Using Your iPhone While Camping

There are many uses for your iPhone while camping, even if you don't have a connection. Be sure to protect your iPhone and bring along some additional power.

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Video Transcript: Hi this is Gary with MacMost.com. Here's some tips for taking your iPhone camping. 
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So whether you're backpacking, rafting, mountain climbing or just going on a day hike one of your most important tools could be your iPhone. Here are some tips on how to use your iPhone in the wilderness and how to keep it safe.
First let me start by talking about cases. So before going on a big adventure I usually make sure I've got a good case for my iPhone. This is a different case than the one I usually use walking around the city. It's a waterproof case but I'm not actually getting it to be waterproof. The current iPhones are actually pretty waterproof by themselves and to get a real waterproof case you've got to spend a lot of money. So I just get a cheap case that pretends to be waterproof. Make sure it's sealed up all the way around. What it is mostly for is to protect from impact, scratches, and getting mud, dirt, and sand on the iPhone. That way my iPhone is in the same condition when I'm done with my trip as it was when I started.
Now, almost more important than that is the strap. Make sure you get one that has a strap and what I do with this is I usually tie it onto a thin rope that is either attached to my backpack or if I'm rafting maybe my life jacket or even my kayak. In normal everyday life if I drop my iPhone it just lands next to me on the sofa or maybe on the sidewalk. But out in the wilderness it could literally fall off a cliff or into a river. So having it tied to me prevents me from loosing my iPhone because it simply slipped out of my hand.
When you think of ways to use your iPhone while outdoors the first app that may come to mind is the Compass app. Actually that's not that useful. I mean when was the last time you used a compass and a map to actually figure out where you were. But the app actually does have some useful information. For instance it will tell you your elevation and you could use it to figure out which way is East so you can point your tent in the right direction for the sunrise.
Now what is far more useful is a good GPS Hiking app. I use Topo Maps+. Now this app allows me to load up all sorts of different maps so I've got the USGS Map, I've got Natural Atlas, I've got some satellite views and I can switch between them. I could also track my route and even plan my route and it will show me how much more I've got to go before I reach my campsite.
You could also take actual maps with you. It's easy to load up PDF's on your iPhone. The Books app is actually a very good PDF viewer. You can load up some PDF's. Visit the park website or any information you can find online and a lot of times those pamphlets that you can get at Visitor Centers they are actually downloadable PDF's online. So you can load them up on your phone instead of having to worry about grabbing one of those and carrying it with you, you can have all of those PDF's loaded up and be able to view it on your iPhone.
Another useful technique is to take pictures of signs. You know those signs you sometimes find at trailheads that have maps or sets of rules. It could be great to refer to one of those trailhead maps while you're actually on the trail so you can find points of interest. Sometimes it's useful to refer to rules like when you actually get to camp and you decide maybe we should have a campfire. But what did the sign say? Did it say No Campfires Allowed or you could only have campfires in the rings.
When I go backpacking is usually only bring my iPhone with me as my camera. A DSLR would add a lot of extra weight to my pack and when you're out for a few days you count every ounce. I get great photos with my iPhone. You won't be able to get a good picture of an eagle way up high on a tree but you'll be able to get great landscapes. If you have one of the iPhones that has the Ultra Wide Lens you can get beautiful ultra wide shots. But any iPhone can be used also to take a time lapse. I love taking time lapse photography while outdoors. You could see the clouds move. You could see the sunrise or set. You could see the sunlight hitting the landscape. Things like that. Just make sure to bring a small camping tripod. Something that you could put your iPhone on to take those time lapses. It's also good for taking Selfies from a longer distance than what you can hold with your hand.
So I mentioned a few objects that your iPhone now replaces when you go camping. It replaces your map. It replaces your GPS device. It replaces your camera. Another thing it replaces is your Flashlight. Use your iPhone's flashlight. It barely uses any battery and it's pretty bright. I haven't carried a real flashlight with me on a camping trip in years.
Another thing you may want to bring with while camping is a book. But that's another object. That's another thing you need to keep from getting wet. You can load up books on your iPhone. They don't take up any extra weight at all and it's easy to read them at night. Even if you're not reading a book at the moment load up some of your favorite books that you may have, a lot of older books are available for free in the Apple Bookstore, and you could just reread a favorite passage.
Similar to that some people like to bring a journal with on a camping trip and write in it at night. But you could use your iPhone for that as well. You can type out a journal entry in a variety of different apps. In Notes, in Pages, whatever. But you could also use the Voice Memos app. It's much easier at the end of a long day of hiking or rafting and then setting up camp and all of that to just dictate five or ten minutes of your thoughts into Voice Memos and save that. Now it may seem silly while you're doing it and even a few days later. But then save those as audio files. In ten, twenty, or thirty years later those files will be gold.
Now there is one piece of equipment you do need to bring with you to support your iPhone and that's a battery pack.  If you're going to be gone for more than just one night you're going to want to recharge your iPhone. Battery packs vary greatly in quality. The little cheap ones, they are really not worth anything. You'll maybe get a portion of your power back. But big ones, like this, could recharge your iPhone day after day after day. I use this big one on three and four day trips and I've been able to charge up to 100% every single night. So buy a good quality one. One that has got a lot of storage. Use it to charge up your iPhone a few nights in a row before you go out camping so you know it's one you can rely on.
Here's one last tip. Get a good stargazing app. Something like Star Walk 2. At night you're going to see all these stars. Even if that is not something that normally interests you once you see millions of stars, the Milky Way, Meteors, satellites passing overhead and all of that you may want to refer to an app like this just to be able to tell what the constellations are, what that bright light passing overhead right now is. It could be the space station. Which one of those really bright stars is Jupiter, Saturn, or Mars or Venus. An app like this allows you to point your iPhone at the stars and actually see the constellations that you're looking at on your phone as you move your phone around and point it at different areas of the sky.
You also might want to get an app like Peak Finder that allows you to point your iPhone at distant landmarks like mountain tops and it will tell you what those are. You'll see your camera's view on the screen and it will label everything for you.
So there are some tips for using your iPhone while out in the wilderness. Notice that nothing I talked about relied on a connection. These are all apps and things you could download before hand and use while you have absolutely no service or WiFi or anything. Usually while I'm out in the wilderness I have no connection whatsoever. This is all the stuff I could still use my iPhone for even though I'm completely off the grid.

Comments: 3 Responses to “Using Your iPhone While Camping”

nick

2 years ago

hi Gary, so apps like Starwalk or Peakfinder don't need a connection? Are they relying solely on the GPS signal?

Gary Rosenzweig

nick: Not 100% sure about Peakfinder, but Starwalk definitely. I use it on all my trips. It just needs a GPS signal and compass reading.

Charles Stanford

Hi Gary,
Good to see you getting out and about in the countryside, and enjoying yourself. Thanks for your many tutorials. regards Charles

Comments Closed.

Using Your iPhone While Camping

Comments: 3 Responses to “Using Your iPhone While Camping”

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