Never drop your phone again

Sure, we all like to take photos when out on a good adventure. But we also need to keep our phone secure.

One friend, on a recent canyoneering trip, managed to drop his (fortunately waterproof) new iPhone in a muddy pool about 8 feet deep. He took more than 20 minutes of diving down in zero visibility water and feeling around for his phone to retrieve it.

A week or so later, another guy I know managed to drop his phone on a rock climb while taking a photo of his buddy. That phone was gone forever.

Solution: use a phone lanyard.

You can girth hitch it to your belt loop, backpack strap, or wear it around your neck.

There’s a lot of different models out there, but here's one that I have that works great. It’s about $10. I got it online.

(I've seen some marketed recently as more sturdy, or outdoorsy, or whatever. They're all pretty much the same simple design, I say ignore the marketing.)

This has stretchy, rubber-band-like, one size fits all silicone straps go around any existing case you have on your phone. The straps then clip to a thin nylon loop that you can wear around your neck or clip to your pack.

These silicone straps might look a little flimsy, but I have a similar system used with a phone handlebar mount on my mountain bike, and my phone has never fallen off on any trail ride.

It’s probably going to get a few chuckles from your outdoor pals. (But hey, they may drop their phones, and you never will, so who gets the last laugh, right?)