For those who’ve baulked at the très-fashionable—and très fragile—cell phone revolution, Casio and Verizon Wireless have finally made a flip-open phone as rugged as your outdoor ambitions. Think of the G’zOne Type-V as the anti-Razr. While it does have all the expected trappings of a modern cell phone—including a remarkable 2.0-megapixel camera with a flash, speaker phone, headset plug-ins, and clear call quality—it sports a shock-absorbent, reinforced plastic frame enabling to phone to endure hardcore use that would render those slender models into a hunk of broken plastic. Simply put, this phone can take a beating; the manufacturers boasts it can endure rainfall of up to two inches per hour with a 40-mile-per-hour wind; a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit with 95 percent humidity; submersion in water for half an hour; and extended exposure to salt, fog, dust, and solar radiation. Our field tests put it up against 18 inches of fresh Park City powder, full-submersion plunges into the drink, and repeated drops from various heights, and the phone shrugged off all elemental influence. While it doesn’t have any electronic music features or Bluetooth wireless technology, access to email and other web applications is straightforward. And you can also subscribe to the VZ Navigator application, which offers detailed maps that leverages GPS technology for audible, turn-by-turn directions to over 14 million points in the United States—a failsafe way to find your way to that next trailhead, mom-and-pop ski resort, or Class-V rapid system. And once you’re there, knowing the phone won’t fail you—even if the elements get the best of your abilities—offers a small measure of security that can make all the difference while braving the outside world. The manufacturers are also rolling out a limited-edition book on extreme environments, complete with tactical survival advice and images from the coast, city, mountains, and desert. To obtain one of the books, send an email to gzone@exposure.net—but hurry. Copies are limited to 100.
$99 with a two-year Verizon contract; www.verizon.com