Most if not all of us carry cell phones and I'm not exception. Ever since I read Doug's EDC list which gives some very good reasons to carry a cell phone for emergency use I've mourned the loss of my last smartphone even more (import phone = no warranty)

Over the weekend I ordered a new Blackberry with a built in GPS (2nd gen. Pearl) thinking that between the SMS, email, GPS, and camera it should be the ultimate phone for this use...until I realized the big drawback...durability.

It seems that the fancier and more expensive the phone, the less abuse it can take. This is not a universal rule and there a few ultra rugged exceptions to the rule which cannot be ignored. Now I've gone through several phones over the years (more than 1 a year since 1995) and I've lost phones to droppage, toilets, rain, vehicles, garbage cans, and the big one...obsolescence.

The way I look at it how can the phone be of any help if it won't survive the situation you're in where you need it? With this in mind I've been trying to find a durable, waterproof case for this new phone that isn't so beefy I'll be carrying around a Pelican case in my pocket (I own several waterproof pda cases but both are enormous monstrosities).

Last year I heard about this product:
http://www.skins-mobile.com/main.html
Which is basically a phone condom and I'm tempted to try it out.

Do any of you have solutions/tricks/tips or know of products which could help prolong the life of my new phone so I'll need it when I need it most? The plan is to keep the phone tucked away safely except when I need it and make full use of bluetooth products so I'm not pulling it out every 45 seconds (which is hard for a Blackberry user not to do).

I was just doing some more searching.

Anybody familiar with these products?

http://www.aquapac.net

I have one of these and it has served me well. If you don't have a flip phone you don't need to take it out of the bag. http://www.nbcanoe.com

I've been wanting to waterproof my phone since I fell in the river a few years back. The whole experience was an eye opener for me. One slip of the foot and half my gear broke or stopped functioning. I was still a pretty faithful user of paper matches until they dissolved inside my pocket. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't already had a fire going.

My cell phone stopped functioning for a couple days. I cracked it open to dry out, and then recharged it. It was good as new. I don't really like the idea of those thick plastic bags for my cell. Plus they wouldn't be practical at all now that I've changed to a flip phone.

That skins thing looks interesting. Although I don't know if I could live with people asking why phone is inside of a condom (I'm wondering if it is in fact a colored condom). I think they would work with my flip phone too. Just place a rubber band around the hinge to hold the bag in place.

Photos would be out of the question. I wonder if they come in a clear?

I just bought a durable phone from the start, that way I didn't have to worry about it.

Verizon has two awesome phones made for taking abuse, the G'zOne Type-V and Type-S.

Here's a review of the bigger one:

http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/utstarcom-g-zone-type/4505-6454_7-32126761.html?tag=also


Both are great, as far as cell phones go they're very hard to kill.

Those skins things look waterproof but I would question their durability. As you phone may rub against other stuff in a pocket or pouch I wonder if they would puncture easily?? Once you skin had a hole in it then it would only hold water inside. I paid a 27 bucks for my cell dry bag and it works great but IMHO for the price, and for durability an ordinary small Ziploc freezer bag would do the same job.

One other thing I just thought about, is that you would need a new skin every time you want to charge your phone, unless you get really good at untying that knot. That could get real expensive real quick.

I was tempted to buy a G'zOne but no carriers offer them up here so I'd have paid a ton for it...the blackberry was free with a contract renewal.

Taurus: The skins are apparently as fragile as the more common kind. When they came out I saw a video from a tech show where they had girls in a hot tub making phone calls to show it off. One of the condoms broke and the poor girl wrecked the phone and apparently got no end of ribbing about broken condoms for the rest of the weekend.

hamilton makes an excellent point...no charging...and no camera...and no access to the memory card...and no jog wheel...and no track ball!!! Holy...that's not usable at all with a Blackberry! That must be why they sell them in packs of 6 or 12...quite the scam they have. I bet they're not reusable either...or ribbed for my pleasure!

http://www.otterbox.com/products/smart_phones/blackberry_1934_case/

It's for the 8100 and not the 8130 Pearl AND it's not completely waterproof but this case looks SOLID!

I've always liked Otterbox products...looks like they make them for many models of phone and pda.

IHMO the biggest problem with smart phones is durability when dropped. Something extra for a case is needed to take the initial impact of a drop.

I tried the Otterbox for my Treo 650. It makes the package much bulkier, diminishes the sound quality for both parties, and hinders the usefulness of the touchscreen by making hampering the touchscreen near the edges.

It does provide good drop protection. I used it for about 3 months and finally decided I didn't like it for the functional reasons I described.

I am now onto the next generation treo phone, so I am looking for a better solution too.