If you want extended range without a repeater, a decent ground plane antenna (1/4 wave (19")) is fine will give tremendous boost compared to the handheld antenna. Simplest is to get a magnetic mount car antenna and plop it onto your car roof, or even onto a cookie sheet.

If you want something that doesn't need a big flat piece of metal, there are various wire antenna designs with radial stubs instead of a ground plane, that can be pretty lightweight. They're easy to set up but it's not like using a cellular phone (walk and talk at the same time).

Finally there are some 5/8" telescoping whip antennas (about 4 feet long) that will still work quite a bit better than the standard "rubber duck" and you can use them while walking. I had one of these (about 25 bucks) but have no idea where it is now. They're a little bit cumbersome (maybe 10" long collapsed) but I'd say worth having in the situations you might be imagining. If you're thinking of getting something like that, make sure your HT has an appropriate connector.