On Sun, 14 Aug 2016 16:52:01 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I see a need for an antenna (hopefully made using 3/4 in tape measure)
that would be attached to a backpack for use in assisting Search and
Rescue personnel. In most cases the radio operator would be using an
HT pushing 5-8 watts.

Ummm... 5-8 watts about 3 inches from the head does not sound
particularly safe.
http://hintlink.com/power_density.htm
8 watts, 2.2dBi gain, 0.5ft spacing, 146 MHz, and no ground
reflections yields 4.5mW/cm^2 power density. In an uncontrolled
environment, the limit it 0.2mW/cm^2, so you're over the limit by
quite a bit. You would need to be 2.4 ft away from the antenna to be
compliant with the MPE limits. Note that the FCC MPE limit does not
include exposure time, which will be rather small for your
application. Therefore you should be able to get away with such an
arrangement without frying anyone's brain. However, I think you can
do better with an antenna that extends over the users head, possible
with ground radials above the head to act as a shield.

Or, since there's a backpack involved, you might be able to obtain
some directional gain and shielding by simply putting a foil reflector
at the back of the backpack. The rest of the antenna will be a simple
1/2 wave dipole. If too big, a loaded half wave dipole, or undersized
dipole with a matching system, to reduce overall length. Antenna to
reflector spacing will be arbitrary but I suspect will produce some
kind of directional effect. I must admit that I've never built such a
contrivance, but offhand, it sounds feasible.

More ideas:
https://www.google.com/search?q=vhf+backpack+antenna&tbm=isch

Search and Rescue Radio Tracking
http://www.sartrack.co.nz/
http://www.sartrack.co.nz/images/BackPackAntenna1.jpg

Well, maybe not like this:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/12/14/67/12146779db1f1fb22d5d6b4277d51eaf.jpg


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558