Durability of Antenna'a

If you have the 'standard' fiberglass whip- it may be worth your while to get the stainless steel whip, as a replacement or a spare..

It depends. How many times are you going to whack a branch with them, at what velocity and which part of the whip?
Yes, they do fail (but not often). Check the resistance of the whip if in doubt, it should be less than 10 ohms.

I lost the top half of my fibreglass whip on the AB due to contact with trees. I couldn't be fagged changing it over at the time and paid the price in the end! I always carry a spare stainless stubby whip and a bit of SS wire to run from the autotune into a tree as a back up. Cheers

we have a little stainless looking thing...i dont trust it...i would rather put a big whiteeee on or my other 5ft long thing that i know lasts on trees!

the stereo / radio aerial breeaks b4 our wips...

It's that second branch lurking just after the whip has bent over and negotiated the first one. It whips forward and gets the second one at more than twice the car's forward velocity causing it to bend sharply forward or break!!! Believe me I know and it happened on the AB. Best thing, just take it off and use it when needed.

Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated.

I've got one of those very flexible fine stainless steel whips in the Barrett autotune, and have lost two aerials. Even though they are incredibly flexible, they fatigue where they join the base, and snap there. Simple solution is to wind some electrical tape around the base and whip, so if it breaks off, you won't lose the whip. Just have to remove the grub screw and reinsert.

My experience with the long hollow fibreglass antenna's is the very thin wire up the gutz breaks after prolonged rough corrugation driving, the helical wound or the plain wire is a better idea.
One of these will give longer service
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On the same subject, which aerial gives the best performance results - the stainless steel or the fibreglass?

Dick,

Dunno about the autotune whips, as we've only ever used the multi-taps by Terlin, or RFI.

I know stainless UHF whips will fatigue from lots of corrugations. It's in the laps of the gods just where it breaks, but my bet would be odds on for just above the mounting nut.

As Jim has said the fibreglass will break if they hit a tree with force, but you may be able to tape it up enough to keep using it. They are very light, would be better to carry a spare.

Hooroo,
Bob.