LostCamKenny Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 I like to have mine for the clock, and it can work as a light in a pinch when you don't have a headlamp. Think Ken could have used it this summer then Dave! Exactly! my phone doesn't work well as an alarm clock - just ask ivan... he had to solo the corner in order to wake me up one morning when we went to get on blownout! Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 I've carried my cell phone several times and I'm almost never able to make a connection. I would like to be able to use it in an emergency, but my confidence is low. (I have a cheap, basic Motorola phone and a T-mobile account.) I used to carry a ham radio for this but in recent years the repeater I once used hasn't been working for me. For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. Quote
G-spotter Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 Nobody yet mentioned using the LED screen on your phone to light your way when your headlamp dies.... Quote
marc_leclerc Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 Nobody yet mentioned using the LED screen on your phone to light your way when your headlamp dies.... I have way too many stories... Quote
Bug Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 I've carried my cell phone several times and I'm almost never able to make a connection. I would like to be able to use it in an emergency, but my confidence is low. (I have a cheap, basic Motorola phone and a T-mobile account.) I used to carry a ham radio for this but in recent years the repeater I once used hasn't been working for me. For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. I am on AT&T and get good service from almost any summit around. That includes Rainier, Stuart, DT, Chair, Red mt, etc. I did not get reception on El Dorado. I find that the signal is cut off easily though. Like if a jet flys over or someone is using another cell phone nearby. Quote
pdk Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 Sprint service seems to work nowhere. I had no service at all on the eliot (hood)- buddy w/ At&t had full bars. Quote
Rad Posted November 3, 2009 Author Posted November 3, 2009 I've carried my cell phone several times and I'm almost never able to make a connection. I would like to be able to use it in an emergency, but my confidence is low. (I have a cheap, basic Motorola phone and a T-mobile account.) I used to carry a ham radio for this but in recent years the repeater I once used hasn't been working for me. For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. I am on AT&T and get good service from almost any summit around. That includes Rainier, Stuart, DT, Chair, Red mt, etc. I did not get reception on El Dorado. I find that the signal is cut off easily though. Like if a jet flys over or someone is using another cell phone nearby. ditto. iphone gps is great in civilization but does some pretty funny things in the sticks (mmkay, it looks like we're driving into the lake). Quote
cbcbd Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. I have Verizon and so far I have used it on N side of Rainier, E side of Adams, Ruth, and summit of Maude. Quote
tomtom Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 Whenever I have a question in the mountains, I just ask Bing! Quote
denalidave Posted November 3, 2009 Posted November 3, 2009 Nobody yet mentioned using the LED screen on your phone to light your way when your headlamp dies.... Cept me. Quote
PLC Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 Upon reaching camp below Winnie's Slide on Shuksan, both my partners took out their cell phones and had conversations with their spouse/boyfriend for about 45 minutes. Alas, I had no cell phone so was stuck just looking at scenery like a monkey. Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. It occurs to me that the people who may know the answer to this question are rescue coordinators like Kelly Bush at North Cascades National Park and Stefan Lofgren at Mt Rainier National Park. Or maybe people in Mountain Rescue have data on this. Quote
billcoe Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. There we go, nice call Lowell!!! Excellent idea. I'm chuckling now over Scott Peterson calling me from on route on the side of half Dome as I was driving home from climbing to ask for beta on pitch 7 of Snake Dike just a couple of weeks ago. They were climbing in the dark with less than stellar headlamps, although at the time I admit that I felt like a dunce for not knowing jack or shit for Scott. Cell phones are remarkable. "HEY LCK, stop surfing that damndable pornography and watch me here, it's damn dicy, hey, let go of that thing and put that brake hand back on the rope!!!! Whuhuh? dude, hold that up so I can see the screen there, what the hell is she doing there? OMG she's soooo hot: I'm gonna need a Kleenex... hey? ....opps...shit...FALLING"..... Where the hell is Tami Knight when you need her LOL!!! Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 Where the hell is Tami Knight when you need her LOL!!! Being strange, as usual: http://www.tamiknight.com/ Quote
shannonpahl Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 Just this summer, I was witness to a leader fall on Mt Stuart that resulted in a badly broken ankle. One of the climbers had a cell phone and although there was no 'talk' reception, they were able to text message for help, and a helicopter rescue ensued that airlifted the injured climber. Given the injury and remoteness, I'd hate to imagine how much worse things could have been without one. Quote
SemoreJugs Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 So you can send txt directly to 911 then I take it? Quote
AlpineK Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 No text to 911 right now I believe. It'll change eventually. Last May while skiing near Stuart a woman in our group tweaked her left leg bad enough she could barely walk. We got cell reception from Longs Pass, but not 100 feet below the pass. Line of sight between you and a cell tower is a big deal. The end result was the group worked together and got the woman down to the lower creek. Search and rescue met us with a 1 wheel stretcher for the last few hundred yards. We did most of the rescue, but it was nice to know we could reach the outside world. Quote
wfinley Posted November 4, 2009 Posted November 4, 2009 This past spring I climbed Mt. Barille in the Ruth Gorge with some friends. I was the second one to the top and I crested to find my partner belaying with one hand while checking text messages on his iPhone. It was a total whiteout - the wind was howling 30mph and he was checking his text messages. Quote
LostCamKenny Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 For me, a more interesting topic would be which phones and which carriers work the best from the mountains. There we go, nice call Lowell!!! Excellent idea. I'm chuckling now over Scott Peterson calling me from on route on the side of half Dome as I was driving home from climbing to ask for beta on pitch 7 of Snake Dike just a couple of weeks ago. They were climbing in the dark with less than stellar headlamps, although at the time I admit that I felt like a dunce for not knowing jack or shit for Scott. Cell phones are remarkable. "HEY LCK, stop surfing that damndable pornography and watch me here, it's damn dicy, hey, let go of that thing and put that brake hand back on the rope!!!! Whuhuh? dude, hold that up so I can see the screen there, what the hell is she doing there? OMG she's soooo hot: I'm gonna need a Kleenex... hey? ....opps...shit...FALLING"..... :lmao: I remember the night of scott's epic on snake dike: I was chillin w/ Jim at his place and at about 11:30 or so the phone rang and jim said "I bet its scott." OF course it was and scott, saying that they got caught behind some other climbers, but they were still on the route and i was to an almost embarrassing degree! I called scott a few minutes later to let him know that I was glad that he wasn't in peril - he answered, to my surprise. I think i remember hearing him say on the phone to jim while i was laughing so hard, "hey, f#@k you kenny!" too funny and just to add to some of the talk about texting: even if you have no "bars" but yer carrier is still showing up on yer phone you can still send texts because it takes less service reception to send a text than it does to make a call. I've sent texts with nothing more than the "AT&T" on my screen and they get through. Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 It makes sense that you should be able to send texts when voice coverage is poor, since the amount of data in a text is so much less than in a voice message. I presume that the digital cell network has some sort of error detection and retry mechanism. It should be easier to get a short message passed through this system than a long one. But here are some thoughts: * Is there a way to tell whether a text message has actually been delivered from your phone? * When a text message fails to go out, how often and for how long will your phone retry to send it? * If you're in a place where you're having trouble getting a text message transferred, is there any sense in leaving your phone turned on? If so, for how long? * If you turn off your phone and move to a different location, then turn it back on again, will it try again to send a message that previously failed to go out? * Can you send texts to 911? Most of my family and friends aren't big cell phone users and I would want to send a text somewhere that it's actually likely to be seen. Knowing the answers to these questions would make emergency texting a lot more reliable. You probably don't want to leave your phone on indefinitely while it tries and fails to send out messages. Quote
denalidave Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 I'm guessing not all phones work the same in regard to re-sending a text when it fails the first time. With mine (crackberry), it shows a red x telling me the text did not go through and I have to manually re-send it, I've had other phones that just keep trying for a long time. Go to an area you know has no coverage and try texting to see how your phone works in that situation. Well worth the weight, just in case (IMO). Quote
LostCamKenny Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 But here are some thoughts: * Is there a way to tell whether a text message has actually been delivered from your phone? most phones (i know mine does) keep a log of what has been sent and received to a certain point and then the phone's memory becomes too full to store any more messages without deleting them... * When a text message fails to go out, how often and for how long will your phone retry to send it? all phones are different, but mine doesn't try to resend automatically... if it fails to send then the message gets saved in my outbox and then i have to go into my outbox to resend it Lowell, i think it all just depends on the brand of phone you have and the options and capabilities it has. obviously if you have that iphone thingy then you have a computer in your pocket too and could send actual emails (or just post for a rescue on cc.com) maybe there should be a forum for rescues now since so many have that apple phone - I can picture it now: "Can anyone drive out to Index tonight? my buddy and i are stuck on green dragon under the roof and his dumbass dropped the rope... can someone come help us?" Quote
jayhawk Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 Anyone have any experience with the SPOT-2? I'm tempted, just so I can reliably text my worry-wart wife and decrease the number of pre- and post-climb fights. Quote
Pilchuck71 Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) Anyone have any experience with the SPOT-2? I'm tempted, just so I can reliably text my worry-wart wife and decrease the number of pre- and post-climb fights. No experience with a spot or spot2 but heck Les Stroud supports it. As for the fights you could always do what I did and just buy her a Rabbit and then she won't care if you are there or not. Edited November 5, 2009 by Pilchuck71 Quote
jayhawk Posted November 5, 2009 Posted November 5, 2009 If only it were that easy... would've done that years ago. Oh, and there's the $$ factor. Quote
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