Being in the police/fire radio business for 30+ years, I can tell you that CB stands for (Crap Band) in the trade.
It's in the 27 megahertz band, and is AM. (Amplitude Modulation) The problem with AM is electrical noise, especially arcing of motor brushes, spark plug pulsing and the like. 27 Mhz in a world of 2.4 Ghz (Gigi-hertz) cellphones or even UHF (460 Mhz) family radios is really old school stuff, and the long wavelength makes antennas problematic.
A typical quarter wave whip antenna for CB is 108 inches long. That's 9 feet. Most antenna makers make ''loaded coil'' antennas which try to shorten that length, usually with compromises in range. You also need quite a bit of ground plane for that low of frequency, and that doesn't help the range either.
Probably the best if you want it to work well, is a Firestick (brand) type of antenna. They're a thick fiberglass rod with a coil of wire wrapped around it. They can't take much flexing though. (As in tree branches grabbing it)
If you get a magnet mount type, go to a two-way radio shop and get a ''real'' one with an NMO type base, and a Maxrad or Antenex antenna. The NMO is the same mounting base as police/fire radios use, and your CB antenna will have a screw-on base piece about 3 1/2" tall, and a stainless steel rod about 4 feet long. They can take the abuse, and the magnet mount will hold tight. You'll have to spend over $100 for this setup though.
A cheap magnet antenna will work okay, but won't reach very far. Don't even waste your time with on-glass type antennas, they're crap even in the 800 Mhz cellphone band, let alone 27 Mhz.
As for the one-hand CB's, those are the cat's meow for the XK. There isn't a lot of room for a dash mount CB in the Commander. I've seen a few on the forums installed in the left side cubby hole, but then you lose that space. Note that there are a lot of two-way radios that are all-in-the-mic types too such as a Motorola Spectra. (Seen in cop cars everywhere, especially detective's or chief's cars)
For powering one up, a cigarette lighter plug works fine. Most CB's only draw about 2.5 amps max during transmit, and maybe 0.25 amps on receive. An emergency CB would work pretty good for what you want. Midland, Maxon, and a few others make these. Most are in a plastic box for storing under a seat, and have a magnet mount telescoping antenna. I try to keep a couple around to hand out on Jeep trips. Don't expect 5 miles range though, the antennas are a compromise at best.
On edit: an Antenex CB antenna. (These are professional Police/Fire/Ambulance grade antennas)
http://www.wpsantennas.com/cw27-ante...4wavewhip.aspx
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