Two phones - a good idea?

[All uphill]

I know there has been a discussion here about the consequences of losing a phone while away from base, but I can't find it just now.

I currently have a three year old £100 phone on a £5 per month SIM. I also carry a Monzo card. The phone does all I want, navigation, photos, communication. My information is backed up to Google and I can remember my passwords (I have a weird memory). I'm very aware that breaking this phone while away from home could cause problems.

My thought is to buy another similar phone to carry as a back up. Any thoughts?

 

[matticus]

Common saying:

Never trust a man with two phones.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Work out how to eliminate / minimise the dependency on your phone that you have. Then if you lose it, it won’t be an Earth shattering event leaving you a gibbering wreck unable to function.

 

[ColinJ]

If you do, don't carry them in the same place otherwise they might both end up lost/broken/stolen at the same time!

You could save money by PAYG on phone #2.

 

[Cycleops]

Both iOS and Google will back up your phone to the cloud as you say so I can’t see the problem. You just need to remember your sign in.

 

[cougie uk]

I know there has been a discussion here about the consequences of losing a phone while away from base, but I can't find it just now.

I currently have a three year old £100 phone on a £5 per month SIM. I also carry a Monzo card. The phone does all I want, navigation, photos, communication. My information is backed up to Google and I can remember my passwords (I have a weird memory). I'm very aware that breaking this phone while away from home could cause problems.

My thought is to buy another similar phone to carry as a back up. Any thoughts?

A battery bank might be a good idea.
How far is your trip though ?

 

[newfhouse]

If you make one a disposable Nokia you can attain that drug dealer look and impress your friends.

 

[si_c]

I think it's probably overkill to carry two phones most of the time, I certainly wouldn't be worried about theft/damage, I'm not any other time.

The only time I'd carry a second phone would be if I was doing a multi-day trip of some kind away from most of civilisation (worst case scenario any other time I know Mrs C's phone number so could caller her from *cough* a payphone *cough*).

If I was to carry a second phone, I'd also make sure it was on a different network from the first to mitigate signal issues, and as @ColinJ notes ensure it was packed in a bag separate from the primary one.

 

[Cycleops]

You can also use Google One, an app. It stores all your data and you can access it anywhere, but you'll have to sign up to a plan. Drop Box etc does much the same thing.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/s1n4gBq1Y9A?si=VcO12n6SxBdfb8vq

 

[simongt]

On the point of losing track of one's phone, how many of us would go out anyway if they couldn't find it - ?
On several occasions, I've gone out; admittedly never if I'm driving, which isn't that often, realised I've left my phone at home and decided, oh whatever ands just carried on my merry way.

 

[All uphill]

Thanks for your answers.

The first thing will be to make sure I know my Google sign in and increase my minimum Monzo balance.

Battery life has never been an issue for me, so I'll not cart around a battery bank.

I may go back to carrying a paper map too, when I'm in unfamiliar places.

 

[tom73]

Thanks for your answers.

The first thing will be to make sure I know my Google sign in and increase my minimum Monzo balance.

Battery life has never been an issue for me, so I'll not cart around a battery bank.

I may go back to carrying a paper map too, when I'm in unfamiliar places.

Monzo do have a basic site for emergencies that lets you do basic stuff.
https://auth.monzo.com/?client_id=o...de&state=8f384602-8522-49bf-8511-104b512f496b

 

[ColinJ]

On the subject of tech hardware backups...

I go down to Devon by train to visit my sister 4 or 5 times a year. I used to get paper tickets but have now started using e-tickets. I worried about what I would do if my phone played up so I couldn't show the e-tickets. I would be mightily peeved if I had to buy more tickets, having already spent over £100! I could print out the tickets at home, but that would make e-tickets rather pointless...

Then it dawned on me that I always have my Android tablet with me on those trips. I now make sure that I have backup e-tickets on the tablet, just-in-case.

The other hardware backup that I resort to is when doing a long ride on unfamiliar roads. My Garmin has been very reliable, but I would hate to get lost if it were to die mid-ride. I therefore keep a copy of the route in the Memory Map app on my phone. I haven't had to use it yet but it is there if I need it. It is also nice to be able to check progress on the app's OS map - the ancient Garmin doesn't have maps, just displaying routes as a squiggly 'breadcrumb trail'.

 

[Chris S]

I've got a £10 Nokia with an ASDA PAYG sim that I take with me when I go out. The credit lasts indefinitely so long as you use it every few months.

If it gets lost or stolen it's no big deal and I've still got my main phone (for banking, etc) at home.

 

[Cycleops]

On the subject of backup of your phone you could do this with a SD card and a plug in reader instead of using cloud storage:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/-Bz83lmC6Fk?si=WeHV1-iXBK_SQRL3