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jwang
01-28-2007, 20:11
What are your thoughts on cell phones? To take or not to take??

Lone Wolf
01-28-2007, 20:13
What are your thoughts on cell phones? To take or not to take??

i don't own one. take one if you want. most hikers take them

Sly
01-28-2007, 20:18
Sure, free up the payphones!

saimyoji
01-28-2007, 20:20
What are your thoughts on cell phones? To take or not to take??

Regardless of your responses, have a search through the older cell phone threads. There's some pretty good commentary in the archives here.

Lone Wolf
01-28-2007, 20:20
i don't own one. take one if you want. most hikers take them

and use it at shelters. they're like mini towns

saimyoji
01-28-2007, 20:21
Regardless of your responses, have a search through the older cell phone threads. There's some pretty good commentary in the archives here.


Sorry....I always take my wife's phone. That way she can kiss me goodnite from afar. :p

Webs
01-28-2007, 20:23
we had bad experiences hitching :( (as in, no one stops...), so we called ahead for a shuttle service, which was very nice in the freezing wind and rain when no one wants to stop at all (esp for hitchers) anyway.....

Marta
01-28-2007, 21:01
Pay phones are disappearing rapidly. I ended up using my cell phone fairly often--and let other hikers use it. Necessary? No. Convenient, if you've got one anyone. Yes.

2009ThruHiker
01-28-2007, 21:29
I believe for forwarding your bump-box and other packages from the trail, a cell phone is invaluable.

MrHappy
01-31-2007, 15:41
I take a cell phone, and unless you're really trying to "escape" all types of gadgets, I would recommend it. I've used it to be rescued in cold weather twice already. At the same time, don't take a phone if you don't know how to be corteous with it. Don't talk in the shelter or around other hikers, who may be trying to escape. Take a walk away from the shelter to make calls, and leave the phone turned off or on silent. Avoid incoming calls, for your own sake and others. Even vibrate mode can ruin a serene outdoor experience.

hopefulhiker
01-31-2007, 15:55
Don't take it. Can't get a signal in a lot of places.. I would take a pocket mail though....

The Weasel
01-31-2007, 16:00
If you have significant health issues, as some of us do, having a cell phone can be a necessity, although coverage can be variable.

The Weasel

Frosty
01-31-2007, 16:24
I take a cell phone, and unless you're really trying to "escape" all types of gadgets, I would recommend it. I've used it to be rescued in cold weather twice already. At the same time, don't take a phone if you don't know how to be corteous with it. Don't talk in the shelter or around other hikers, who may be trying to escape. Take a walk away from the shelter to make calls, and leave the phone turned off or on silent. Avoid incoming calls, for your own sake and others. Even vibrate mode can ruin a serene outdoor experience.Huh huh huh! Hey, Beavis, you said "shelter" and "serene outdoor experience" in the same paragraph. Huh huh huh.

Yeah, yeah, I know. If you're Beavis, then who does that make me? :D

Anyway, the real reason for not using your cell phone in a shelter is because everyone who doesn't have one will ask if they can use yours for a quick call.

the_iceman
01-31-2007, 17:51
I am taking mine. I checked the coverage maps with my provider and coverage is spotty in the south (GA-TN) but gets better as you go north.

hammock engineer
01-31-2007, 18:22
I'll be taking mine. It stays in my pack with the battery off in a waterproof bag when I am not using it. I was told somewhere that the phone still uses some battery life when turned off. I don't use it very often, but the times I do it was really nice.

I was pretty surprised in VT on the LT last fall where it would and would not work. It wouldn't work on the top of Mt Mansfield (there are radio towers up there). It worked on the middle of a road in a valley. It also worked other times I through there was no way, and times where I saw a city it wouldn't work.

mweinstone
01-31-2007, 18:46
take what you want but make your beeps and dings out of earshot. and lonewolf make good funny. shelters....ha ha. there good for one thing. lessening your wilderness exspirence. im a weenie. allways have been. but i camp a little at least.

trlhiker
01-31-2007, 19:43
Now the real question, how do you charge it up. The power supplies I have are heavy.

4eyedbuzzard
01-31-2007, 23:22
Charger goes in bounce box. If you only use the phone for one call a day and keep it turned off it will hold a charge for quite a while. In addition you can carry one of the battery adapters and charge it off a pair of AA's.

I will be taking mine in a few years as there is simply no way I can be out of communication for weeks at a time. I'd prefer not to, but in some ways the cell phone will actually make a thru-hike possible.

drdewrag
02-01-2007, 07:42
I always take one. Cell phone coverage is intermittent at best. And don't take "no service" for an answer. I have pressed the "call" button 40-50 times until it finally went through on a rogue cell of some sort.

Toolshed
02-01-2007, 08:07
Carry this it - comes with lithium batteries. $20. Best new thing I have seen in a while.

www.energitogo.com

neo
02-01-2007, 09:43
:) my cell phone has a cool weather program i downloaded in it with doppler
weather radar,i just key in a zipcode for the area and i get what i need.i use cingular,i dont have a home phone,i used my phone from georgia to newhampshire:cool: neo

MrHappy
02-03-2007, 17:46
With Cingular I had no problems with reception in GA, but once north of Hiawassee I have had little or no coverage, even on peaks.

mweinstone
02-03-2007, 18:12
i am the worlds largest cell phone. my phone worked all the time till pearisburg from amacalola . it has an antenna booster and came with 2 bateries. one exstended. its a vid phone by sanyo and has a movie light that is a powerfull light. sprint is the best and i know. to be sure. my phone outpreformes all others and allways has. im begining to think that the owner of the phone has something to do with it. im just that cool.

mweinstone
02-03-2007, 18:14
matthewski, i had to invade your privacy to tell you your such a lier. your phone didnt work in alot of places too.

mweinstone
02-03-2007, 18:15
who the fuch is that and how did you hack that?!

mweinstone
02-03-2007, 18:15
im you dummy.

trlhiker
02-04-2007, 15:55
mweinstone, who the hell are you talking too?

Sly
02-04-2007, 16:06
mweinstone, who the hell are you talking too?

Scary ain't it?

BYC
02-06-2007, 19:09
Now I'm wondering if I can get an honest answer.
My question - Has anyone had experience with Verizons V-cast while on the trail? I'm considering the LGenV phone with mobile web for email.
Barbara

Jaybird
02-06-2007, 19:21
What are your thoughts on cell phones? To take or not to take??




i take one....so, my wife feels i'm "SAFE".hehehehehehe:D

Buckles
02-06-2007, 19:28
Now I'm wondering if I can get an honest answer.
My question - Has anyone had experience with Verizons V-cast while on the trail? I'm considering the LGenV phone with mobile web for email.
Barbara

You MAY experience difficulty using V-cast on the trail. V-cast utilizes the EV-DO band of the network and Verizon Wireless (VzW) is reliant on roaming agreements with smaller carriers in some areas that may not have EV-DO fully-deployed or depth of coverage like VzW's primary service area.

Buckles
02-06-2007, 19:39
If you do carry a wireless phone on the trail, I would suggest that you leave it powered off until you need to use it. A powered off wireless phone will use a negligible amount of battery life, but the significant issue is when a wireless phone is left powered on when coverage is sporatic. The phone will "cycle", while looking for coverage from the nearest towers. This can deplete a phone battery in just a few hours.

BYC
02-07-2007, 08:14
Buckles,
Thanks for the info.
As I look further into this I don't think I need the V-cast for mobile web. I want to email brief journal entries every few/several days and thought the LGenV phone would do the job. I have in the past used pocketmail composer with my cell phone. But I have learned most cell towers are going digital and the composer/cell phone works on analog. I like the independence of not needing a land line or library computer to correspond.
In my own home with Sprint my phone searches for a signal and uses up the battery in no time. Therefore it is powered off unless I need to make a call.
Barbara

highway
02-07-2007, 08:23
Now that is handy. I wonder what it weighs? Have you heard from the Reverend YJ?

JoeHiker
02-07-2007, 20:10
Either someone hacked mweinstone's account of he has multiple personality disorder

MedicineMan
02-08-2007, 01:05
some of the newer cell phones have decent keyboards....look at the enV 9900...i can actually type on it...and you can put in a 1gb micro-SD card which will hold probably several hundred complete thru-hike journals AND probably 500-700 pics (the enV 9900's camara is 2megapixel)...so maybe could eliminate another piece of electronics,,,,,it also can check/send e-mail through the popular e-mail services like yahoo/hotmail/etc...so you can periodically e-mail your journal entries....battery life is good but there is a port that is USB compliant and now products on the market that let you put in AA or AAA batteries and then plug in the phone to charge it.....and there are flexible solar panels now that weigh less than 5 ounces that can charge it or your music player.

BYC
02-08-2007, 09:10
Yep, the LGenV 9900 is the phone I'm looking at. Keyboard is much better than the blackberry and PDA's. For $15 a month you get unlimited web access. Pocketmail account runs a little more than that a month and all you can do is send and recieve email and dependent on a land line.
I have a small solar battery charger I use when I bicycle tour. It has always worked great for charging my cameras AA's as well as AAA's if I wanted.

highway
02-08-2007, 11:02
Yep, the LGenV 9900 is the phone I'm looking at. Keyboard is much better than the blackberry and PDA's. For $15 a month you get unlimited web access. Pocketmail account runs a little more than that a month and all you can do is send and recieve email and dependent on a land line.
I have a small solar battery charger I use when I bicycle tour. It has always worked great for charging my cameras AA's as well as AAA's if I wanted.

I wonder...
When it will be released in the United States. Apparently, it is only in Korea.
pocketmail just has 1MB memory so I guess it has to be erased once it gets there. But the 9900 has SD slot for multiple gigs! I also wonder how its QWERTY keyboard compares with the QWERTY keyboard for ease of use. It even has a 2MP camera.

pocketmail question for you...
It appears to be able to upload only a 60 KB maximum email. Does that mean you upload journal entries in pages of 60 Kb too?

highway
02-08-2007, 11:13
here it is :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgWqqW3GDqM

sure looks smallish

jodestick
02-08-2007, 11:28
all this talk about cells phones.....i never take one. please be sure to use your phone in a polite manner......last time i was on the trail i was woken up before it was light out by a man calling his wife to tell her good morning. it was really annoying.

shiningpathb4me
02-08-2007, 12:47
While you're at it bring a Blackberry, I-Pod, Laptop, GPS and anything else you can find that needs batteries. You can "stay connected" with everyone, and make regular blog posts too, so all of your friends can track your progress along the trail. Of course you'll need bluetooth, so you walk around talking really loud with your stock broker and sales managers while you prepare meals at the shelter. :)

"Shining Path" <-- smart ass

Frosty
02-08-2007, 12:55
all this talk about cells phones.....i never take one. please be sure to use your phone in a polite manner......last time i was on the trail i was woken up before it was light out by a man calling his wife to tell her good morning. it was really annoying.You are lucky he used a cell phone - you only heard him saying good morning. I was at the Deep Gap Shelter with a couple and the guy said good morning to his girlfriend and she answered good morning. TWO VOICES! Twice an annoying.

Hey, people talk in person to other people in shelters and no one complains. Close your eyes and pretend the person he is talking to is in the shelter, and you won't be so annoyed.

Sly
02-08-2007, 13:08
Hey, people talk in person to other people in shelters and no one complains. Close your eyes and pretend the person he is talking to is in the shelter, and you won't be so annoyed.

I'd complain if the conversation was loud enough and someone woke me before dark whether they were talking to their wife on the phone or right next to him. It's common courtesy to move out of the shelter if you want an early start before daylight.

Frosty
02-08-2007, 13:54
I'd complain if the conversation was loud enough and someone woke me before dark whether they were talking to their wife on the phone or right next to him. It's common courtesy to move out of the shelter if you want an early start before daylight.If everyone stops talking and moving around when I turn in, out of respect for me, then of course it should be common courtesy for me not to talk and move around early if they choose to stay in the sack after I get up. Luckily, that never happens. No reason why it should. And once in a blue moon, I'm the one talking late - every once in a while, I meet a kindred soul and have an hours-long conversation at the picnic table after others have gone to sleep.

I usually tent and still hear people yapping at night. I don't mind. That's what it is like near a shelter. If I want quiet, there are miles of woods not near a shelter.

It's a shelter. People talk. And fart, snore, smoke, drink, scribble in diaries, talk in their sleep, get up to pee, etc etc. Sleeping in a shelter and expecting people not to do these things is an exercise in futility.

BYC
02-08-2007, 17:13
It's the ENVY. Just don't ask me to check your email <--smart ass.

Skidsteer
02-08-2007, 19:58
all this talk about cells phones.....i never take one. please be sure to use your phone in a polite manner......last time i was on the trail i was woken up before it was light out by a man calling his wife to tell her good morning. it was really annoying.

The nerve! It wasn't even light out?

I imagine she was annoyed.

Alligator
02-08-2007, 20:44
all this talk about cells phones.....i never take one. please be sure to use your phone in a polite manner......last time i was on the trail i was woken up before it was light out by a man calling his wife to tell her good morning. it was really annoying.Dude needed a big ass can of Milwaukee's Best Light on his head:cool:.

smokymtnsteve
02-08-2007, 20:48
The nerve! It wasn't even light out?

I imagine she was annoyed.


as was her boyfriend :eek:

Skidsteer
02-08-2007, 20:49
as was her boyfriend :eek:

HeHeHeh.

I thought it but I didn't type it. :D

Sly
02-08-2007, 21:07
If I want quiet, there are miles of woods not near a shelter.

It's a shelter. People talk. And fart, snore, smoke, drink, scribble in diaries, talk in their sleep, get up to pee, etc etc. Sleeping in a shelter and expecting people not to do these things is an exercise in futility.

Oh I realize all of that and usually tent myself, but what we're talking about is people talking loud enough early in the AM to wake others that are sleeping. It may happen but it doesn't mean it's cool.

Generally speaking, those that get up early, move outside as quietly as possible.

smokymtnsteve
02-08-2007, 21:10
anything before 11 am is early:eek: