A term to describe the semi-flexible rubber insulated helical antennas used on handheld VHF and UHF transceivers. The full length of an antenna for around 155 MHz is about 2 meters. Since carrying a six inch tall radio with a six and a half foot long antenna wouldn't be very convienent or practical, the antenna is wound around a semiflexible core, tightly enough to be (typically) about 6 inches long and a half an inch in diameter. It's then covered in rubber to prevent the user from minor RF burns from coming into contact with the metal element. The same process is used for UHF antennas, even though their total length would wind up being only about 70 centimeters.

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