To introduce myself - I have been involved in communications since 1970 and I have been a volunteer examiner for 1.5 years.

At the very basic level - we have been giving one test session per a month for the last 18 months.

Most every test session with the exception of Ham In A Day classes - the only participants are the people that I enticed to come along and take the exam.

I even went so far as to have the first VE test session in my county in 25 years!

Two people showed up and one person passed the exam...

I thought about what I could do to make ham radio more user friendly.
I came to the conclusion that I could round up as many ham radio magazines as I could find.
I contacted the local vendors of ham radio equipment - HRO and AES and I got them to send me a case of catalog's.
I then circled the best transceivers, antenna's, coax, power supplies, SWR meters etc and I handed them out.
I also gave the surplus catalogs away to the other VE's so they could give them out at future events.

The Key to Amateur Radio is to have a Elmer!
You say - what is a Elmer?
A Elmer is a experienced HAM - a person who operates every day and is willing to open their shack to anyone that wishes to use their equipment to get on the air.
A ELMER is a person that is willing to LEND you equipment - short term, so you can get on the air and make some contacts!

Note I said short term!
Some people - once they get something that works - even just a little, will stop - because they dont want to spend their own money!
Those people are not HAMS!

As a example - the one person who passed the test at my VE test session, had a transceiver that was given to him when he worked for the Forrest Fire Service in Colorado.
He felt that since he had a mobile radio and antenna - he didn't need anything else, because it was programmable into the 2 meters / 70 CM bands.

Only when he took the test - it was 65* outside, and when he got his license it was only 55*.
Now it is only 35* and operating outside is out of the question...

So he got one of his forest fire friends to send him a power supply, FREE - all he had to do is pay the $18.00 shipping..
He actually complained because he had to pay $18.00 for a 20 amp power supply..
At that point, I washed my hands of the guy - because he won't ever make it in my world...

Yes you can make a couple of contacts with a cheap - $50.00 walkie talkie, but NO - it is not a reliable form of communications...

The only exception to the rule is a old Radio Shack HTX 202 that I bought at my ELMERS SK auction.. It was broke, no manual, the battery was dead.
No one wanted it when it did not work!
I bought a battery pack and I made a mobile power cord and I was given a mobile handheld MFJ magmount antenna to use.
For 6 watts - it does remarkably well in certain conditions.

I have been able to hit repeaters 40 miles away - that are in a good place, as long as I am in a good place.. No one is going to drive 12 miles to the top of my mountain to operate on 2 meters...
So yes it can work - as long as you are in a good situation..

The problem is - I live in the mountains and If I drive down the road 1/4 of 1 mile, the signals all drops out and I have spotty coverage while mobile.

The other problem is - most people I know that are old hams - do not know how to program their own radios.
The exception is the ones with the Alinco's and ADI's because they were so simplistic - all you had to do was program it from the VFO and add the PL and Split and there you have it.

Try to do the same thing with my Kenwood TS 590S on 10 or 6 meters and you will see the difference immediately..
Those same people - who usually doesn't even know how to operate simplex - unless someone programmed it in for them, are perplexed when you ask them to show you how to program your transceiver and they usually make excuses why they are too busy to do it.

Some transceivers like my Yaesu FT 8900R - its so difficult, you are better off just using the programming cable and a aftermarket program...

Maybe this will explain a little of why I am so against handhelds for primary communications..