Spinoff- where do you carry your smart phone when you ride?

[wateryglen]

Why carry it…?

Honestly, why do you need to carry one in the first place? Don’t you wanna be outa touch for a bit while you’re enjoying a trail ride? Who’s so important that they have to be in 24/7 contact with the world unless you’re “on call” or have to be reachable for some looming emergency!!! REALLY!!? In our area half the trail riding areas are outa cell range so why bother? To me…time spent on horses should be relaxing and “away from it all”. And the excuse that you carry one for emergencies is valid maybe some of the time. But a routine trailride?!! Nope, seems silly to me. You should be paying atttention to what’s going on around you. Like texting while drriving. It’s a no-no. I wanna get away and NOT be reachable when I’m riding. It’s why it’s called recreation. There is NOTHING that’s so important it can’t wait an hour or 2. Sadly the culture now is the expectation that you can be available all the time. Everyone thinks they are indispensable or important. And ya’ll are addicted to your phones. Can’t bear to part with them. Soapbox over.

[GaitedGloryRider]

wateryglen…It’s a safety issue. Much easier to call for help from the trail in the event of an accident if you have your phone on you

To the OP- Good old fanny pack does the trick and you can fit your trail map in there too. Always handy to have a trail map on your person should you unexpectedly part ways with your horse. I know they look ridiculous but I swear, someday they will come back in style (probably about the same time we see bell bottoms make a come-back :lol:)

[katyb]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7088099]
Honestly, why do you need to carry one in the first place? Don’t you wanna be outa touch for a bit while you’re enjoying a trail ride? Who’s so important that they have to be in 24/7 contact with the world unless you’re “on call” or have to be reachable for some looming emergency!!! REALLY!!? In our area half the trail riding areas are outa cell range so why bother? To me…time spent on horses should be relaxing and “away from it all”. And the excuse that you carry one for emergencies is valid maybe some of the time. But a routine trailride?!! Nope, seems silly to me. You should be paying atttention to what’s going on around you. Like texting while drriving. It’s a no-no. I wanna get away and NOT be reachable when I’m riding. It’s why it’s called recreation. There is NOTHING that’s so important it can’t wait an hour or 2. Sadly the culture now is the expectation that you can be available all the time. Everyone thinks they are indispensable or important. And ya’ll are addicted to your phones. Can’t bear to part with them. Soapbox over. [/QUOTE]

If you’re an arena rider, surrounded by other riders, that’s fine. Riding 10 miles from the closest person? I’ll have my phone on my body at all times.

[tabula_rashah]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7088099]
Honestly, why do you need to carry one in the first place? Don’t you wanna be outa touch for a bit while you’re enjoying a trail ride? Who’s so important that they have to be in 24/7 contact with the world unless you’re “on call” or have to be reachable for some looming emergency!!! REALLY!!? In our area half the trail riding areas are outa cell range so why bother? To me…time spent on horses should be relaxing and “away from it all”. And the excuse that you carry one for emergencies is valid maybe some of the time. But a routine trailride?!! Nope, seems silly to me. You should be paying atttention to what’s going on around you. Like texting while drriving. It’s a no-no. I wanna get away and NOT be reachable when I’m riding. It’s why it’s called recreation. There is NOTHING that’s so important it can’t wait an hour or 2. Sadly the culture now is the expectation that you can be available all the time. Everyone thinks they are indispensable or important. And ya’ll are addicted to your phones. Can’t bear to part with them. Soapbox over. [/QUOTE]

I was on a routine ride a couple of years ago with 2 friends, very experienced riders, very experienced horses. We were galloping a grass lane that we’d galloped a million times before- one of the horses spooked and did a huge leap and buck thing and her rider came off. Rider couldn’t remember who were were or how she’d gotten there (yes she had a helmet on or she’d probably be dead). I was the only one with a phone- called EMS and they helicoptered her out. If I didn’t have my phone, I’d have had to ride a few miles to get help. With a head injury that would have wasted precious time for her.
So, yes, I carry my phone every ride on me, never on my horse. Why would I not? It’s not like I’m on my horse surfing FB.

[GaitedGloryRider]

I had a friend get tossed and trampled back on a service road…pretty much the same sort of thing tabula rashah described above. Same outcome, thank God we had phones. Air lifted to a trauma center, busted ribs and internal bleeding. It’s not about surfing the net or taking business calls or checking COTH, it’s about the safety and convenience of modern technology possibly saving a rider’s life :yes: Actually it’s better to power the phone off while you’re riding anyway. You don’t want your battery drained if you’re going in and out of roaming areas on an all-day ride, might not have enough juice to make a call if you need to.

[cowboymom]

Where we ride (and live, for the most part) phones don’t work but we still take one on every trip. In an emergency we can sometimes get enough service to send a text or if we climb a ridge we might be able to make a call. We’ve been lucky enough to not need it for an emergency but it has been useful before. We ride in the wilderness where anything can happen and the nearest person is 30 miles away. We don’t talk on our phones the whole time, or at all, but it’s certainly something worth having along!

ETA ours is usually in my husband’s front jeans pocket or a saddle bag so probably not useful places for your situation, TR!

[poltroon]

The other thing that is kind of cool about carrying a smartphone is that there are apps that will track your rides and give you a sense of your mileage, which is fun.

[littlebaypony]

Cashel Ankle Safe along with a dose of Benadryl, an expired drivers’ license for ID and the truck keys.
I’ve been told that phones attached at your waistband around to the back near your spine can cause spine and/or kidney damage in the event of a fall.
I love the trail info app on my phone - where did we go and how fast.

[katyb]

I use everytrail as a trail tracker, which is great, and my gps can provide my location to a family member through the app, findmydroid. That means if I am riding alone and don’t come back, they can find me instantly, and that works even where there isn’t cell coverage. Again, it’s not about texting and updating facebook (although I do those things too, at times).

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7088099]
Honestly, why do you need to carry one in the first place? Don’t you wanna be outa touch for a bit while you’re enjoying a trail ride? Who’s so important that they have to be in 24/7 contact with the world unless you’re “on call” or have to be reachable for some looming emergency!!! REALLY!!? In our area half the trail riding areas are outa cell range so why bother? To me…time spent on horses should be relaxing and “away from it all”. And the excuse that you carry one for emergencies is valid maybe some of the time. But a routine trailride?!! Nope, seems silly to me. You should be paying atttention to what’s going on around you. Like texting while drriving. It’s a no-no. I wanna get away and NOT be reachable when I’m riding. It’s why it’s called recreation. There is NOTHING that’s so important it can’t wait an hour or 2. Sadly the culture now is the expectation that you can be available all the time. Everyone thinks they are indispensable or important. And ya’ll are addicted to your phones. Can’t bear to part with them. Soapbox over. [/QUOTE]
Like so many others have pointed out. I carry mine so I have it if there is an emergency. It has nothing to do with staying connected to the outside world other than being able to call that world for help if it is needed.

When I am at home riding alone (no one else is home) I keep it on me too. If I have a riding accident and I need help it will be easier to dial than crawl into the house and find wherever I left my phone.

[charismaryllis]

a class on a “routine” trail ride at my barn usually has at least two cell phones among it. if it’s a class of littles, the instructor grabs a big to ride sweep, and sometimes even another one to ride in the middle. all of the adults carry phones. when adults go out on their own, they always have a phone. the trail area behind the barn isn’t that large, square mileage-wise, but it changes altitude a couple hundred feet over the terrain of hills and the river, and that’s a lot of nooks and crannies to have to go look in if someone doesn’t come back on time. better the rider be able to call the barn and say “i’m in the following nook.”

of course, the one incident i remember was when an old classmate of mine came off a couple miles from the barn (on the other side of the river, of course); his mare dutifully high-tailed it back to the barn. he called the barn to tell them a) he was OK and b) to beg them not to tell the barn manager what happened, since he knew she’d laugh herself silly. :lol:

[Nipntuck]

Plus, it’s fun to be able to take pictures like
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200871197453836&set=a.3612235356143.2149327.1581562097&type=1&theater

[charismaryllis]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200871197453836&set=a.36122353561%2043.2149327.1581562097&type=1&theater=

nice!!

[Nipntuck]

Double post. Oops.

[BarbaricYawp]

[QUOTE=wateryglen;7088099]
Honestly, why do you need to carry one in the first place? Don’t you wanna be outa touch for a bit while you’re enjoying a trail ride? Who’s so important that they have to be in 24/7 contact with the world unless you’re “on call” or have to be reachable for some looming emergency!!! REALLY!!? In our area half the trail riding areas are outa cell range so why bother? To me…time spent on horses should be relaxing and “away from it all”. And the excuse that you carry one for emergencies is valid maybe some of the time. But a routine trailride?!! Nope, seems silly to me. You should be paying atttention to what’s going on around you. Like texting while drriving. It’s a no-no. I wanna get away and NOT be reachable when I’m riding. It’s why it’s called recreation. There is NOTHING that’s so important it can’t wait an hour or 2. Sadly the culture now is the expectation that you can be available all the time. Everyone thinks they are indispensable or important. And ya’ll are addicted to your phones. Can’t bear to part with them. Soapbox over. [/QUOTE]

Aside from the emergency calls noted above, calls that usually cannot wait until I get back home:

1. Communication with kids who opted to stay home rather than ride (old enough to deal with most things, but if they see a horse down or a stranger at the barn, they’ll call)
2. Work-related emergencies that require my input
3. (when we have horses for sale) people who are interested in coming out to see something that afternoon (I am usually a weekend AM rider). If I miss that call, I miss the sale.
4. If I’m feeling hardcore or trying out a new trail, MyTracks for Droid to see how we’re doing on the trail. Can’t run it without a smartphone on your person. :winkgrin:
5. And although it’s not for surfing and email, it’s fun to snap a picture of the trailride to share with the folks that participated or neat stuff we may see on the way so I can remember it.

[NorthwoodsRider]

I trail ride alone, so also take my phone for safety. Whenever I go out on the trail or DH goes out on his bike, we both turn on Google Latitude on our phones, so we can track each others’ location. In reality we don’t actually track one anothers’ progress, just want to be able to find the other if they don’t return on time. Luckily we’ve never had to actually make use of the information.

I have a blackberry, which I used to carry in a soft waterproof case, but it seems to freeze up and/or shut itself down when it gets too warm (too close to my body, like in a pocket or something) - so I recently got a box like this . I figure if I come unglued it will also help protect the phone from damage. I loop the string around the shoulder strap of my protective vest and then just shove the case in between my shirt and vest through the neck opening.

[rivenoak]

While I have a Galaxy 4, I just bought a $9 Tracfone that I am going to forward my number to when out riding.

I don’t like the bulk of the Galaxy on my person, and I don’t want it damaged.

It’s sort of ridiculous, but that’s my solution!

[AlmostDun]

I carried my previous phone in a money belt. I positioned the phone in the small of my waist over my left hip bone. I figured my hip bone and shoulder stuck out more than the phone and would take the brunt of a fall. Alas, the new phone doesn’t fit into the old money belt. I saw a similar belt on the Lifeproof web page and am considering buying it. I’ve also considered a fishing vest.

I tried the Cashel ankle safe years ago. I’ve got chicken legs, and it was too big. I don’t much like a fanny pack either. The stuff inside shifts around and annoys me. For right now I’m just stuffing the phone into my bra. Gross but effective.

Aside from the obvious benefits of being able to call for help, I like being able to look at a weather radar app. In summer the weather where I live can change from blue skies to thunderstorms in under two hours. I like to know whether the cloud bank rolling in is just a baby stray storm cell with maybe a little drizzle in it or the front edge of something more serious.

[whiskey]

I ride with my iPhone in my pocket. It barely fits but it stays put.

[RuBee]

Years ago before we had cell phones I sometimes rode alone and was always a bit anxious. We have bears, moose and rough country. While it was kind of liberating to make it back just fine, I always take my phone now. So many things can happen.

A bonus is the photos. The fb group “as seen through horses ears” is fun.