Who said anything about depending upon them? I have been without comms in the backcountry for a good fifty years and I have demonstrated self-sufficiency on numerous occasions, and I can continue to do so. It just seems that now is the time to add another string to the bow and supplement my options. There is much more to the capabilities of smart phones than merely making calls. My perception is that they are becoming wee little computers that can also make telephone calls.

Should the system be unavailable - no problem. Just carry on as before


The point is that cell phones are here, they work, to the extent that anything mechanical/electrical works, so what is the optimum cell phone?