Baofang is a good starter radio. I had a F8HP connected with a special adapter to connect to the antenna wire of my gj Motorsports 3rd brake light NMO mount. This way the signal doesn’t get distorted going through glass, metal, all that other stuff in your truck. A few years ago I upgraded to a 50W ICOM 2730A and love it. It has Bluetooth capabilities so I can connect a wireless headset to it and it knows when I’m talking to open up the channel. Completely hands free!
I got my HAM license because I wanted to just learn something new. While you do need a license technically there is a loophole that says you can use it if people or property is in danger. Since you’re off-roading that’s almost all the time so there’s that. #loophole Haha