iPhone waterproof case

[zaGaffer]

yeah i would never think about bringing my phone into the water. I normally try to ignore as many texts and calls before i go surfing. Surfing is a way to escape reality

As these cases get better and their reliability becomes established, for better or for worse, they're going to become common. By common, I mean just as ubiquitous as cell phones are out of the water now. I’ve only worn mine over this last weekend and I haven’t hooked it up to a data carrier (I just don’t wanna give up my droid); so it’s acting solely as an MP3 player while I put it through its paces. I got a lot of different looks while I was out, the ol boys, includin’ my Father-In-Law gave me the "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes" look. Cats in their 20’s and 30’s looked curious, but didn’t blink; but you know who was absolutely salivating over this thing, every gremmie out there. I could see it in their beady, little eyes, they coveted this little number. That tells me all I gotta know, the kids want ‘em. Theirs is a generation that have been tied to cell/smart phones from pre-pubescence. For better or worse, this genie’s out of the bottle and it ain’t goin back in. These things are here to stay, better steel yourself to it. One big plus, if you’re like me and have to wear ear plugs because you’re prone to ear infection, at least there’s music to listen to now. I remember the first GoPro mount I ever saw, I thought it was the dumbest, damn thing I’d ever seen and that the novelty would wear off soon. Hoo boy, was I wrong.

Luckily, right now the cost is prohibitive. 60$ headphones, a 60$ or thereabouts case, another 60$ for the armband to keep it on (damn things too small!); then there’s the replacement cost of the phone itself when or if it becomes water damaged. So the 180-200$ initial cost plus the potential for the cost of a whole new phone, is going to keep a lot of people from using this tech, for a while anyway. That price point will inevitably come down. The early adopters will be people who need to be (or think that they need to be) in contact no matter what. Think Dr.’s, traders and lawyers á la cellies in the early 90’s. Police, EMTs and firefighters might also be early benefiters, don’t really know enough about how all that works to say one way or another. DBA’s or Sys Admins are going to be getting on these with a fierceness. That’s why I’m diggin’ on it. My office has called my wife reporting an issue ‘cause I’m surfin’ and not answering my phone (luckily the CEO surfs too, so we have a pretty good work culture) and she has stood on the cliffs above my break, hootin and hollerin and waving her arms until I paddled in. That only happened once, but boy she was a little put out. A happy wife is good thing. In the long run though, it’ll be like everywhere else, everybody yakkin’ on their phone or updatin’ their Facebook status in between sets. Sorry man, at least there’s a lot more breaks without cell coverage than there are with it.


Come gather roun’ people, where ever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimming or sink like a stone
‘Cause the times they are a changin’
~ Dylan

[Zman9398]

You actually can mount it to your surfboard, life proof sells a mount for the case that allow you to mount it to a go pro mount which mounts to your surfboard

[South Bethany]

You actually can mount it to your surfboard, life proof sells a mount for the case that allow you to mount it to a go pro mount which mounts to your surfboard

why would anyone want to do that? There must be less costly ways to look like an idiot.

[steelwave42]

weak.
if you want to shoot, then get a gopro or water housing
and make something worth seeing.
but a phone? really?

BE HERE NOW, **** your phone

[15stwr]

i have to call -1 on this concept. the last thing we need is more kooks in the lineup with their phones. listening to music, shooting video, or even worse texting. go pros are bad enough.... surfing is one of the last remaining respites we have from all such distractions. this is not progress, it is regression...

[zaGaffer]

Just to put my responses in perspective, I love technology, I work with it, I’ve been a fan of it since I took apart my first transistor radio (never did get the darn thing back together) so I do have a bias. I think that all of these responses are very valid, but I’m going to play Devil’s advocate and offer some differing opinions. That being said, there’s a time and a place for everything, when it’s boomin’ and hairy and you do need to be here now, if some goon out in the lineup who’s got a prime real estate, is texting one second, then turns and tries to get some, well you snooze you lose. Don’t drop your phone. One big benefit of this is, people more focused on their phone than the swell, well they’re gonna get snaked and they’re either gonna figure out real quick why they’re not getting any or they won’t. I’d like to think that most people have sense not to take their phone out in decent waves; but I’m a realist so there’s no hope of that.

why would anyone want to do that? There must be less costly ways to look like an idiot.

The first thought that springs to mind, minimizing the number of electronic devices one has to manage. I have no idea how much a GoPro costs, I have no interest in buying one or shooting home surf movies from the perspective of either the nose of my board or looking up at my crotch, but I do know that most of the current generation of smart phones being sold in the US are capable of shooting really good quality pictures and video, some up to 12MP. Personally, I’ll never buy another camcorder or digital camera again in my life, why would I’m not a pro-photg and I have both in my pocket already. I haven’t done the math, but buying one device that suits many needs sounds cheaper than buying a separate device capable of performing only one task.

weak.
if you want to shoot, then get a gopro or water housing
and make something worth seeing.
but a phone? really?

BE HERE NOW, **** your phone

If the phone is taking video, it is a camcorder. If it is mounted in the same spot as your GoPro, what’s the difference between the two things? I can’t perceive one. That’s like saying a Canon is a camera, but a Nikon is not.

i have to call -1 on this concept. the last thing we need is more kooks in the lineup with their phones. listening to music, shooting video, or even worse texting. go pros are bad enough.... surfing is one of the last remaining respites we have from all such distractions. this is not progress, it is regression...

I am in agreement with you on all points except for one, “. . . listening to music”. I have to wear earplugs, I’m prone to ear infections. I lost about 75% of the hearing in my left ear due to surfing during a red tide and the subsequent infection. So between that and the earplugs and playin’ drums and the guitar, I can’t hear jack when I’m out in the lineup. I can barely hear the waves. I sure don’t talk to other people out there. It just turns into me politely nodding dumbly, pretending to hear them. However, I throw on a pair of head phones and turn ‘em way up, I can hear the music. On a little day, with lots of time between sets what’s wrong with that? I have to keep the water out of my ears anyway. Having tried it a couple of times, I gotta tell ya, surfing at sunset to the sounds of “Stairway to Heaven” or Aaron Neville’s rendition of “Ave Maria” isn’t distracting, it kicks a$$ and it’s a he77 of a lot better than the wall of deafness I’m accustomed to. If it ain’t affectin’ you personally, what’s the damage pardner?

I don’t think the surfing community at large takes to change very well. Just look at the response that the advent of fiberglass boards, wet suits, then leashes, professional surfing, then short boards, then the re-emergence of the longboard, tow-in surfing, CNC’d blanks and Chinese made boards, soft-top and finally SUPs elicited from the community at first. Everyone of them was met initially with skepticism, disdain or outright hostility; but the people who dug ‘em kept using them and they’re all still here. Some of ‘em we like, some of ‘em we hate; but none of ‘em are going anywhere.

[suzyq]

i have a life proof case, i have never taken it surfing but my friends have taken theres they say it works perfectly and they got cool footage but if they dropped their phoen while paddling (paddles with it in their mouth) they would have been screwed, i personally love the case, its water resistent but you must test it first and make sure you follow the correct instructions i also feel that you can not keep taking the case on and off because it ruins the case and does not allow it to close all the way. The case is really durable i keep it snowboarding with me all the time and the countless times my phone as been slammed against a rail for landing badly or wiping out of a jump but its super study, defiently worth the purchase, i just feel bringing your iphone in the ocean is super risky.

[sweller]

I want one too! donations?..