The Preppers Smartphone

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sentry18

Thrivalist
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
19,105
Location
US of A
For those who own one!


https://survivalblog.com/preppers-smartphone-aden-tate/

The Prepper’s Smartphone, by Aden Tate
SurvivalBlog Contributor September 12, 2019

It seems as if pretty much everybody has a smartphone of some sort today. Considering such, and that a phone is something that people tend to have on their person virtually 24/7 in today’s society, it makes sense to make one’s phone as versatile of a tool as possible. If it’s going to be in your EDC to begin with, why not have it work for you as hard as it is capable of? Do cell phones die? Yes. But at least in the beginning stages of a disaster, there’s a very good chance that your phone will both have battery and be functional.

Have there been issues discovered relating to smartphones and privacy? Absolutely. Unfortunately, I need my GPS, I need social media for my business, and I greatly enjoy having a rock-solid camera with me all the time. And so, I have opted to retain my smartphone. I would argue that since the majority of the population within the States seems to have smartphones, that there’s a good chance there are a sizeable number of preppers out there who agree with me.

And so, it brings me back to my earlier point: if your EDC matters, and your phone is something you will have with you all the time, doesn’t it make sense to have your smartphone be as fully useful to you as possible?
I think the answer should be a strong yes here, and started delving into helpful apps as a result. And here’s what I found. The apps that will help the prepper’s smartphone be everything it can.

The Apps
Noonlight
– If you’re ever placed in a situation where actually making a phone call may be dangerous, then you may appreciate Noonlight. This app allows you to contact 911 services by solely holding a touch-screen button when you sense danger, and releasing it when you’ve confirmed the danger. The app will send your exact location to emergency services, sending them en route to your location. If your daughter is walking at night from her work to her car and sees somebody in the distance approaching her, having her thumb on the “potential distress” button could save her life. Other potential uses could be in cases of physical abuse, active shooter situations, or the like.

Viber – An app that allows you encrypted internet communication with others. If you don’t want the stock messaging service on your phone potentially reading what you have to say, Viber is a great alternative. It’s basically an internet text message service. I have a blast using it, and have found it to be very reliable.

Protonmail – My new favorite email service. Protonmail allows you secure, encrypted email communication, which is in contrast to many other email services. And best of all, the entry level is free! If you send thousands of emails a month, then you’ll likely have to pay a subscription fee, but if you just send a dozen or so a week you’ll be able to subsist off of the free version.

Firechat – A mesh networking app that permits your phone to send and receive messages without the need for internet, cell service, or open areas for reception. Mesh networking utilizes Bluetooth to ping your message hundreds of feet away to the nearest node, which in turn pings the message another few hundred feet to the next closest node, and so on. As a result, mesh networking can even be used in caves, provided each node can “see” the next node.

Echolink – This basically turns your phone into a hamradio, so you will have to be a licensed ham if you want to fully use this one. There is a strange $1 activation fee on this one once you download it though, which the app developers claim is to keep non-licensed hams from claiming to be somebody they’re not. Regardless, being able to use your smartphone as a ham radio is incredibly beneficial, because if the fans begins spraying fecal matter, odds are your smartphone is closer at hand than your ham rig.

Repeaterbook – If you’re a ham, this app will tell you where all nearby repeaters are. So if you’re in a location that you’re not familiar with, Repeaterbook can help you to know what frequencies you need to tune into to get your radio message across. I’ve found it to be incredibly handy, and a way to add a further layer of security in always having the knowledge of what frequencies I need to hit local repeaters.

FEMA app – This tells you where shelters and aid are after a major disaster. Though as a whole I believe public shelters are incredibly dangerous post-disaster and are where you go to get sick, this could be of particular use if you’re on vacation somewhere when a hurricane/wildfire/earthquake strikes and you have no supplies with you. If you really have no other options, knowing shelter locations could potentially be very beneficial in such a situation.

Voxer – A cool app that turns your phone into a walkie-talkie, which saves a great amount of annoyance, if you ask me. A much quicker option of getting into contact with somebody whom you need to give real-time information to compared to dialing a phone call every 3 minutes.

Weatherbug – Personally, my favorite weather app out there. There’s a wealth of information on here that helps me to make daily decisions about what I’m going to do and when.

Shutterfly – I like Shutterfly as a cloud storage of all my pictures. I don’t really like Google, and won’t use their typical cloud services as a result, but Shutterfly I do. You need as much proof as possible on your side when you’re fighting insurance companies for proper reimbursement after a home disaster (e.g. tornado/house fire/earthquake/burglary/etc.), and Shutterfly is a convenient place for me to store that proof. Plus, I enjoy sending family photos to extended family with Shutterfly.

Scanner Radio: Police and Fire – This app lets you listen to emergency radio frequencies in your location as well as listen to breaking news on the air in your location as well, allowing you to get the intel you need as soon as possible. I’ve used it a number of times to learn what exactly was the reason for the traffic jam in front of me, and found alternative routes as a result. Aside from the value this can give you in a disaster situation, I’ve also found it to be incredibly entertaining.

Dropbox – In the same vein as Shutterfly, Dropbox lets me safely store all of my important documents that I may need to access after a disaster strikes. You can really store any type of file via Dropbox, but I tend to stick with documents rather than pictures here.

American Red Cross apps – The Red Cross actually has a number of apps for monitoring tornadoes, earthquakes, and the like that will let you know if one has happened, and where it is happening at. These could be potentially useful depending upon where you live.

Motion X GPS – Topographical maps worldwide. Allows you to track your trek as well, so that you can actually see where you’ve been. There is a small fee to actually purchase the app, but it’s incredibly cool, and having topo maps readily at hand is a game changer. How many times have I been out hiking/geocaching when a topo map would have saved me a great deal of time, effort, and frustration. Not to mention the degree of safety that a topo map can provide you. Rather than meandering along hoping that there’s no steep descent along your path, you’ll be able to find softer slopes, leading to less risk of falls. In addition, topo maps give knowledge as to where water can be found. It may not be clean water, but at least knowing where water is at can be a game changer for you as well.

SAS Survival – A cool, quick little guidebook to basic survival techniques. I keep the lite version on my phone, which is free, and full of basic survival tips. There are much more in-depth versions available, but they all are an extra charge. Still, that may be worth it depending on how much survival know-how you’ve committed to heart. Oftentimes it’s hard to remember just how exactly that particular deadfall trap worked, or how to tie a square knot. With SAS Survival, that information is always at your fingertips (provided you still have a charge).

Wrapping it Up
A smartphone can be a very helpful and convenient tool, even within the sphere of prepping. By downloading even just a few of these apps you can help to ensure that you are better prepared for disaster by having helpful tools close at hand at all times.

JWR Adds: I don’t own a smartphone, partly because I don’t live inside of cellular coverage. I also distrust the technology. I only own an older “dumb” flip phone, on a Tracfone pre-paid contract. Our family uses it only when we travel. I like owning this phone because I can quickly and easily remove its battery, to be fairly sure than it can’t be tracked. Perhaps someone can recommend a phone with “smart” technology that has an easily-removable battery.
 
Some apps on that list that sound good. A few I already have and use from time to time.
Scanner radio I've had for a few years, it's kinda limited, but works well
Echolink, works ok. but I haven't spent much time using it.
Weatherbug is pretty good
Repeater book, viber, firechat, protonmail, and voxer I will be trying out. Motion X GPS and SAS I may give a shot.

I will go thru my phone and maybe add some I like and use at times to this list.
 
I disagree. More preppers prep for short term and long term events. In the short term the value of a smart phone is readily apparent; communications, data storage, GPS, photography, etc. But they are also valuable in the long term. I have a couple smart phones and tablets that are chock full of survival guides, manuals, and data that could become invaluable for short term or long term survival. I only have so much space for hard copy manuals and guides at home, even less so if I have to bug out. I have a couple solar charges that will keep them up and running for a long time even if I am living without a power grid. They won't be around forever, but the info stored on them will make a big difference during the years of transition.
 
short term use may be of some useful advantage.
long term when one can no longer recharge the phone I see no point in having one, most seem to need to be recharged on a nightly basis.
my needs are more basic and simple.
 
I have a couple solar charges that will keep them up and running for a long time even if I am living without a power grid.
I have looked at some pocket sized solar chargers and think they would be a wise investment. If we were to have a true SHTF situation, cell service will be spotty at best, but in the meantime, being able to charge will be worth doing. The flashlight app would work and a few other things even if the grid is down.
 
good luck with the solar panels, the panels may last 2 or 3 decades and often do but the stuff they plug into the inverters and stuff don't, unless someone has a shed load of spare parts the time scale isn't going to be long.
I see there is a report in the British press that solar panels even in the good times don't give the returns that were promised.
 
Here's a short list of apps I use or have flagged for further review in the Google Play Store.
 
Any good links to getting started with Raspberry Pi?
The company's website isn't bad: link to current model
This kit will get you setup for using it as a desktop computer. The company is UK based, this website is their US store.
I like Reddit for project ideas: r/raspberry_pi
Realistically you can just do a Google search for "Raspberry Pi projects" and come up with more than you could imagine. Some have a cool factor, some are super dumb, some are genuinely useful. Most of them will require some knowledge/understanding of coding in one language or another.

The base Pi is just a circuit board with some ports and pins. The kit I linked above will get you to a complete "desktop" computer. For using a Pi as I mentioned previously, you'd probably best off loading some form of Linux on it. You can Google "Linux on Raspberry Pi" and get multiple guides on how to get it running. After that you'd need to visit Linux forums for the recommended specific software to view your media types. A PDF reader of your choice, VLC media player (for audio/video), LibreOffice (MS Office alternative), and Firefox would probably cover 99% of your files. They're all FOSS (free & open-source software).

I personally am looking at using a Pi (or a few Pi's) for things like network monitoring and offline home automation. In the automation area of things, there's a dedicated OS called Home Assistant. Pi-Hole does network monitoring and can be loaded onto multiple OS's. I see a lot of projects that depend utilize Python coding. I've never dabbled in that though. I haven't gotten my hands on one yet, so I can't give too much first-hand information.
 
Thanks HT. I'll have to look into this deeper. Sounds like there could be some various applications for Pi.
I would be interested in what all you end up using it for.
 
I have looked at some pocket sized solar chargers and think they would be a wise investment. If we were to have a true SHTF situation, cell service will be spotty at best, but in the meantime, being able to charge will be worth doing. The flashlight app would work and a few other things even if the grid is down.

I have solar chargers, but I also have several power packs that I keep charged. I also have a crank radio that will charge my phone or kindle. I've tried it and it is a bunch of cranking, but not too bad to get things charged.
 
I have a 20 watt fold out blanket style solar panel to recharge my phone and tablet.
I use my phone as a wifi hotspot and my tablet as my computer.
Both take less time to recharge than a laptop and take up less space.
It came with 8 different plug adapters so it can recharge a lot of different devices.
It was money well spent.
 
oh dear, oh dear, it looks like a lot of people are addicted to their phones, not good if relying on these things post collapse.
 
oh dear, oh dear, it looks like a lot of people are addicted to their phones, not good if relying on these things post collapse.

You are confusing addiction with finding a useful tool and then maximizing it's longevity post-shtf.
 
It won't let you connect and make calls, but it will still work. My old smart phone which has long been severed from the network and WiFi it is still in use by my kids as a small android tablet. They play games, take pictures, read ebooks, look up things on maps, etc.
 
any smartphone or any type of mobile phone come to that needs recharging, once the power grid is down that is not possible.
if smartphones over here are anything to go by the battery will be flat within 24 hours.
 
okay as long as it lasts, nothing these days works forever.
as a prepper friend used to say "post SHTF use whatever still works to get you to a place and point in time where you can survive without it when it no longer works".
if you cant make it, repair it or scavenge it, you wont have it.
I keep trying to tell that to the technology freaks on the other forum but they don't listen.
 
No doubt, it is a stop gap device that will eventually end up being garbage. But they can be very useful from when SHTF until they until they end up there. Just like my portable radios, video surveillance system, etc.
 
The fascination with shiny Toys is a never ending source of amusement for me. Our Ancestors got along with out Cell Phones, Computers, Internet and GPS. Don't Misunderstand, Technology is a good thing in it's place, but when you rely on it to the exclusion of learning other Skills, such as learning to Navigate using the Sun, Moon, and Stars, you're putting all your Eggs in one Basket and Failure is likely.
 
The fascination with shiny Toys is a never ending source of amusement for me. Our Ancestors got along with out Cell Phones, Computers, Internet and GPS. Don't Misunderstand, Technology is a good thing in it's place, but when you rely on it to the exclusion of learning other Skills, such as learning to Navigate using the Sun, Moon, and Stars, you're putting all your Eggs in one Basket and Failure is likely.
failure is inevitable. self reliance is the only way to go post SHTF but this is a forgotten word almost an alien concept in the modern computer obsessed world.
 
I have two older smartphones as part of my emergency plan (because two is one and one is none). They're chock full of handy "how-to" reference books in my Kindle app. And I keep a small folding solar panel that will charge either one of the phones up from zero in about 4 hours of sunshine. Stored in an old ammo can that I've tweaked into a Faraday cage. I figure they will come in handy as a store of information post-disaster.
 
short term use only, all technology will fail once it needs spare parts which will no longer be being manufactured.
unless someone has a solar panel(do these only function when the sun shines?) the speed warning lights dont, the technology will fail the first time it needs the battery recharging.
 
I think most, if not all, people on this site realize that anything electronic will eventually fail in a full collapse scenario. But full collapse isn't the only event people prepare for. Food stores and fuels will also go bad with time. That doesn't prevent the vast majority of people here from storing such things for short-term usage. I utilize technology in my preps b/c they have a use, and I understand the limitations.

The philosophy of "TEOTWAWKI or bust" is biggest setback of this community (at large, not this particular forum). TEOTW might be the end-all-be-all of prepping, but it's the last situation you'll find yourself utilizing your preps, not the first. Having the skills and knowledge to operate a self-sufficient homestead in the 1700's won't help you if you find yourself with a dead car battery at the store in January. It's not a waste of resources to research and buy one of those small lithium jump starters to turn a major event into a non-event.

Anybody involved with risk assessment knows how to "score" each risk based on probability & impact. The high probability events usually have low impact.
You start planning for the high probability risks first, b/c they are most likely to happen to you tomorrow. As you move toward the low probability/big impact events, you'll notice a trend that you're reusing old actions and adding fewer new ones. A long-term collapse scenario like @lonewolf has in mind has the lowest probability of happening, but also the greatest impact. If you're prepared for it, you're prepared for anything. But don't spend all your time worrying about tomorrow if you can't make it through today.
 
a quote that stands the test of time goes like this(regarding technology):
"use what you can to get to a place and point in time where you can survive without it when it no longer works or is no longer available".
 
Back
Top