Military Rated Flip-Phone? Yes, There Is Such A Thing.

December 7, 2019

#342

Gentle reader,

Normally, I am scrupulous about checking pockets before putting things in the laundry.

I am old school, and while I acknowledge the usefulness of "smart" phones, I do not want one.

I have seen too many people who spend way too much time head bent over their phones.

All I want is to be able to talk and text. So, from the beginning, I have insisted upon having a flip-phone.

Years ago, we started with Nextel and one of the phones we upgraded to were these yellow and black models, above. (Photo found on the Internet.) The push-to-talk feature was amazing. I could talk to my wife from Pennsylvania to Virginia clear as a bell with that feature. We did hear someone in the Nextel store refer to it as "the construction model". We smiled when the store employee gently corrected the young man, "It's not special, just colored that way, or you can get an all-black one."

I have always done the laundry in our marriage. Since I've retired, I have gladly taken on the role of house-husband.

I exclusively wear 5.11 Tactical pants. I have two pair of their Taclite, one in khaki and the other in black. They have a little pocket that is called the cell phone pocket. I wear them around the house. I have four pairs (khaki, Navy, black and olive) of their more combat oriented pants which have magazine pockets which will hold 30-round AR mags inside the cargo pockets. Not that I have an AR-type rifle. But cargo pants are very handy for holding all the things I carry when we go out.

One night, I was doing the switchover since I was doing the laundry the next day. I moved all my "pocket pieces" from one pair to the other but neglected to get the blue phone (top photo and below) out of it's special pocket.

Now, I am not a person who freaks out if they can't find their phone. However, since it's always in my pocket, I did wonder where it was. I even called it, hoping to hear it's ring.

You can guess the rest. When I pulled the pants out of the washer, I saw the bulge and you can guess what I said.

You may be thinking that I am joking when calling this phone, "Military Rated". But I am not. Here is a link to sonim web page about it:

Sonim XP3 – Sonim Technologies  

"In mission critical situations, getting the basics right is everything. And for fast, easy and reliable communication, the Sonim XP3 is as dependable as they come. FirstNet and B14 ready, Military rated and with Noise Cancellation, this ultra-rugged flip outperforms – in the most extreme conditions on earth."

Fortunately for me, it is too big for the special pocket, so this will never happen again.

I was in the process of charging it when I quickly shot these photos.

Also, fortunately for me, I had made a list, on paper, with a pen(!) of all my phone contacts. And since the camera in the old phone is crap, I did not lose any photos.

While this phone is no doubt NOT waterproof and I am not in the military, I will not have use for some of the things it can do. 

However, I am sure it will perform much better than the tiny and easily scratched Sanyo phone that it replaces.

Thanks for taking the time to read my humble blog. It is your kind words and comments, below, or on Facebook that keep me writing.

Scott

December 7,2019

#342