What is the best portable radio for comms. I bought an FT-60r. I read good reviews on it. What does everyone else use?

I have a ft-60 dual band ham radio and vx-180 Vertex standard commercial vhf. Both with speaker mics. They work very well. The vx-180 is not field programable. Butthat also means programing can not be messed up in the field. The vx being single band does have a little better range. Because of the antena. The ft-60 works good too. But make sure you lock the key pad before you go in the field. To keep from getting of freq.

Asking a bunch of ham's about the best radio is a loaded question .

I love the Ft60R as a SAR radio. It has all of the features a SAR person needs. With the right accessories its a rockin system. If I had to pick ONE radio to everywhere with me it would be my FT60R. Even though I have SEVERAL hand helds to choose from at home.

Right now I'm using a combination of 2 radios in my Conterra dual radio harness.

VHF Commercial Radio (TK2180 from Kenwood)
Qaud Band Yaesu Vx8R with APRS



Pretty much you can't go wrong with a yaesu product.

Some things I'd recommend for any radio:

High Gain Flexible Antenna (comet)
AA Battery Pack (Yaesu)
Speaker Mic (Yaesu)
Roll Up Jpole Antenna and 25FT of coax along with some high strength twine and lead sinkers
SMA-BNC connector
Drop in Charger (yaesu)
Radio Chest Harness from Conterra (I like the dial one)
Ear Piece that plugs into your speaker mic for really noisy enviroments