Having hand pumped my share, the one thing that makes a difference for me is a flexible hose from the pump to the stem.
When trying to get a road tire high enough to get home (if you are 50 miles out, I mentally need 90+psi), it is easy to break off the stem. No way to fix that.
The heat from pumping (happens normally when compressing air) plus the rocking back and forth of the pump has caused more than one problem.
A few years ago I got a Lezyne road drive. It has a hose on the inside that you attach. Works great. They have a new model that can be CO2 or hand pumped.
I think there are other models that do the hose too. The hose I recommend 100%. I have not used a pump in the past 5 years that couldn't get the PSIs; 10 years ago there were some that could not.