...the simple inverted Vee with the legs also in a sloping Vee and a 28 ft. length of light 8X coax with a simple CVC plumbing tee for the center connector and wing nut conections for my 3 sets of radiator wires...
My backpack portable antenna kit is very similar, with wires for 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10m: it
predates the WARC bands. I use 25' of RG-174 coax and a center insulator made from a slice
of radiator hose. The ARES HF antenna kits I build use heavier materials, but the same
basic principles for 40 / 80 / 160m.
A single support (mast or rope over a tree) and the wire ends tied off with ropes to any
convenient bush or rock provides convenient operation without needing a tuner, while the
wires can be reconfigured in more creative ways when it fits the situation.
Actually a dipole isn't a bad antenna choice for Field Day in many cases, especially if it is
high enough in the air (not as important for those closer to the center of population.) I used
to have to be on call during Field Day, so I operated 1E from my house with inverted vees for
40 and 80m and a rotatable dipole (the driven element from my triband yagi) for 20/15/10.
I worked 45 states one year using dipoles and QRP, in about 8 hours of operation.
But when I go out with the local club I like to do what I can to make use of the terrain, space
and supports available to maximize performance. Many hams can only dream of having a
full-sized 80m dipole up high and in the clear, so I like them to have an opportunity to see
what it can do. It also sets an example of how effective a full-sized antenna can be, as my
funky wires run rings around the shortened commercial "portable" antennas that others have
brought out to use. I've got 24 hours to set up antennas beforehand, and plan to make the
most of it.
There are a couple different design philosophies: antennas that work multiple bands, or
optimizing it for a specific band. Until I get a good look at the site and we decide where the
various stations will be located I don't know what I have to work with. For 80m a dipole up
high may be sufficient, or a delta loop with the feedpoint at the bottom if the space between
convenient tall trees is a bit short otherwise. (That gets the main portion of the radiator higher
in the air for the same length of feedline.) An 80m doublet can be used on 40m to get some
broadside gain, but I've also built 2- and 3-element wire quads for 40m that work well with tall
enough supports. A full-wave 80m loop worked pretty well, with 4 lobes at right angles: one
pointing East and the others up and down the West coast, thought the pattern tended to be
rather sharp on 15m and 10m.
At one site I had the opportunity to string some horizontal antennas over a road, and considered
various types of wire yagi and quad designs suspended from a single top rope. While those tend
to be monoband antennas, several can be installed from a single rope "boom". (In the end, due to
bad weather and having to hobble around on crutches, I tossed up a quick 40m doublet in a
nearby tree instead, and it worked quite well.)
Of course there have been some overly-ambitious projects that weren't worth the work that
went into them. The 6-element log-delta loop array that we strung up in the dark Friday night
was a great example: it sure looked impressive, but worked almost as well as a dipole. And the
only redeeming function of the 600' long wire we tried was sending the really annoying guy to go
untie the other end when we took it down - he didn't know how long it was, or how far down the
hill into the bushes it went, and it kept him out of our hair for quite some time.
So now I'm looking at various 40/20m broadside arrays to see what sort of supports they would
require, and considering what I would use in case I need to be vertically polarized (to reduce the
RF interference among stations.) But, who knows - I may end up with a dipole again, depending
where the Field Day Coordinator decides to place the CW station.