101 uses for a mobile!

[Stolly]

In a fell race.

I just saw the requirement of carrying a mobile in the Edale Skyline race next March but I just can't imagine my O2 mobile being of any use what so ever though. I get one bar if I stand on one foot, on top of a stool in the kitchen at home, pretty much no signal anywhere else in the Dales, none in the Lakes, none in Snowdonia (the local shop in Bedgellart last time I was there was hiring orange mobiles to tourists ) and I don't hold up any hope for a signal in the Peak District.

So what possible use will my mobile have? Here's a few ideas:

1. The extra weight in my bum bag will make me exert more energy, thereby keeping me warmer by 0.00017895012 of a degree.

2. Should I break my leg on one of the tops, I can play Backgammon II to while away the time while waiting for mountain rescue

3. Or even use the mobile as a bit to bite on, while a kindly passer by resets the bone for me.

4. Pretend I'm on the phone when one of the marshalls trys to kit check me at the start having forgotten my wooly hat.


Or what else?

[wheezing donkey]

Transfer to Vodaphone?
Certainly gives me good coverage in most upland areas, particularly Scotland.
I only have it because the wife reckons that it 'stops her from worrying about me'. I have pointed out that Amundsen went to the Pole without one and Hilary topped out on Everest without one. Do I really need one, when I'm just going to 'the end of the street'??

[gyppo]

It seems disappointing but somewhat inevitable that we're expected to carry a mobile with us. One of the nice things about being out on the fells is to get away from the modern world for a few hours.

Guess I'll want to start looking for an ultralightweight mobile that I don't mind getting trashed by water (or worse- bog) penetration.

Not sure whether to enter this year as is the week before the Highlander MM and not sure how quickly I'd recover. Maybe the thought of carring a mobile will be just enough to put me off...

[FellMonster]

I ve never been able to get a recption in the peak district using O2.......

[The Master]

I ve never been able to get a recption in the peak district using O2.......

Im going to abuse you during the race via the medium of text

[david]

I ve never been able to get a recption in the peak district using O2.......

But even if you can't get an O2 signal you will still be able to make emergency calls using 999 or 112 provided another network has coverage. You just won't be able to phone any other ponies to ask for directions .

[slowcoach]

How long before we have to carry a GPS? I can see it coming.

[runningfool]

But even if you can't get an O2 signal you will still be able to make emergency calls using 999 or 112 provided another network has coverage. You just won't be able to phone any other ponies to ask for directions .

I'm 99% certain that this is a popular fallacy. In the rest of the EU (and probably the world for all I know) this *does* work but not in the UK. It's all to do with roaming agreements between mobile companies (which don't exist in the UK).

Have a look at this thread. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s....php?p=1862383

I'm sure a definitive answer is available somewhere on the net but I can't be bothered finding it at the moment.

[Stolly]

It seems disappointing but somewhat inevitable that we're expected to carry a mobile with us. One of the nice things about being out on the fells is to get away from the modern world for a few hours.

Yeah I agree and what about those people who still don't have mobiles? Presumably they won't be able to run? As it is I'm not sure I will be telling my employer what I intend to do (carrying their mobile). I can imagine popping into the office on the following Monday and explaining the good and bad news - 'it was minus 10 up there and I fell into a bog up to my neck - luckily I managed to crawl out, wrap myself in a survival blanket and survive. I'm not sure whether my mobile still works though as its caked in solidified bog slime '.

[dominion]

Yeah I agree and what about those people who still don't have mobiles? Presumably they won't be able to run?

I don't have waterproofs, bumbag, maps, whistle or compass. Can I run anyway?