Protecting phones?

Light Knight · 23 Sep 2014, 7:23 pm

Interested to know how others protect their phones from the inevitable bashing and dunking during UE adventures:
Waterproof/drop proof cases?
Waterproof ziplock bags?
Any other ideas?
Thanks

No+Pro · 23 Sep 2014, 7:27 pm

leave it in the car?

Nuggs · 23 Sep 2014, 8:28 pm

Just a rubber case.
Haven't tested it yet.
Wish I had one about a year ago though :/

dodger · 23 Sep 2014, 8:43 pm

I've used a ziplock bag in the past. Haven't needed to test it yet though but I'm thinking it should work.

No+Pro, sometimes it's useful to have a phone though in case something goes wrong.

No+Pro · 23 Sep 2014, 10:27 pm

i sometimes take my work phone, waterproof & rubbercased, plus its a brick so i could always chuck it at someone if needed.

tucked away in the padding of your camera bag, mebbe? I have a drybag rolled up for camera gear most of the time too so maybe i should stick my phone in that anyway

Aydun · 23 Sep 2014, 10:59 pm

I just bring my phone as is. I've never had any issues when urbex-ing. Although admittedly I did leap waist deep into a swamp with it in my pocket. It worked perfectly a few days later.

You could always get a dedicated urbex phone

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from ... e&_sacat=0

Light Knight · 24 Sep 2014, 5:16 pm

No+Pro wrote:leave it in the car?

So how do you call for help when surrounded by hundreds of bloodthirsty mutant drain cockroaches?

Audacia-N · 25 Sep 2014, 3:53 am

One night while out exploring I lost my first iPhone due to water damage caused merely by having it in my pocket whilst caught in a sudden & intense rain storm. After replacing the phone I decided to invest in a LifeProof case, which is water, shock, dust & snow proof.

It has taken many dips into drain water and works well - most of which have been intentional to demonstrate it and/or pretend that I just dropped my newly replaced iPhone in water

. I've also been swimming it as it's waterproof up to 2m. It's been dropped a lot and takes a good beating. In particular, I carry it in my pocket whilst rock climbing and it's been bashed around and jammed against the rock a lot without any damage to the phone. It's always fun to discover a "brand new" phone when I take it out of its' beaten up case.

Granted, I've never tried any other case, but I haven't found a single fault with the LifeProof. Also, in the unlikely event that the case fails and you phone dies, they'll pay for the replacement of your phone + new case with is rad. Ebay sells "knock off" ones on ebay, although they've been known to fail and for obvious reasons LifeProof won't replace your phone. I bought the cheapest "genuine" one I could find on ebay. You can tell the two apart by the difference in their price.

P.S. Just some phone/urbex related advice. It can be a good idea to turn off your phone before entering a location or at the very least turn off GPS/location services. Also, it's a good idea to delete any messages that discuss the specifics of your exploring plans. When a fellow explorer that I know was arrested, one of the first things that the police did at the scene was to confiscate their phone and go through their messages for the sole purpose of looking for evidence of prior intent. It's a bit hard to use the old; "We were walking past and the door was open so we decided to make sure everything was ok" excuse in such a situation. Most of the time you'll be fine, but if you're exploring particularly dodgy/sensitive stuff then it's better to be safe than sorry.

Aydun · 25 Sep 2014, 11:10 am

Audacia-N wrote:Also, it's a good idea to delete any messages that discuss the specifics of your exploring plans.

"It's not my phone, officer. I stole it from a hobo 5 minutes ago." Works ery time

DeScent · 25 Sep 2014, 6:40 pm

thanks for the good advice Audacia-N

Light Knight · 26 Sep 2014, 4:39 pm

Audacia-N wrote: After replacing the phone I decided to invest in a LifeProof case, which is water, shock, dust & snow proof.

I like the sound of that case! Thanks for the advice.

timdole · 15 Oct 2014, 9:32 pm

In case anyone was wondering, Iphones do not work in water...
Clarky found this one, I don't think turning it off and back on will work.

Actually, we also found a fair amount of crap, tire irons, torches, number plates, and this.

This was left on a sort of shelf for others to discover...

dodger · 15 Oct 2014, 9:47 pm

Haha wow good finds!

Putting your phone in rice surprisingly fixes a lot of water damaged phones though.

kontour10 · 03 Jan 2015, 12:37 pm

I can second the lifeproof cases, I've had my iPhone 5 in one for 2 and a bit years now and the phone itself barely has a scratch on it. The case is starting to fall apart a little, but it doesn't seem to affect the protection of the phone. Only issue I have had with it is sometimes people can't hear me super well during a call.

daeman · 15 Feb 2015, 1:29 pm

Zip lock bags for the win. I know a girl who is so attached to her phone she zip bags it and takes it with her when she showers. She's been doing that for quite a while and never killed the phone.

Meanwhile the laptop reminds me of family guy the other night. " Argh there be a lot of perverts out today"

Unclehaggz · 15 Feb 2015, 7:58 pm

Also if you visit a shoe shop, check in the box's as they have Silica Gel bags! these are great to place in any bag/zip lock whatever you use for your phone to help reduce the humidity which can cause condensation and failure of components etc. I have 1 or 2 in my camera bag too! it all helps to reduce corrosion and/or premature failure brought on by moisture. It is also a good idea to place these bags every know and again in the full sun to evaporate any moisture build up in the Silica, and then place back in your bags etc.

Unfortunately any damage caused by corrosion is a slow process and cannot be reversed unless you replace major components inside (motherboard etc). These components are sub-miniature and even the smallest droplet of condensation can destroy a perfectly good phone/camera!!!

Also worth noting, that keeping a camera/phone inside an air-conditioned room/office and then taken outside for some Urbex fun, can cause internal misting/condensation from this temperature change, especially in QLD with very high humidity levels!

The modern day phones/DSLR's are not cheap to replace, and following some basic, maint, storage techniques will help provide you with a decent service life from your investment.

Hope it helps
Kind Regards
UH

Aydun · 15 Feb 2015, 8:37 pm

Since going swamp jumping with my phone, the camera has been getting worse and worse

I think the sensor corroded a tad. Now my photos have a nice purple hue...

aussiemacka · 15 Feb 2015, 11:01 pm

I would invest in a lifeproof case over this but there is a special 'ziplock' airtight waterproof case but as it is only about $2-3 I wouldn't trust it.

mindraped · 03 Jul 2015, 7:12 pm

This may seem odd to some but my dad did this as a kid fishing. He would slide his phone inside a condom and tie the end. When hed drop it overboard it would float. Lol iphones operate fine with the touch screen and the volume is just a little less when your talking. I use this method if i know im getting wet. Works a treat and cost 5 bucks lol.

Light Knight · 04 Jul 2015, 8:39 pm

mindraped wrote:This may seem odd to some but my dad did this as a kid fishing. He would slide his phone inside a condom and tie the end. When hed drop it overboard it would float. Lol iphones operate fine with the touch screen and the volume is just a little less when your talking. I use this method if i know im getting wet. Works a treat and cost 5 bucks lol.

Lubricated or unlubricated?

mindraped · 05 Jul 2015, 12:59 am

Lol unlubed to be safe. Ribbed or none ribbed? Ur decision lol

Crispex · 16 Jul 2015, 11:26 am

mindraped wrote:Lol unlubed to be safe. Ribbed or none ribbed? Ur decision lol

Maybe studded for extra grip?