I have "ended up" with the following!
1. 20 year old Icom handheld VHF, now powered by an Icom accessory battery pack, which allows it to use normal AA batteries. The original NiCad failed after about 15 years of intermittent use. The rest of the set is in very good condition. I have loaded this with high capacity/long shelf life lithium "camera batteries" - £15 ish?) and this is my reserve set, which lives on the boat.
2. New ICOM M25 handheld VHF (not my perfect set, but at new for £85 it was too good to miss). No faults, I just would have liked the domestic radio receiver function incorporated too. What I was shocked by, was how the size and weight of the new VHFs has come down as they have progressed with "phone battery" type tech. Duration has increased, charge time decreased .Also now from usb, eliminating a big heavy dedicated charger, in my case.
This set travels with me.
3. Ocean signal "Rescue me" PLB, which also travels with me. Now well under £200. Size of a ciggi packet!
4. mobile phone in pouch (so that it floats, and is "waterproof"). Have never tried operating this on a cold dark stormy night, or indeed while actually in the sea; I wouldn't want to. and then there are the limited coverage/non "DF-able" issues too. New gen digital phones are way worse than the old analogue mobile network in these respects.
Phone must be a backup, NOT primary means to alert.
Range:
I have never sailed the Lochs, nor the isolated W coast of Scotland (although I have worked up there - we had commercial fixed sets, of course).
On the S coast of the UK, hand-held coverage has not been an issue for a long time now. Guess this may in part be due to the high volume of maritime traffic these days?
HMCG have a network of remote aerial sites which they are able to operate from other "Operations Centres"; I think the system may even be nationally networked nowadays?
e.g at Fowey we are covered by Brixham CG's "official patch", but also regularly speak to Falmouth; both are WAY beyond line-of-sight; Brixham is some 60+ mile, even by sea, and there are some very large headlands in between.
I've often thought about a mast head aerial, but never got aroundtoit, for reasons above.
off topic, but similar - My current focus is on whether I should swap to LED "Flares" (now appx £90?) when mine expire next winter? I have some excellent waterproof LED torches; are they good enough?