Hi amper,
Congratulations on your new ham ticket! While it has been over 15 years ago that I got my first ham ticket--it is pretty exciting to get that first ticket!!!
I live in Arizona and around here there are many mountain top repeaters that have very wide coverage, so 2meters especially has real advantage in a survival situation. I can remember being up by the Mogollon rim (north central AZ) and talking on an handitalkie with 2 watts over 100 miles back down into Phoenix while out camping some years ago.
You will need to learn what your area has available in repeaters, but a nice HT would be a good starting place, and by all means get plugged into a local ham group--they will help you alot.
Ford
KG7IW