My friends and I use Baofeng UV5R radios, operating on "walkie talkie" frequencies. We recently invested in a couple amps and antennas, to equip vehicles, and potentially create man-portable setups with longer range. We have had clear communications over a mile of undulating, wooded terrain, but would like to do better, if possible. I am interested in directional antennas, but I haven't been able to find one that I consider "packable"; they're light weight, but bulky. I have an FCC callsign and GMRS license, but haven't broken into the use of repeaters and such, as I'd like to have a more self-sufficient setup. Advice and recommendations are welcome. I am new to this. My radio is setup to work with my friends, and is "locked"; I like it that way, for now, as I am not confident in manipulating the settings.

Perhaps something like this?

It disassembles into a pretty small footprint and weighs under a pound.

After following the link you provided, and then another link, I ended up ordering this one...
https://www.amazon.com/TWAYRDI...764460_t1_B08FC7H6DB
A bit pricier, but gets compact without needing tools for disassembly. I am sure all these things are very fragile, so I may need to create some kind of PVC storage tube or something. I'll see how it performs first.
Thanks for your help, FiveFiveSix.

Glad to help. That one should work out fine.

I think you’ll find that many of the element-through-the-boom yagis are more durable than they look. That’s even more true as the frequency goes up since the boom/elements get shorter and less prone to bending.

Good luck!

Just beware that the higher in gain you go on a Yagi, the more narrow the RF radiation pattern becomes, so your aim of the Yagi to the receiving station becomes more critical.

To increase range on my handhelds I keep a roll up j pole to toss up into trees. Not as directional. You can easily build a home brew moxon for directional but it requires a frame. You can carry a small enough handheld yagi type antenna on your pack but will have to raise it as well somehow. The j pole I use can be purchased online on eBay. They are made by students of Ed Fong in California. They work similar to the jungle antennas we used in the Army to increase range and help get through dense vegetation and hills in Panama Central America. We hoisted them into trees and used our MRE spoon as an insulator.

J poles are mostly omnidirectional and have a small amount of gain.

The roll up ones are especially convenient, though, and I've used them a bit.

quote:

You can carry a small enough handheld yagi type antenna on your pack but will have to raise it as well somehow.

Is there something different than the above-linked antennas? Something smaller?