Well last year I bought some Baofengs and BTECH UHF/D Amps to bump the transmit power and several styles and types of antennas and tested simplex mode range within the City of NY from our base of operations and we have been able to reach about 7 Miles from base to where we want to be able to reach in the event cell service / internet goes down. We joined a club to get access to a greater range repeater system but since we are able to run comms within areas we need to hit immediately, the only person that interfaces with the club community is me and I mainly only jump on the repeater if they change access tones and to participate in the net. Other than that GMRS is a tool for the shtf which is presently more likely. After I get the 1st ticket, then the HF tools will come in even more handy.
