I didn't say they don't break - but the breakages are extremely tiny. A tiny fraction of the G1 antennas and can be counted on the fingers of one hand (I checked with the UK Service Supervisor).

Orientation does affect reception - especially if one is horizontal and the other vertical.

But it doesn't seem to cause too much trouble in practice - just now and again. But G3 should make this easier and safer as it uses the output cable as a second antenna and this would be orientated differently from the main antenna.