For me, the issue is durability. I'm an offroader, and overlander, That means it has to be rugged, reliable and some durability. I wouldn't want to put out big $$ for a radio that is too delicate for the trails. It's always a balance of cost vs usage. $40 a piece is about where the cost/usage falls.
Greetings, New GMRS license holder here. I belong to a number of jeep and offroading groups who are going more and more to GMRS radios along with CB. Toyed with the Baofeng UV-5R for trails until I read up on it. Decided to go legal with a proper radio. My choice is one of the Midland MXT275 MicroMobile. The radio is the easy part as I have a good location for the head unit. The question I have is the antenna location, I'd like to use one of the X-Clamps Mounted on the right rear Sport bar using the 3db Ghost antenna. Since the roof itself is fiberglass and I run with it on during the winter and with a soft top in the summer or top down I was wondering if this would be a good location and not cause a problem with reception over a longer distance.