I have three (yeah, I know...) VX-7Rs and have yet to see another HT I would have the hots to replace them with.
Very wide band RX, dual band monitoring, TX on several bands, ruggedly built, said to be submersible too, but if they are half of all that they're better than most commercial HTs out there for playing rough. I have them set up to work with an FT-8900 in a vehicle to crossband repeat back to the house, or they can be quickly reset to select another memory and simplex with each other. They will also software-enable to use the MARS/CAP freqs, etc..
I like the idea of having a group of identical HTs for logistical reasons. I found the service menu and opened up the deviation a little to overcome chronic mic attenuation by the waterproof membrane. I use CHIRP, VX-7 Commander and ADMS software/cable to program all three to run alike and to compliment each others frequency pairs. I have adapters with twin-lead J-poles on about 10' of feedline for each HT and a bunch of batteries, wall/vehicle/pigtail chargers and hand mics that are common to all. Two is one and all that....
I cannot bring myself to treat cheap crap as anything but a toy, and the Chinese 'bargain radios' offend my sensibilities. One would have to realize they only got what they deserved, and paid for, if they had to use one in a clutch and it was DOA. As more or less posted above, if I really really NEED a radio, I don't want anything but 100% out of it. At this point, I'd have to think some more, but would probably get VX-6s or FT60s if I had to get another herd of HTs together.
Having fooled with these VX-7s and a few others, I'm not excited to have an HT as my primary radio, but I don't know what else I could actually carry if I wanted to take a walk around the farm carrying a rifle and ammo and my lunch and flashlight and helmet and all.