Mad Dog (Australia) replied:

They work ok. If venturing into rough territory where there may be a lot of whipping around either take it off or use a spring. I had a problem where the enamel wire fractured about 3 cm from the base, easily fixed but didn't have the gear with me in the bush. Very good value antenna...fully recommended

Willem replied:

I have a 20 tap whip antenna and new spring which I bought through Transceiver Services in Adelaide. It cost $380 all up including freight, The aerial alone cost $316. So if the one you are looking at for $120 looks robust enough, it is a good deal!

hanson replied:

if the wire breaks, just get the right amount of 2.65ml high tensile fencing wire ... works. We have a vineyard so plenty of wire, and have snapped two proper antennaes, coming into a low carport

Member - Banjo The First (SA) replied:

Yep - mainstream plastic coated professional tapped whips (more a pole than a whip - they re not "whippy") are expensive, but very robust. The $120 is attractive and might be the go if you take good care of it. Don't forget that as a back-up, a length of thin wire can serve as a very good antenna (should your main unit break) - I'm staff with VKS737 - we have a guide to calculating wire lengths on our site - in the PDF's section. As long as you have at least a few metres of wire connected you won't harm the radio - the adjusted length gets you "in tune" with the frequency you are trying to use. Different frequency - different wire length - I carry a bit of stainless wire tuned for 8022 Khz, as a spare.