A Phone for the Great Outdoors

E

Evolute

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Mar 19, 2001
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I have a new mobile phone, a so-called smart phone. It is very facile in handling many kinds of digital technologies, such as telephone, internet, text messaging, television, infrared, Bluetooth, PDF files, mp3, various application programs, still camera, video camera, sound recording, etc.

Already, I've been finding it very useful for my outdoors pursuits, both business and personal. For example, when I wanted to go to the coast and photograph the tidepools, I used the program TideTool to help me figure out a good low tide to shoot for, then used the television to watch the weather report on The Weather Channel, and then went online to www.surfline.com, to find out what the wave conditions were.

I don't consider a phone reliable survival gear, because of short battery life, unpredictable phone coverage, lack of waterproofness and shockproofness, etc. However, when it works, it can certainly prove useful, either for survival, or just for everyday outdoor excursions.

Since I'm always carrying it, anyway, I want to (1) come up with as many ways as I can for how it can be useful for both daily outdoors activities, and emergency wilderness survival; (2) set up my phone to be the best outdoors and survival tool it can be. Toward those ends, I'm going to try to list everything I can think of, and I'd like to hear any other ideas you have about how to set this phone up to be a phone for the great outdoors.

(1) If it's working, and there's a signal, it can be used to make a phone call to get help, in an emergency.

(2) The LCD screen is bright enough to use in a pinch like a flashlight, at least to allow walking without tripping, for several hours.

(3) The LCD screen could also be used as a makeshift reflector, to use as a mediocre (better than nothing) signal mirror.

(4) The PDF reader can be loaded up with PDFs of survival manuals. [I have the Army Survival Manual, USMC Summer Survival Course, USMC Winter Survival Course, and Woodcraft and Camping on it; please let me know of any others you recommend.]

(5) I can load up the mp3 player with various calls of all the birds and all of the mammals on the continent. I can use this for learning animal calls and staying refreshed. In a true emergency, I can also play these through the external speaker as a lure, for hunting.

(6) The battery could be used to facilitate starting a fire.

(7) Map applications could help me navigate.

(8) The RiseSet application, the Planetarium application, and the PleiadAtlas application can help me tell the time by the sun or moon or stars, and can help me figure out fairly precise compass directions by the sun or moon or stars.

(9) Pictures and videos of my loved ones can keep up morale, in an emergency wilderness survival situation.

(10) Tidetools can tell me about the high and low tides, and the moon phases.

(11) The camera, video camera, Memo application, etc., can be used to make important notes (navigation, medical history, etc.).

(12) Plant, fungi, mineral, and animal identification? I don't know of any good ID programs or PDFs; if you do, please let me know.

Please share with me your ideas about other ways to set up and use a mobile phone for outdoors pursuits, and for survival.

Thank you.
 
stingray4540,

I went to the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, in Half Moon Bay, and photographed both near the lagoon, and in front of Pillar Point, by Mavericks. My pictures aren't yet online, but I shot a Monterey dorid, a spotted triopha, some Painted urticinas, Lepidozona interstincta (a type of chiton with no common name), Chaetopleura gemma (another type of chiton), and a variety of other cniderians, echinoderms, nudibranchs, crustaceans, etc. I can show you some of my older tidepool pictures from the area, which are already online, if you'd like.
 
Some smart phones are now comming with integral GPS. Not the greatest, but if you have in when you need it, cool. This might be labor intensive, but even if you had to search the info out yourself, you could store pictures and text describing edible and toxic plants.

Detailed Topo maps and Sat photos would be very useful. Depending on how much storage you have, you could accumulate a huge portion of the continent.

Detailed Medical/First Aid manuals on PDF could be supplemented with photos and/or illustrations if not already included.

Language translation programs might be handy if travelling abroad.

Store your own medical information on your phone so medical personnel will have helpful info if you are injurred. This could be as simple as your bllodtype and allergies if space is at a premium or gould be as detailed as including your most recent MRI or XRays.

Repair manuals for equipment (cameras, firearms, etc.) as well as warranty info could be scanned in and stored.

Family photos and other "Will to Live" items might be nice.

Finally, I have started a fire using a cell phone battery and steel wool. You may want to consider carrying a spare battery and a solar charger.

-- FLIX
 
Flix,

Thank you. Great ideas.

My phone doesn't have GPS, sadly.

Topo Maps and satellite photos... I'm going to do this. If you have any specific recommendations about where to get them, I'd like to hear.

Medical/first aid manuals... I want to do this, too. There are plenty of PDFs for wilderness first aid on the net, but if you have any specific recommendations, let me know.

Translation programs... a good idea for some, but not necessary for me.

My medical records... Yes, good idea. I'll put those on the memory card.

Repair manuals... another good idea, though not necessary for me.

Family photos... already done.

Spare battery and solar charger... interesting idea; I'll check into availability, size, and price.

Thanks, again.
 
Mike, here is a link to Pocket Topo! It works in conjunction with National Geographic Topo! which is for your PC. Unlike most vector-based topo maps that are used for portable GPS devices, Topo! uses full color, scanned USGS topographic maps. For general use, I'll bet the small screen size of your smart phone will be really frustrating, but in an emergency, it's better than nothing.

If you can access the web, you'll have access to Google Maps & photos.

In the same vein as the solar charger and spare battery, you may want to look at an external antenna. thay apparently can add significantly to the ability of the phone to catch a cell.

-- FLIX
 
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