I (for one) do not cheap out when it comes to something that my life could depend on.
I have been using Chinese and Japanese radios for quite some time and haven't noticed quite as many quality issues as I hear about. My first Wouxun (a 1P) was dropped one afternoon when I was tooling down the highway on my Harley at around 70mph. The battery case was cracked and deformed a bit and the little protective tip was missing from the 19" high gain antenna, but a new battery pack put that radio back in business and I still use it. (Currently I have 4 Wouxuns, 4 Baofengs and a Yaesu HT. In addition, I have Yaesu, Kenwood and Leixen mobile radios.
In the community of preparedness (disaster or SHTF), one is none and two is one. I can afford to have a pair of Wouxun radios and still enjoy a 30-50% savings over ICOM. I can (and am) stacked deeply on Baofeng radios without approaching the considerable investment of an ICOM. If you think buying one ICOM, Motorola, Kenwood, or Yaesu is better than having three or four Chinese radios, then I would hate to see your other preparations.
I don't know about you, but I would rather the 30 people in my group had 30 radios than three of the more expensive ones. The Baofeng is cheap enough to carry a spare in your pack on patrols with the benefit that the battery can be swapped so you have more talk time.
Don't buy important "breakable" gear on ebay. Go to someplace like MTCRadio.com. Main Trading Company imports directly from China and when they get in a shipment of Chinese radios, they purchase extra bodies for warranty replacements. That way their customers don't have to ship things back to China. Even if you're buying name brand equipment, I reccomend Main Trading Company. Kenwood and ICOM radios purchased new have an optional extended warranty (up to five total years from date of sale). Their warranty is transferable when you sell the radio, so when you trade up with your buddy, they are getting a better deal too.
The most valid issue I keep hearing is the difficulty to program. This issue is partially resolved with practice. The Chinese manuals and even some of the control labels keep me in stitches, but like the Japanese makers, this will likely improve with practice. Meanwhile, there are sites like Miklor.com where you can get all the information you need to do the job.