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#145334 - 08/22/08 02:07 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: ]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Quote:
What the hell is a survival cell phone?


A survival cell phone is one that will survive environmental abuse such as being dropped on the ground from a considerable height, dunked in water and works reliably in extreme temperatures down to -20C and up to +60C where other ordinary cells phone do not work.

You expect flashlights and GPS equipment to be water resistant or waterproof and work over extended temperature ranges (Mil spec??) , why not your cell phone?


Edited by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor (08/22/08 02:09 PM)

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#145335 - 08/22/08 02:19 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: OldBaldGuy]
bsmith Offline
day hiker
Addict

Registered: 02/15/07
Posts: 589
Loc: ventura county, ca
Originally Posted By: OldBaldGuy
I don't think that you can get "just a phone" anymore anyway.


jitterbug is only a cell phone. go here.

it is being marketed to us "boomers" and "olders" who only want a cell phone, not with all the other stuff. and it has really BIG numbers on the display!

just check the coverage.

and can someone explain why we seem to be forcing a marginal instrument - the cell phone, which many times seems to me to be no more better than two tin cans with a string between them - to be a survival instrument?

like the man says above, if you want the opportunity to be in touch - get a sat phone. otherwise, how about not getting yourself in a jam to begin with? or self-rescuing?

we rely too much on marginal stuff, built by others. i'd prefer to rely on myself, also built by others! but designed by me.



Edited by bsmith (08/22/08 02:27 PM)
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#145339 - 08/22/08 02:44 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: dweste]
nurit Offline
Member

Registered: 03/27/08
Posts: 191
Loc: NYC
Good one, dweste!

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#145342 - 08/22/08 02:56 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: ]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Quote:
You know, 100 years ago people survived just fine without cell phones.


People were different 100 years ago. I had this conversation with a work colleage from Zimbabwe who spent the first half of his life in the African bush without the use of electricity in any form what so ever. He talked about the transition to the western style of living with the use of electricity with all this entailed and he laughed at the idea of westerners having to possibly deal with a reverse transition to a lifestyle without electricity in an emergency stating that this would be 'impossible'.

Take away the western forms of communication such as cell phones, PSTN phones, broadband internet, dial-up internet, broadcast media like the TV and radio and electricity in general and I'm afraid I would have to agree that folks today on the whole wouldn't be unable to make that transition to those same people 100 years ago.

Even the small example of the Digital TV switchover, which will occour in 179 days, 8 hours, 5 minutes will create a certain amount of a hullabaloo. whistle



Edited by Am_Fear_Liath_Mor (08/22/08 03:02 PM)

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#145354 - 08/22/08 04:01 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: ]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078


Quote:
That includes items that provide, or assist in providing shelter, fire, first aid and all that jazz


Why not just regard the cell phone in the same manner as the whistle, the flashlight and the signal mirror as means of signalling a rescue if required. The whistle is only as good if someone is within range of the sound the whistle makes. The signal mirror and the flashlight is only as good as when someone can see the signal light. Same with the Cell phone - only as good as the radio reception distance to a cell tower. Every piece of survival kit has its advantages and its limitations including GPS's, Sat phones, SPOT devices and PLBs. BTW most Sat phones aren't ruggedised to the same degree as GPSs, SPOT and PBLs.

Quote:
The best survival situation I can think of is the one I don't get my self into.


Couldn't agree more - PPPPPP. Little chance of getting a Cell phone signal where you intend to go a hiking then bring along a Sat Phone. Or forget them both and make the expedition a little more exciting. grin

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#145359 - 08/22/08 04:27 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
If one would go to a site like Verizon and do a search for "ruggedized", one could find phones that are a tad tougher than the norm such as the Verizon Wireless G'zOne Boulder or the Motorola Adventure™ V750 (both built to Mil Spec).

Those may be tough, hard-to-break phones, but since the primary attribute is reception, the bigger question re a "survival" cell phone is one of the network itself. My non-ruggedized Nokia and Moto have both taken some pretty bad drops onto concrete and kept right on working.
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Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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#145365 - 08/22/08 05:11 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: Russ]
Yuccahead Offline
Member

Registered: 07/24/08
Posts: 199
Loc: W. Texas
I think that in the Southwest, network choice is a key part of selecting a cell-phone if you do any travel away from metropolitan areas. I have been much happier with service from those networks that are not ENTIRELY GSM-based in the rural areas that surround the city where I live. Services like T-Mobile and Sprint(PCS) just don't work more than 10 miles outside of my city.

Without delving into more technology, just take a good look at the network coverage maps of the providers you are considering. Also, the more "bands" your phone has the better. I haven't looked in a while but Verizon and AT&T seem to offer the best coverage but are also a bit more expensive.

(I have no affiliation with Verizon or AT&T)
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-- David.

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#145374 - 08/22/08 06:13 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: Russ]
Stu Offline
I am not a P.P.o.W.
Old Hand

Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 1058
Loc: Finger Lakes of NY State
I have the Verizon G'zOne and it has taken a beating. Been dropped, fell in a creek (3 times) and got soaked. Still keeps working.
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Our most important survival tool is our brain, and for many, that tool is way underused! SBRaider
Head Cat Herder

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#145403 - 08/22/08 09:44 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: Stu]
Air_Pirate Offline
It looked easier on TV!
Journeyman

Registered: 08/20/08
Posts: 56
Loc: Memphis, TN
I also have the Verizon G'zOne and I love it. I catch flack about it from guys with teeny tiny phones, but once they learn that it's shock proof, waterproof, dust proof, and can act as a GPS direction finder (I can also play Tetris and Galaga on it). I haven't dropped it in a creek but I've had to use it in heavy rain, and it's been bounce checked a few times from between three and five feet.

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#145434 - 08/22/08 11:15 PM Re: Best survival cell phone [Re: bsmith]
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
Cool, thanks...
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OBG

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