guide to the beach this month ? All manner of dedicated speakers , ice chest and phone case are going to be compete for your don’t - get - grit - or - water - in - it money . Do you really need to pay money to reach that ? Sometimes yes and sometimes no . get ’s look at the why and how and save up you both hard cash and broken phone .
The Enemy
At the beach , there ’s pee and sand . You know that , but what do they do to your stuff ?
The bounteous job with water is that it ’s never just urine . At the beach there ’s common salt in it , at the lake there ’s mineral , etc . All this stuff convey electricity and so essentially short-change circuit any electronics it touch . You sleep together what happens if you untwist a composition clip and link both pole , correct ? ( I should believably enjoin you not to try out this . ) Well water does that with every connection and exposed wire it touches when it gets inside your electronics .
And then erosion happens , which is also make by the various minerals and gasses dissolved in water . That stuff transfers electrons , enable metals like iron ( which is a component in most alloys ) to misplace an negatron , oxidate them . Salt stay even after the water is gone and will keep eat your tour boards and connective and whatnot any metre it get moist .
Sand is a less obvious threat , but it can ruin your electronics just as in effect . It works its way into ports and connectors and speakers and the gaps around screen and seal and gaskets and all that stuff . Then , if you assay and punch something into a connection , it can make impairment by pushing stuff out of topographic point , cut things or breaking stuff . In gaskets and cachet , it can prevent them from closing full , worsening your water system ingress problem .
And just being out of doors in the summer , you ’re also move to have to worry about drops , clobber getting tread on , loaded dogs running and startle everywhere and both the bright Dominicus and the heat it make .
Quick, Easy And Cheap Solutions
you could foreclose a lot of damage just by keeping stuff in a ZipLoc bag . Those potential wo n’t help oneself your gadgets survive submersion , but they will protect your stuff from gumption and spilled sun tan lotion and splattering of water .
One stair up areLokSacks , which seal full and securely . These are what I use to protect my phone and exchangeable when I ’m out of doors . They ’re affordable , but have the lineament to last multiple uses . They ’re said to be submersible , but I would n’t need to test that . They ’ve survived me falling in a river before , but wo n’t take astuteness or protect from pearl .
Most equipment will continue to work while in a plastic dish . you could still read your Kindle or text on your phone or listen to music on your speaker . It wo n’t be as cunning an experience , but if you ca n’t afford to supersede your appliance and you ’re somewhere that ’s wild to them , it can be worthwhile to take on it safe .
What To Do If Your Stuff Gets Soaked Or Sandy
If it ’s still on , turn it off immediately . That may preclude damage if water has not reached the circuits yet .
Your job then is to dry out the inside of a tiny , incredibly cramped gadget . Which is hard . Some multitude say you’re able to give it in dry rice , to draw the moisture out . Baking at a very low temp ( like 100 degree ) is also say to pelt along evaporation . The same thing can be achieved by leaving the appliance in the sun for a day or two .
But you still risk the prospicient term effects of corroding that will worsen over time . The near solution to water system ingress is prevention .
Sand is a small easier . You just need to be persevering about make clean it out of all the fiddling hollow . utilise a tooth brush , shaving brush or anything standardized to gently raise up the embrasure and speaker holes and whatever until they ’re sand devoid . press air , such as those cans they betray to clean keyboard or those rubber “ bombs ” photographers use are also in force . high air pressure melodic line , such as from a auto shop mechanic , should not be used .
How Waterproof are “Waterproof” Electronics?
Any gimmick that claim to be water or dust resistant or proof should tell you its International Protection Marking numbering the form of “ IPXX . ”
The first phone number refers to its ability to keep detritus and other extraneous object out of decisive parts . The high the routine the better ; they start at 0 ( no security ) and go to 6 ( “ dust mean ” ) .
The 2d digit tells you how water system resistant a gadget is . This scale goes from 0 ( no aegis ) to “ 9 K ” and is a slight more nuanced than the simple dust trade protection . mostly you ’ll see devices claim IPX7 or IPX8 levels of waterproofness .
IPX7 is a machine that will exist temporary immersion up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes . It ’s good to consider that splatter cogent evidence .
IPX8 is a gimmick able of working while being submerged at depth exceed 1 metre , continuously . That efficacious deepness is pass on up to the manufacturing business , but is generally 3 metre . The nuance here is that urine can embark the twist , but can not effect its surgical process . So you’re able to drop an IPX8 machine into a puddle or toilet or shallow physical structure of water and it will survive .
I ’ve never encounter an IPX9k equipment , but they ’re tested by firing a 80 degree ( Celsius ) , 1,450psi water jet at them . Sounds pretty watertight to me .
Underwater Photos
First , the gimcrack , consecrated rainproof digital television camera you buy at drugstores and gambol unspoiled stock are absolutely terrible . They take murky abject - res photos and are unmanageable to apply . you may hardly see the sea turtleneck in the above guesswork ! or else , just grease one’s palms those old , reliable , disposable motion picture tv camera that come in water tight fictile cases . Those take right smart good photos .
Serious selfie taker or people who really care about picture taking are go to want a case designed to tolerate that specific twist to be used under weewee . These will maintain entree to the control from outside the pillow slip , while providing and optically clear aperture through which the photographic camera can shoot . You want something specifically designed for your specific gadget for these reasons . Just put “ [ my machine ] underwater photo case ” in Amazon and read the reviews to find out a good one .
you’re able to tear through a soft case like the democratic and affordableE - Cases , but you will not get secure photo if you do so .
Keeping Beers Cold
The most important beach gadget though is obviously your ice chest . A firmly - sided one will keep ice-skating rink frozen longer than a soft cooler , but soft coolers are way prosperous to journey with and carry .
When the girlfriend and I visit our personal private beach on Maui , I buy a$20 Colemanwhen we land and use that all week . It ’s ok and we have n’t had food spoiling yet , but ice will melt the afternoon after put chalk into it in the cockcrow . While its hard charge plate liner tub nominate cleaning out gross food smells easily , the zip fastener do n’t retain any water at all , so will soak your rental Camaro ’s back rear end in decayed strawberry effluent . demand me how I know .
A good , albeit vastly more expensive option is theYeti Hopper , which is available in 20 liters for $ 300 or 30 for $ 350 . Yes , those are the correct prices . It justifies those by being constructed out of the same stuff as a whitewater spate , keeping ice icy for a couple of day and using the same aura - tight zipper that dry suit for diving event do . I ’m using one this week to bring back the organs of a bear I ’m hunting on the planing machine so I can share the heart with my detent and make pate from the liver . ( I ’ll ship the rest , but that takes a few day and Wiley is hungry . ) If you ’re serious about preserving intellectual nourishment like that or just really , really hate warm beer , then one of these is the nuclear choice .
Whatever cooler you stop up buying , do n’t fulfil it with informal ice . That just melts and destroy whatever food for thought you might have in there or , if it ’s just beer , will terminate in leaks . Instead , I just freeze out urine bottles the night before a trip . These result in solid block of ice that last a recollective time and evidently do n’t leak out everywhere when they melt . On the last day of your trip , you ’ll have deoxyephedrine cold water to drink .
Are Ruggedized, Waterpoof Gadgets Worth It?
mighty now , I ’m carrying aSamsung Galaxy S6 Active . It has a squeamish camera and fancy AMOLED cover that ’s promiscuous to record in bright sun ( I like to habituate Kindle on my phone , just one less matter to carry and vex about ) . But you recognize what ? It ’s neither as in force a telephone set nor one-half as rugged as a cheaper MotoX in a $ 12 Amazon case , inside a LokSak .
And I ’ve found the same with most other ruggedized gadget . Their minimal extra security is just not excuse by their subsequently diminished UX , audio quality or whatever other via media have been made .
Just bring along or buy the gadgets you already have or which perform best , then either protect them with a LokSak , slip or just be really , really thrifty . Most ruggedise electronics stink .
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