Cell phone is not reliable
for emergency service. Consider carrying a PLB instead of - or in addition to - a cell phone for true emergency assistance.
Cell phone is not reliable
for emergency service. Consider carrying a PLB instead of - or in addition to - a cell phone for true emergency assistance.
For the past three years,
I have paddled with a Verizon Casio Boulder waterproof, impact resistant phone. It stays in my right PFD pocket, bungied to a loop inside, so it is readily available when I need it.
Ignore claims that paddling with a cell is useless. I have used mine to:
- Call in an emergency situation
- Take calls, when I need to be available
- Call friends stuck on dry land to describe the beauty surrounding me
- communicate between paddling groups
- Inform family of changes in paddling schedule/plans and rendezvous coordination.
Yes, there can be limited signals whitewater paddling in deep-enough valleys, but its useful when it works.
Much as I have been tempted by the smart phones, I don’t want to give up my paddling-friendly phone.
Preach On!
Dear shirlann,
How in the hell did anyone do anything 25 years ago without 24/7/365 instant access?
Unless you are curing cancer or instantaneously donating your kidney upon receipt of a phone call your phone is unless once you leave pavement, or the confines of your vehicle, as far as I am concerned.
Life existed without cell towers, quite handsomely if I may say so. Get in your boat and go. Voicemail will get your missed calls, and you’ll have a better time.
Regards,
Goobs - Old School and proud of it
Distance from shore ?
Please tell us how far from land you’ve used ““phone”” !
Didn’t mean to say don’t carry cell phon
I wasn’t clear. Cell phones are fine to carry and can be nice to have along in many situations. What I meant is that cell phones are not 100% reliable for true life and death emergency situations and I would not depend on them for that purpose. PLB’s are coming down in price and they are bombproof. Push the button and the helicopter shows up fast (depending only on how far away you are).
How far off the coast
– Last Updated: Oct-30-11 12:44 AM EST –
have I used the phone? One mile out in the Gulf.
I also now have a water-proof, floating, VHF radio which would be the first choice to use first in a marine emergency.
By the same token, the VHF is not for casual conversation in the sense a cell phone would be used.
Golden Shellback
I’ve a few friends who sent their phone for service and it seems pretty decent. Not IPX8 decent, but decent enough so that a phone attempted to keep dry was accidentally submerged and survived. I don’t know about the durability of the coating, however.
I’m suprised
– Last Updated: Oct-30-11 9:36 AM EST –
I was initially inclined not to chime in, because the OP isn't asking about whether to bring a cell phone, but I'm suprised by how many responses say "leave it at home/in the car" etc, and I worry that some paddlers might get the impression that it's not cool to carry a cell phone when you paddle.
Yes we survived without cell phones, GPS, gore-tex, composites, VHF, etc. before each of them were invented. But in my opinion it's irresponsible to not make use of any safety resources available to you, and a Cell phone is a safety resource. Yes they have shortcomings (as does all safety equipment), but they're part of a tool-box for dealing with an emergency, at least in my area, where payphones don't exist, and cell coverage is good.
Personally I always carry my phone (off, and usually in the day hatch) as well as a VHF and other signalling devices (flares, mirror, horn, etc). Not all emergencies require CG assistance, and VHF doesn't always work. I've used my cell phone to call someone on land when I'm on an island 10 miles from mainland. My VHF can't reach the base station to discuss weather, or some other non-life-and-death circumstance, but my cell phone works just fine. (Cell towers are hundreds of feet high, and the VHF antenna where I work is about 30 feet high.)
In the past I have left a float plan with my wife, and then found that I'll arrive 4 hours later than planned because of an unforeseen circumstance. I could (A) call my wife on the cell phone to tell her I'm fine, but arriving late; or (B) call the CG on 16, and tell them to expect a phone call in 2 hours from my terrified wife, at which point they can tell her I've delayed my arrival. Maybe the CG duty officer will even call my wife to advise her of the change, but frankly, that's not what the CG is there for.
I've also used the cell phone to update my float plan when I'm doing solo-overnight trips. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but to improve my safety margin, I prefer to update my emergency contact once a day when travelling solo. (If someone starts searching for me days after I've had a problem in 55 degree water, it's not that useful).
Or what if someone gets a little sick and I need to change my take-out point. I could hike a couple miles to the nearest house and ask to use their phone, or I could call from the water with my cell phone, and then have a car waiting at the take-out to transport us back to the put-in.
In my opinion you need a cell phone nearly as much as you need a VHF when you go ocean paddling. They're different tools, but both important. VHF is great for ship-to-ship communication, and emergency calls, but it's miserable for talking to folks on land, and making non-emergency arrangements.
Don’t put all the eggs in 1 Basket
I think what we can pull out of this is - be prepared
and don’t rely on any one piece of gear to save your tush.
Each piece of gear has limitations and works wonderfully
– within it’s design parameters.
Multiple redundancies is just good planning in an
uncertain ever changing dynamic natural world.
Agree
+1
Cellphone Works Great 99% of Time
– Last Updated: Oct-30-11 4:24 PM EST –
Right on, for I paddle surfski, and my small, thin and light Samsung B2100 fits perfectly inside my Speedos and Jammers. The phone, equipped with AT&T SIM card, works fine 99% of the time out in the ocean. Of course it wouldn't work if I was doing a Na Pali run off the coast of Kauai. But that happens 1% of the time, so why bother carrying these big fat radios that hardly, if ever get used? The big motor boats have them, but never use them, for they prefer communicating on CB's or their cell phones.
ps: Remember the search party that was sent out unnecessary because the scout leader collected all the cell phones, so the kids couldn't call to let someone know they took the wrong turn or where they were.
Big fat?
A plb is small - no problem to carry. In many areas a cell phone will not work as well as it does in your area. I can hardly get cell service at my house. Many areas I paddle have unreliable cell service.
Cell Phone
I have been paddling ~ 12+years. I know the paddling I do, the places I go and the conditions I tend to encounter. I also know the equipment I need for different areas.
When I paddle the sounds and/or the ocean,yes a VHF is a better tool. I still get good reception; near Cape Lookout, Ocracoke and other barrier islands, with the evil phone.But a VHF is better.
When I do the local rivers, creeks, streams and blackwater areas,a VHF is not the best tool.In the these areas the cellphone will get help quicker than a VHF.
I look at my cellphone as safety equipment.If it is locked in the car,it is of no use to me. I do not need a phone, that I am scared to get it wet.If that bucks tradition or old school, then so be it.My safety and the safety of others is more important.
My original post asked only about a reviews of Casio phones.That is all I was seeking. Thank you for those whom replied on topic.
Amazing
You ask a simple question and you get jumped.
I wish I could answer your question but I can’t. I wish people would understand that not everyone paddles way off shore and that a cell phone is a good choice and way better than vhf. Good luck with your quest for info.
hey, rufdawg, this is helpful!
I didn’t even know phones like this existed. I thought I had to carry my regular little prepaid cellphone in a water-resistant case in my PFD. I have often wondered how I’d make a call on it if I was in the water. Now I know! Cool. I’m going to look into these tough cellphones. (With Verizon, of course. Out in the Cedar Island marshes, miles from anywhere, I was with folks who could get a signal at the little pine hammock we camped on. That was a lesson to me.) Thanks again!
G in NC
Casio
I have one, enjoy using it. Turns into a pinball machine when dialing 911. Keep it in a small Pelican box. there’s an exact fit.
The waterproofness is for light rain not Niagara on the way down.
911
I remember looking at a Casio Boulder a few years ago in the store.The display mentioned a 911 feature. When I dialed 911 in the store;on the casio, a car alarm sound went off. There was no way to diasble it back then. It was the main feature that turned me off about that phone.I had forgotten about that.If I am dialing 911 due to a break in , the last thing I would want would be an alarm giving away my position in the house.
Ginger, I have a Motorola Quantico with US Cellular. The phone itself has been bomb proof thus far.Phone has been rolled and splashed in both fresh and saltwater. No problems. Their coverage east of I-95 is great.In the Falls & Jordan Lake area’s not so much.A tin can and string would be more useful.Hope to see you on the water soon.
You are right on, Goobs.
Cell phones have become one of the newest addictions for people. It appears as if some think others can’t do without hearing from them.
They are helpful for true emergencies, of which there are few in most of our lives.
I saw a cartoon once of a baby being born with one on his ear. Quite humorous.
To each their own pacifiers and security blankets.
Enjoy your day.
I always take my cell phone.
– Last Updated: Nov-04-11 11:41 AM EST –
Not for emergency use, just because I love to talk at loud levels as annoyingly as possible at all times. Except when I'm texting of course, or playing my mp3's as loudly as the water proof booster speakers I've attached to my kayak will play. I turn them up even higher when other paddlers come close to avoid any interpersonal dialogue, and to drown out that stupid paddle slap as they paddle by me (while I'm floating with current of course - why paddle when the current provides all the movement I need?). :~p
Jimini-Christmas, there are some real sticks in the mud in this sport. Crotchety, old, close-minded folks need not respond when someone has a sincere question about technology. The OP wasn't asking PERMISSION to carry a cell phone, they were asking for informed advice and experience on a specific model. Those with a penchant for unsolicited parental overreach should go preach somewhere else, like maybe the lounge of your retirement home . . . .
YoS
(edited to add that there is some really sound advice on this thread, despite the anti's worthless input. Especially about carrying multiple devices and the value of each in differing circumstances)