The key is to only use resonant antenna's....

IN the early days of amateur radio, there was no coaxial cable - hence we did not care much what the SWR was.
We used a Johnson Matchbox with a couple of coils and life was good.

Then after world war two - coax became available and people bought it because it was cheap and it worked.
The problem was - how to match it.

The regular MFJ 949 series tuner was usually employed - although most people do not understand that it cannot make a non resonant antenna resonant.
The bottom line is - even if they claim they can work everything they can hear - what are they hearing?
Not everything that a person with a resonant antenna hears....

Having a good transceiver to use, and not wanting to damage it - you want to buy the best possible antenna's for the money...

One point I always make with new hams and inexperienced hams is to do lot's of research and to listen before transmitting...
Listen, listen, and listen some more......

There are lot's of nets with real hams up on 80 and 160 meters - if you can find them that knows a little about this stuff...

Some good web pages to look at are K3CC, K0BG, KC9AOP