No Signal do you still go out??

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rockinghorse

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Have hacked out for years, often alone always Hi Viz & have mobile phone (mobile phone acting as comfort blanket) but to be honest mobile signal in my area is very poor often non existant. I carry mobile because it makes me feel better but if anything was to happen, chances are I wouldn't be able to make a call. After reading a few recent posts about incidents, confidence has taken a bit of a hit and now constantly checking signal and finding that there isn't one! What did we do before mobile phones??? Does anyone hack alone without mobile phone / or no signal?? Nothing has happended in my last 30yrs hacking so why should I start to worry now?
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I always take my mobile with me, but never check for a signal - just don't think of it.

Tbh, even if there was no signal initially, there would be one eventually (when out for an hour or so)....


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Ditto SallySmith, I never think about the signal, although I know most of the time I don't have one when riding out from the yard my horses are currently at.
 
i wouldnt worry too much but i would be slightly

because although in the last 30 years nothings happened, but god for bid it something was to happen?
at the end of the day even the safest of ponios can be unpredictible.

but i also think not only for me but, what if out riding you find somebody in trouble/ had an accident, or needed to report something. ITs suprising what you may come accross while out and about

what i did was change phone providers as where i live o2 in rubbish but vodafone is superb. if thats not poss then of course always let someone know ect ect but also maybe look at a mobile phone booster

ive seen these on ebay, few quid and you stick it in the back of your phone and for me it worked, but im not sure if its a quarantee.
 
Most of my hacks are fairly short and it's rather hit and miss as to whether I have my phone, I do make sure I carry it for longer hacks though as you find, mobile signal varies hugely. TBH I'm generally more concerned that I'm going to get to our field one day and need to call the vet and not have a phone with me - we have our own land, so no one else to rely on.
 
I never take my phone. Patchy signal where I live and I never needed one for 30 years so I never think of it now.

I absolutely hate seeing people chatting away on their phones while they are riding!
 
When I was doubled barreled in the face, and knocked out, then when I came to, I had no signal. I had to crawl up the road holding my jaw on until I got some!
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Mind you, I also got trapped in a ditch underneath my horse, and was pinned down in a way that I couldn't get my mobile out my gilet pocket - I am rather accident prone
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I'd rather have a signal but it wouldn't stop me going out. You could fall off and smash your phone, you could be knocked unconscious, the list goes on...

That said, my paranoia is hacking with keys in a pocket, worries me that if I fall off I'll impale myself on them!
 
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I am rather accident prone

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Have you tried knitting??
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I don't think I should play with such sharp objects; I currently have a cut finger from peeling potatoes
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Also, whenever I meet my mother's friends they ask me about my "fall"
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Meaning either of my above incidents. I have NEVER fallen off Be, and haven't come off Star since I tried her out nearly 13 years ago!
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My main phone is on "3" which has zero signal anywhere around where I keep my horse & hack out. So I bought a pay as you go T-Mobile bog standard phone for about £15 which lives in the tack room and is only used for hacking out. Someone always knows where I've gone and roughly what time I'll be back as well, even if I just text my Husband at work.
 
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funnily enough there was life before the mobile phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! someone somewhere will bail you out!

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Whilst I agree that worrying over signal is not a reason not to go out, I do think that it's essential to carry a phone with you
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I do think I could have died if I couldn't have made contact pretty soon after my accident; I was in a bad way and it was late December - not a good time to be lying on a fen road in the middle of nowhere with your face kicked open!
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I rarely remember to take my mobile! Silly not to really but old habits die hard. The reason we got mobiles was because I was very badly injured one day and couldnt contact anyone and that was at home in the paddock. I am supposed to carry it with me when I am out hacking. But I never remember.
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Maybe it is because i feel quite safe on my mare. But I guess there is always that time when something happens...
 
I always have my mobile, and insist Daughter has hers too - we have all the numbers we'd need in both and Daughter has been drilled and tested as to what she would have to do if I came off and was unable to talk. She has the numbers for YO, vet, friends with horse transport, Friend (a nurse), and farrier, as well as my sister, etc. We've also looked at maps of the area so's we would be able to tell people where we are (though my phone will pinpoint our location
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I don't check the signal though...

When I came of Dizz in September, Friend and Daughter were with me. Daughter rang 999 whilst Friend tried to keep me concious. If we hadn't had a phone between us it would have taken some time to get to a house and a phone.
 
I always take my phone with me, but never actually check it for signal, although i know you can make 112 calls without signal, as i recently was told on my St Johns Ambulance course. I am reluctant to hack without it now. I know that before mobiles came along i used to hack for hours alone, but i was on my safe old pony, not my nutty big warmblood!!
 
What did we do before mobile phones? We rode. I have been riding far longer than there have been mobile phones and for much of my hacking there is no signal. To be honest, I rarely remember my phone when I hack out. I ride to get away from all that.
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Whilst there may be no signal from your provider, if you make a 112 or 999 call the phone should relay through all providers until it finds a signal.

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Yes - so in some areas there will be no signal from any phone network, so no ability to make a 999/112 call.

Mobile reception is patchy in my area, but I still hack. Usually I find that if I walk a few hundred yards down the road reception comes back.
 
I will probably get shot down for this, but I hardly ever take my phone with me! It usually crosses my mind before I leave, then I wonder where to put it, realise I have no where to put it, and so go without. Although I probably take it more often than not in the winter time as I have a jacket on which has pockets! Terrible I know...

But that said, I grew up when mobile phones were pretty much non existant, and used to ride out as a child (aged 11 +) with my friends (in the days when it was safe to let a child go off by itself!) and none of us ever had mobiles, we just told someone where we were going and how long we would be!
 
Whether you take your phone or not if you are going alone you should let someone know where you are going and when you will be back, this is basic safety for any outdoor sports.

If you were in a very serious accident and unable to use your phone you need to know that someone will miss you and come looking.
 
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