Location, Location, Location

It all depends

Hint - if you're near the top of the sunspot cycle, have some coax, and can cut a dipole, string it between 2 trees, you'll be shocked exactly how far you can talk on a CB

FRS/GMRS - handy
"security channels" are only what is known as PL tomes (Motorola TM) or properly known as CTCSS - turn tone filters off, and anyone can listen

Best (IMHO)?
Go, spend a week or so learning to get your ham ticker, and get a 2m rig programmed with your local frequencies

One "interesting" thing
You can NOT legally move a ham radio to say the GMRS band, as it's not type accepted - however, if a type accepted radio will tune to the ham band with no mods, it's perfectly legal to use there AND in the GMRS band (if it needs mods, it's NOT legal to use post mod in the GMRS band)

Anyway, there are some really nice commercial radios made that ARE type accepted in the GRMS bands, and will tune to the ham bands (By such people as Motorola and GE/Erricson/Tyco/MA-COM/Harris (and if they have changed their name again....))