Consider getting a whip antenna for it, the rubber ducky it comes with is generally junk. I also have an adapter so I can plug my Baofeng into a standard coax cable in case my Icom bites the dust. I also keep a roll-up dual band j-pole in the truck for emergencies.
You can build up a pretty decent "oh shit" kit from one of those that would also be fun to play with around camp if you can hit a repeater.
You can also install an antenna on your rig and use that instead of the OEM. A mobile antenna will give you much better performance. I used to get good input reports on the Palomar Mountain repeater from south San Diego county on 5W with a handheld through a mobile antenna. The was around 50 miles LOS.
I concur. The baofeng is a great HT especially for the price. It was my first radio when I got my Tec license. You are absolutely correct about the provided rubber ducky upgrade. I used in my rig with a a mag mount. I have two of them now keeping one In a small comms go bag. Once you figure out how to manually enter repeaters to the memory (which can be hard at first) you will really appreciate this good little radio.
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