cell phone management...

tod osier

tod osier

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I consider having a cell phone on me in a waterproof case a key piece of gear when duck hunting for safety, keeping connected and taking pics. I have always kept my phone in a waterproof pouch on a lanyard (flexible plastic pouch with a rigid sealing top). I take my phone out to call or text and that is fine. Problems are: 1) the case is physically large with the closure at top to stuff down my waders, 2) having it on a lanyard make it a PITA to have a dog zapper, calls, etc around my neck too.

I like my phone not in a case for day to day just to keep it as small as possible, do waterproof rigid cases work without serious compromises like sound quality?

How do other people do it, do you have a good system? My main priority is that the phone works if I'm floating in the drink somewhere, but also I'd like it a little more convenient.
 
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I used to keep mine in a ziplock bag. I never actually had it tested that way but the theory seemed good
 
Tod, not sure which phone you have but a lot of the more recent phones are water resistant to about ten meters. Not sure about salt water resistant. So you might check to see if your phone has some level of water resistance. My experience with phone cases is that cases like otterboxes are great for water safety. However, for taking pictures it has another cover over the lens area to help keep it waterproofed. So picture quality suffers. Don't recall sound issues.

I keep my phone in either the chest pocket of my waders or in a hard pelican case where I keep a few other things. It isn't a large pelican case and not terribly convenient perhaps but it does allow me to use the phone as normal and the case floats. I like it A LOT better than the plastic waterproof bag like you used.

More often than not, I keep my phone in its regular case stuffed in my wader pocket because the pelican case is not terribly convenient. Though I can keep the pelican case stuffed in my waders as needed.

Ever consider an epirb for on the big water? Lotsa fisherman use them down here on the Gulf.
 
Might want to look into cell phone lanyards. Lots of styles and attachment systems.

This will sound funny but when I buy hunting clothes, I make sure there is a place to keep the phone handy. My Drake jacket has a nice chest pocket with a magnetic closure and my cold weather coat has a zippered pocket in the same area.

Mar
 
Dani said:
Tod, not sure which phone you have but a lot of the more recent phones are water resistant to about ten meters. Not sure about salt water resistant. So you might check to see if your phone has some level of water resistance. My experience with phone cases is that cases like otterboxes are great for water safety. However, for taking pictures it has another cover over the lens area to help keep it waterproofed. So picture quality suffers. Don't recall sound issues.

I keep my phone in either the chest pocket of my waders or in a hard pelican case where I keep a few other things. It isn't a large pelican case and not terribly convenient perhaps but it does allow me to use the phone as normal and the case floats. I like it A LOT better than the plastic waterproof bag like you used.

More often than not, I keep my phone in its regular case stuffed in my wader pocket because the pelican case is not terribly convenient. Though I can keep the pelican case stuffed in my waders as needed.

Ever consider an epirb for on the big water? Lotsa fisherman use them down here on the Gulf.
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No, my phone is 100% not waterproof. :).

I was almost wondering like a small pelican case that was small enough to put in the pocket like a pencil case that could also have glasses in it (need glasses for phone :). Floating would be a nice aspect, i get that with the pouch I have.

I always have a PLB with me (hiking sized EPIRB), goes in my float coat arm pocket, so usually on me.
 
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Mark W said:
Might want to look into cell phone lanyards. Lots of styles and attachment systems.

This will sound funny but when I buy hunting clothes, I make sure there is a place to keep the phone handy. My Drake jacket has a nice chest pocket with a magnetic closure and my cold weather coat has a zippered pocket in the same area.

Mar
Click to expand...

That is part of what I'm looking to get away from, stuff hanging around my neck.

Having a good pocket in the right places is nice, I agree.
 
Tod,

I have two different coats I use which have a nice, zippered pocket adjacent to the main coat zipper. Handy and effective for keeping the phone safe from falling into the drink. The effectiveness stops right there. I did have a slim hard side waterproof case for kayaking, but my new phone will not fit. Not convenient but was good to prevent phone failure.

I believe having a phone convenient, accessible, and still protected are mutually exclusive. Just the cost of doing business. [cool]

Much the same as vehicle keys/remotes. We just purchased a brand-new vehicle yesterday, guess what item is excluded from any warranty day one. Yep, the one most important item required to operate the vehicle is excluded. If that $500 item (each) craps out tomorrow, we are stuck with the tab. [pirate]

This is why I no longer take my keys/remote out with me in the field or on the water. I lock them up in the vehicle and use the door keypad to access the vehicle.

FWIW, Over the years, I have lost one cheap camera and one phone to the lake and river gods. And one key/remote to who knows where. (I'm a slow learner)
 
tod osier said:
No, my phone is 100% not waterproof. :).

I was almost wondering like a small pelican case that was small enough to put in the pocket like a pencil case that could also have glasses in it (need glasses for phone :). Floating would be a nice aspect, i get that with the pouch I have.

I always have a PLB with me (hiking sized EPIRB), goes in my float coat arm pocket, so usually on me.
Click to expand...

I think this is the one I have....

Amazon.com : Pelican 1050 Micro Case - for iPhone, GoPro, Camera, and more (Blue/Clear) : Diving Dry Boxes : Electronics

Only because my phone is too big for the one smaller. Plus this size holds my keys, emergency meds, license and one or two hand warmers if needed.

Not sure if that would be too big but it is certainly nice to have it all in a secure, water tight and sturdy case.
 
Pretty simple solution but how about just putting cell phone and glasses in a couple qt. zip loc freezer bags inside zippered jkt. pocket. Easily replaced when or if hole comes in it . I Carry fire lighting , choke tubes and other items I don,t want exposed to moisture in my blind bag in those bags and it does the trick for protection. Should also work for a phone, just a pain to get thru to answer a call.
 
A good quality zippy lock bag works!

I usually put my keys, wallet, etc., in a plastic "ammo can" dry box, along with snacks & stuff. Kept it light enough that it would float if the boat went down.
 
my waders have a waterproof pocket built into them, just inside the top edge. it is a bit of a pain to get the phone out in time to answer a call but it keeps the phone on me and out of the way.
 
Otter boxes are remarkably waterproof... if the closure is latched....[whistle] my waders also have a waterproof pocket. Generally my phone is out.. getting muddy and wet... the Otterbox protects it ... I am not diving down 10 m yo get though.. if it goes swimming in duck season
 
A very good topic, Tod. I happen to be a clutz when it comes to cellphones. Yes, I drop them and or forget that I have them some place on me and will hear the crunch and always know that I am too late to change things. So after multiple times of having to go buy a new phone, two years ago, I asked at three different stores, what phone would they recommend for a duck hunter/outdoorsman? All three shops said, "Kyocera". I bought one and it is still doing just fine. I know there are other quality phones out there that do the same thing. This one was more affordable.

By the way, I am still using my Cabela's Waterfowl Guide shirts that I bought back in the early 2000s. They have two zippered pockets on either side of the front two pockets. My cellphone, even though it is waterproof, is still put in a zip lock bag, like you mentioned.
Allan
 
Another vote for the Ziplock bag. That is what I used for years before I got a waterproof phone and yes I have tested it. I used the freezer bags if I had them around since they are thicker and the touch screen works through the bag. cheap and easy.
 
I've used Life Proof and a very similar case from another maker. Both are pretty bombproof--as in I have dropped phone into several feet of water and even ran it through the washing machine with no damage.

But they do severely degrade audio quality if you at not using an external microphone and earphone.
 
I also keep a phone in my boat with charging cord. The phone is not hooked up to service but will still call 911. I used a phone that has buttons as wet cold fingers don't work well on touch screen. My waders have waterproof bag that came with them for the phone.
 
Everything Al said about the Kyocera I'm on board with. That's the phone I have, because I too drop it all of the time on rocks, pavement, in the water. It is very rugged, but the camera is not as good as most phones today, if that is important. On the other hand, it is probably as good as the camera you had on your phone 5 years ago. 3M drop, 6M submerged. All the ports also have waterproof covers. You don't need a case for it.
 
OK, THANKS all for the insight.

Dani's info on the waterproofness was a surprise to me. I know that I've seen ads for waterproof phones, but didn't know how many actually have IP ratings, for example iPhones back to iPhone 7 have one (wimpy, but one nonetheless). My current phone is not water resistant in any way, so I think I'll upgrade there and go with something like just putting it in a ziplock bag in my pocket. I hate spending money on phones, but I do use one quite a bit. Could use a better camera on it too.
 
To speak on the waterproofness of new phones. My family was rafting down the North Santiam river and my wife lost her phone overboard. A few weeks later I received a phone call and somebody who had found her phone in about 3 feet of water on the side of the rapids after they had tipped there boat. They charged it up and were able to get my phone number from it. They were kind enough to send it to us and it still worked after being under water for about 3 weeks. It was a google Pixel. don't know which generation one but this was 3 years ago. That is when I stopped using the ziplock bag on my phone.
 
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