Turn phone into a survival tool

If this has been covered already then I apologize. I live in Las Vegas and was thinking about taking a drive up to the Valley of Fire this weekend and on their webpage they had this article on how to turn your smart phone into a survival tool, even if you do not have a cell signal. Thought it may be helpful for some of y'all.

http://www.desertusa.com/desert-activity/desert-survival-smartphone.html

 

Fun link to ways to use a broken cell phone as a survival tool.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/06/14/survival-cell-phone/

 

Nice! Thats good to know

 

x2 thanks for sharing!

 

X3 thanks for sharing !

 

Personally, even with the simplest of "GPS Apps" downloaded, I can't get a location fix on my iPhone when there's no cell service. Yes, theoretically a GPS device doesn't need a cell tower. But keeping those circuits fully independent does not seem to have been a priority for the phone designers and testers.

Also, out of service, the phone increases the transmit power to try and locate cell towers, so the battery drains more quickly when not in cell range.

My suggestion is to turn the damn thing off while out of range to save its battery, and then turn it on only if you need it in order to try and establish emergency communications - which may involve moving a short or long distance.

 

Oh yeah, I wouldn't rely solely on my phone for its apps. It's a nice convenience but I'd still like to have a gps traker along with a map and compass

 

It's because phones use cellular triangulation to locate you for the most part.

 

$7.99 for an app! Anyone try that Topo app? I've heard it's pretty good.

 

Meh, not really very helpful.

Now that's a useful article! Interesting.

 

Great tip. Thanks for sharing.