cell phones

[ontheway]

any one know the best cell phone of phones to bring with.

[faarside]

There are a few threads available on WB regarding this. One is:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14283

Where my comment was:

"A Tracfone will work fine so long as the phone you buy is based on CDMA technology. This means that the Tracfone will use the Verizon Wireless network, which provides the best overall coverage along the Trail. Google the phone model before you buy to be sure it is CDMA! Websites like phonescoop.com provide such details.

Alternatively, you could simply buy a pay-as-you-go Verizon Wireless phone."


Happy Trails!

[GeneralLee10]

Not to be rude but the Best Phone is no phone. I only carry mine with me now do to the fact that I am section hiking (shake downs) and will not leave it in the truck. When I Thru it will not be in my pack and in a bounce box if I do that. I am sure most folks on here will say use a phone card much lighter and one less thing to worry about getting wet in your pack. I honestly do not think there is a good phone for outdoors that I know of. Good luck on your quest to find one.

[Wise Old Owl]

The one with a charged second battery with a short piece of electrical tape on the contacts.

It weighs nothing and there won't be any surprises (other than lack of signal)

[Blissful]

Not to be rude but the Best Phone is no phone. I only carry mine with me now do to the fact that I am section hiking (shake downs) and will not leave it in the truck. When I Thru it will not be in my pack and in a bounce box if I do that. I am sure most folks on here will say use a phone card much lighter and one less thing to worry about getting wet in your pack. I honestly do not think there is a good phone for outdoors that I know of. Good luck on your quest to find one.


Good luck finding phone booths. They're becomming more obsolete.

[GeneralLee10]

This is true, but does not apply when your in town at a hostel or hotel :-? Need to use a phone just ask be nice not an &$$ most people will let you. I have traveled and know this does work.

Good point though:)

[Lone Wolf]

Good luck finding phone booths. They're becomming more obsolete.

there's still plenty of them. damascus has 8 between dot's and food city. and if a town doesn't have a pay phone, so what? i don't own a cell phone and never will. i get by fine

[Tin Man]

there's still plenty of them. damascus has 8 between dot's and food city. and if a town doesn't have a pay phone, so what? i don't own a cell phone and never will. i get by fine


but, but, but, how does one check the weather, news, sports scores, facebook, text your sweetie, order dominos while you are hanging at an AT shelter??? oh, the horror. ;)

[Ramble~On]

but, but, but, how does one check the weather, news, sports scores, facebook, text your sweetie, order dominos while you are hanging at an AT shelter??? oh, the horror. ;)

:eek: yeah!...plus you gotta work a deal with the pizza delivery guy to pick you up some beer!

[Mags]

Screw cell phones.

Really cool outdoors people do this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers

[sheepdog]

real hikers carry an i phone. one should be able to surf the net while hiking. after all we are not barbarians.

[Toolshed]

Did you mean the best cell phone MAKE/MODEL or did you mean the Best Cell Phone PROVIDER?

[Wise Old Owl]

but, but, but, how does one check the weather, news, sports scores, facebook, text your sweetie, order dominos while you are hanging at an AT shelter??? oh, the horror. ;)


You and Ramble On are awesome!:D

Mags what do you do to get the Pigeon poo off the pack? Do you carry Tide to Go?

[Blue Jay]

I took a Verizon last time. Spent a great deal of wasted time trying to get a signal. I spoke to many AT&T users. They also spent a get deal of wasted time trying to get a signal. Same with track phones and other makes models and providers. I was told on this site that I would not find pay phones, but found the same ones as my thru 10 years ago. I will not waste my time and money again, no matter what the phone sellers on this site say.

[Wise Old Owl]

Well Blue Jay my dad uses Verizon and I use AT&T and I don't waste time looking for a signal. The new Nokia shows it on the face plate next to the clock. If I don't have a signal and I am Hiking the AT and someone leaves me a voice or text the thing beeps when it finds the signal while I am hiking. Maine would be more in line with a waste of time, and better for a SPOT. & don't forget someone discovered you can rent satellite phones.

[Spokes]

I took a Verizon last time. Spent a great deal of wasted time trying to get a signal.

I had the completly opposite experience on the trail this year. Verizon was the best provider hands down! That even goes for the time I called 911 at the Poplar Ridge Lean-to when Cold Feet jabbed a stick through her leg coming down Saddleback Mtn. Jr. and had to be rescued. Took the SAR team 3 hours to hike up and another 4 hours to get her down the mountain and to a hospital.

The cell phone paid for itself that night...................

[Mags]

Mags what do you do to get the Pigeon poo off the pack? Do you carry Tide to Go?

I have trained the pigeons not to poo on me...

re: surfing the web while hiking

Remember, someone who showed up late for my hike actually texted me while the hike was going on. Shed wanted to know which trails we were using. Perhaps it is not that far fetched in many hiker's minds. :) (My phone was at home, I did not get the text until well after the hike was over)

[paradoxb3]

I have verizon and have found decent coverage here in georgia on the AT. Some say phones dont belong on the AT. HYOH. I'm carrying one, (gps/internet capable, and no not an iphone) and plan to use it to update my location on a website using google maps. (kinda like how karl meltzer did with his SPOT) i'll take a gps reading every few days and text message the coordinates to my googlemap API app my friend wrote. its kinda a deal i made with family/friends/GF so they can all keep track of me while i'm on my thru.

if you take a phone, as you'll likely hear over and over on this forum, at least be courteous enough not to bother other hikers with it -- some people are out there to get away from that kind of thing.

[kayak karl]

Mags what do you do to get the Pigeon poo off the pack? Do you carry Tide to Go?
No, he lets it dry up and scraps off the white powder (potassium nitrate) and uses it for fire starter. :D

[Hobbot]

I have verizon and have found decent coverage here in georgia on the AT. Some say phones dont belong on the AT. HYOH. I'm carrying one, (gps/internet capable, and no not an iphone) and plan to use it to update my location on a website using google maps. (kinda like how karl meltzer did with his SPOT) i'll take a gps reading every few days and text message the coordinates to my googlemap API app my friend wrote. its kinda a deal i made with family/friends/GF so they can all keep track of me while i'm on my thru.

if you take a phone, as you'll likely hear over and over on this forum, at least be courteous enough not to bother other hikers with it -- some people are out there to get away from that kind of thing.

While I try to avoid electronic technology other than a camera on the trail (I spend too much time working on technology while off the trail...) and I know I will receive flak for this, I am planning on bringing a smartphone. But, it will be off unless I need it. For me, a big motivation is actually a considerable weight/space savings over bringing one or more paperback books (a necessity :) ). Add to that a GPS, topo maps, digital guidebooks, compass, a way to update a blog (if I have reception), contact friends and family while in town (if I have reception), backup flashlight, journal, weather information (if I have reception), etc. A couple things to note though are that I will not be sitting at a campsite talking/texting on the phone, won't be surprised or bummed if I don't have reception for large periods of time, and am not counting on any of this functionality for safety or survival (electronics run out of batteries or fail occasionally). It amazes me how many people will go into the backcountry nowadays with the plan that if anything happens, they get thirsty, or they get tired, they will call somebody. I guess the same applies to the SPOT/PLB devices. With regards to service providers, I am stuck with AT&T, even though I hear Verizon has better coverage overall along the AT.

Now if only I can figure out the address to give the pizza delivery guy...

[Blue Jay]

Well Blue Jay my dad uses Verizon and I use AT&T and I don't waste time looking for a signal. The new Nokia shows it on the face plate next to the clock. If I don't have a signal and I am Hiking the AT and someone leaves me a voice or text the thing beeps when it finds the signal while I am hiking. Maine would be more in line with a waste of time, and better for a SPOT. & don't forget someone discovered you can rent satellite phones.

The last thing I want to bring on the trail is something that beeps at me. However this does sound like something I might be forced to get when hard line phones do become extinct.

[JenSkim]

My experience has been in a remote area, one Verizon phone had a signal, and a T-Mobile phone didn't.

[takethisbread]

I used I phone. It was on the edge network at best at all times. Still it was fine. I am a big believer in taking your phone. With mine I can email, blog, text and call. I use twitter mostly, you need little time or signal for that.

There are some people who go on the trail to escape a world they are dissatisfied with, that is not the case with me. I love my life and I only want to enhance it with a thru hike not alter it or lose it.

I do not like trail gurus who tell me about my phone and judging how I hike, there are too many of these cats out there, and I avoid these people more than anything.

[Wise Old Owl]

I used I phone. It was on the edge network at best at all times. Still it was fine. I am a big believer in taking your phone. With mine I can email, blog, text and call. I use twitter mostly, you need little time or signal for that.

There are some people who go on the trail to escape a world they are dissatisfied with, that is not the case with me. I love my life and I only want to enhance it with a thru hike not alter it or lose it.

I do not like trail gurus who tell me about my phone and judging how I hike, there are too many of these cats out there, and I avoid these people more than anything.

The Trail gurus arn't real, what happens here stays here and never equates to what interactions happen on the trail. Everyone is really cool on the trail and thats no mystery.

[Bidwell]

Thinking about getting an android myself on the Verizon network... they are worth looking at.

[paradoxb3]

While I try to avoid electronic technology other than a camera on the trail (I spend too much time working on technology while off the trail...) and I know I will receive flak for this, I am planning on bringing a smartphone. But, it will be off unless I need it. For me, a big motivation is actually a considerable weight/space savings over bringing one or more paperback books (a necessity :) ). Add to that a GPS, topo maps, digital guidebooks, compass, a way to update a blog (if I have reception), contact friends and family while in town (if I have reception), backup flashlight, journal, weather information (if I have reception), etc. A couple things to note though are that I will not be sitting at a campsite talking/texting on the phone, won't be surprised or bummed if I don't have reception for large periods of time, and am not counting on any of this functionality for safety or survival (electronics run out of batteries or fail occasionally). It amazes me how many people will go into the backcountry nowadays with the plan that if anything happens, they get thirsty, or they get tired, they will call somebody. I guess the same applies to the SPOT/PLB devices. With regards to service providers, I am stuck with AT&T, even though I hear Verizon has better coverage overall along the AT.

Now if only I can figure out the address to give the pizza delivery guy...

Same here, i work on technology for a living so the last thing I want is to deal with it on my '10 thru. However, I am doing like you and using my phone in place of a paper journal, and keeping a blog for friends and family back home to read. As for turning it off when you dont need it, isnt that almost what you have to do with these smartphones anyway to have more than 1.5 days battery life? :D

[Plodderman]

AT & T is what I took the last time and the signal was in and out. I do not use a phone alot on the trail but after an injury in our group a few years ago I was glad we had one.

[Pickleodeon]

Almost everyone I saw on the trail this year had one. Maybe it was my imagination, and not everyone did, but A LOT of people out there did, and they came in handy.

I had ATT, and so did my hiking partner (he had an iphone) and the other guy with us had Verizon which seemed to get better signal.

We used them often. As much as I don't like to admit it, the iphone was really handy to have. He used his to type his journal, listen to music, get directions in and around town, look up outfitters, look up phone numbers for hostels, etc. get shuttles to and from the trail, he was even reading books on his phone. I told him he relied on his technology too much, but it really did benefit us a lot. Also, when our other hiking friend was in front of or behind us on the trail, we could let him know the plan when we got a road, or to town.

I had a lot of trouble finding pay phones this year, and I didn't get to talk to my family as much as I would've liked to when I was forced to use a pay phone. It was expensive, even with a phone card, there were usually other people waiting to use it, and a lot of times I was standing outside in the cold or rain to talk on the pay phone, Also, my family could barely hear me half the time over the pay phone. Much easier with a cell.

[CrumbSnatcher]

i never carried a cell phone on a long hike,BUT i was in stratton ME this year and the town had not a single pay phone anywhere! a nice couple(nobo's) lent me their phone.. in 99' a day hiker was begging me to use his cell phone on bear mtn. CT. he wanted me to call my family back home. he thought that would be cool. i could think of alot of reasons to not to carry one, but they are handy.