I have a pair of the 5320s, and they're great for hiking... I suppose if you have more than a pair, the range extends as well, depending on each unit's position. I may be wrong, and don't quote me on this, but there was once when there was a huge group of us were hiking up this mountain, and we split into 3 groups, the elite (fastest), mediocre (that's me!) and the slow. I couldn't get in touch with the elite group cos they were in a trough, and i could only talk to the last group. But as soon as I reached a peak, I was able to talk to the elite group, and so was the slow group. I suppose my unit was acting sorta like a transmitter/repeater, hence increasing the range...
Anyway, at $13 a pop, that's a real good buy, esp since its got the 38 subchannels...