cell phone or no cell phone??

[Iron Will]

so i was planning on not bringing a cell phone because of added weight, potential for hassle (charging it) and COST!!

BUT then i thought about alternative and a nice person on here leatye (sp?)
recommended this http://www.getpeek.com/purchase.html

and my main question is this..

what do you guys do?

bring the cell phone?
leave it behind?
or just throw it into the bump box??

i plan on hiking the AT starting march 13th and am super excited but have to start tying up loose ends and answering questions like this before i set off.

thanks soooo much guys!!

[kayak karl]

i couldn't care less, but if you DON"T take it, don't ask to borrow anyone elses.

[buzzamania]

pretty handy in a pinch. Loved combining my phone, camera and gps/web access to one small device. An extra battery and some mild conservation and you'd be set for a week if not more between chargings. Obviously make sure you power it down completely in between uses. The constant tower searching will drain most in a matter of hours. Good luck. It's weight well spent from a safetly and all in one feature, Took my BB Torch.

[Sly]

i couldn't care less, but if you DON"T take it, don't ask to borrow anyone elses.

Why not? Since nearly everyone carries one these days, I was going to say the exact opposite. Of course, on the trail they should only ask in case of emergency and not chit chat.

[leaftye]

Get some feedback on how often you'll get a signal with the Peek. On the part of the PCT I did, I didn't get a signal often enough for me to feel comfortable without a cell phone. I didn't one or both to communicate home with regards to my mail drops. If my Peek got a signal often enough, I would have sent home the cell phone.

[leaftye]

And be careful about buying a used Peek device. They had some service changes recently, and bottom line is that the Peek I bought last spring no longer works. So don't buy those old ones, even though they're not old at all.

[abn trooper]

A cell phone could come in very handy in an emergency situation, if your family needs to notify you of an emergency at home,or for checking on mail drops. Now having said that. When I'm on the trail or at a shelter I don't want to hear your cool new ringtone or someone jabbering on the phone (using their best baby voice) to say HI to the family pet. Consideration goes a long way.

[Roland]

Only a handful of years ago, this topic would have elicited many, very passionate responses for and against cell phone use on the Trail.

Funny what a few years will do.

[maybe clem]

Only a handful of years ago, this topic would have elicited many, very passionate responses for and against cell phone use on the Trail.

Funny what a few years will do.

I was just thinking the same thing.

[Lone Wolf]

so i was planning on not bringing a cell phone because of added weight, potential for hassle (charging it) and COST!!

BUT then i thought about alternative and a nice person on here leatye (sp?)
recommended this http://www.getpeek.com/purchase.html

and my main question is this..

what do you guys do?

bring the cell phone?
leave it behind?
or just throw it into the bump box??

i plan on hiking the AT starting march 13th and am super excited but have to start tying up loose ends and answering questions like this before i set off.

thanks soooo much guys!!

NO cell phone needed. pleny of pay phones. i don't have one. you don't need one

[MedicineMan]

For those into journaling the new phones are good at that too. Checking weather forecasts is another feature. Personally on my last section hike in VT I didn't carry a phone or a camera until the last leg.
The first gen's cameras made it so you needed to carry both; the newer with 8 megapixels make so you can leave the camera at home.
And if it bricks up you can always use it to get your bear bag line over the limb.

[Blissful]

Cell phones help you help you stay in touch with the home front and loved ones, esp if you need something right away (or something happens at home that you need to know about). They are good for calling for shuttles, making a reservation at a hostel, or in case of emergency. And pay phones are becoming increasingly limited or non functional in some trail towns, so you can't always count on that.

[Lone Wolf]

there's plenty of pay phones

[Yukon]

I don't go anywhere without my iPhone now, it's just too damned convenient.

[Blissful]

there's plenty of pay phones

In the last two to three years?

They are sure shrinking around here in VA. And we had a hard time locating them in several places in 'O7 and that was 4 years ago . I didn't worry about it this year as I had my cell, but the one in Glencliff was not working this past summer.

[Grampie]

One of the joys of doing a thru-hike is divorseing ones self from the real world, off the trail. The less ties to that world you have the more you will enjoy your hike. My advise is to leave the cell phone home. I never had a problem calling home when I wanted to from a trail town.
Remember; Less ties, more enjoyment.

[horicon]

Bring a calling card.

[Luddite]

there's plenty of pay phones

Agreed. I never have any trouble using payphones but they are a bit expensive and phone cards you get ripped off using a phone card on a pay phone.

I don't understand how cell phones are convenient on the trail. I guess you could call a shuttle to pick you up at road crossings but why not just hitchhike?

[ChinMusic]

One of the joys of doing a thru-hike is divorseing ones self from the real world, off the trail. The less ties to that world you have the more you will enjoy your hike. My advise is to leave the cell phone home.

This may be desireable by some. I, personally, have no need/desire to insulate myself from the "real world". I like both worlds......

Iron Will - IMO, if you choose not to carry it would be perfectly OK to ask to borrow someone's in an emergency. To chat.........nah. If you want to just chat, carry your own.

[Wise Old Owl]

NO cell phone needed. pleny of pay phones. i don't have one. you don't need one

We have been down this thread before- Just because there's a payphone in Damascus - there's none up here - still don't need a cell phone?

Part of the issue here LW is perhaps you don't have relatives to call. Some folk do have a need to keep in touch.