio and a simplex repeater can widen your "patrol area"

Some accessories that are worth their weight in gold are "do it yourself" In You can "boost" your 2m VHF radios with a simple J-Pole antenna made of TV twin lead that fits in a tent stake pouch. Trade off is similiar to HF; you'll have to stop and deploy the antenna by haning it in a tree.