Don't trust I Phone for on the water Emergencies

I wanted to share an on the water experience I had with my I Phone 6.
  I was fishing on a windy day at Tillamook Bay with a lot of waves and wind chop / spray.  We were heading in and I decided I would call my wife.  My fingers were wet and I swiped to unlock my phone and I couldn't get my phone unlocked.  I finally gave up as I couldn't get my fingers dry enough.
 I got to thinking about if I was in the water how screwed you'd be because you couldn't dry your fingers off.  I think you can get Siri to make an emergency call though?
  I'm not counting on being able to use my phone while on the water.  I won't be out on the water without a fully charged, tethered to my vest marine VHF radio as my primary emergency communications device.

Siri definitely makes emergency calls on a locked phone.  I was able to confirm this about 3 weeks ago when I called in a jumper.

+1

Time to get a samsung

I think of those little tiny phones that offer no smart phone functions and pretty much just make and receive phone calls.   As long as it has a SIM card I think all cell phones can make 911 calls even if it's service is deactivated.  Many GSM phones can do so even without a sim card inserted.   
 I keep an old deactivated phone in each vehicle and motorcycle for that reason just in case I should find myself in need to make an emergency call and am without my normal cell.

 

Any functioning gone will call 911 and most will even do it if you don't have cell signal.. They use the police radio towers in 911 mode so you usually don't have to go find sign all for emergencies.

Any functioning gone will call 911 and most will even do it if you don't have cell signal.. They use the police radio towers in 911 mode so you usually don't have to go find sign all for emergencies.

I am wondering where your getting your info as far as it using police radio towers.    I think you will find,  and have a good point that even if your phone shows no signal,  that you may still be able to make a 911 call.
 Zero bars,  lets say on an AT&T phone means it can not see a signal from a tower with AT&T antennas / service.  Making a 911 call will allow it to connect to other cell provider antennas / services which are in range.  FCC requires all cellular networks accept 911 calls from phones despite the phones service status "roaming, bills unpaid and suspended...." 
 Your cell phone does not have the means to communicate directly to 911 or police band radio communications.  It still must do so through a cellular network communications connection. 
Also, while you may not be able to make a cellular voice connection,  often texts can get through.    If your in a "lost out in the woods" type situation and can't get a signal strong enough to make a call, it may be in your best interest to not turn your phone off.   Before your phone and cell tower connect well enough to make a call,  a digital handshake takes place.  So if it gets to the point where others are looking for your,  emergency services can roughly pinpoint your location even if your calls did not go out.

No cell service what so ever on a lot of hey 6 but you can still call 911 in my extensive hunting the coast range I have happened apon a few of there hilltop bunkers and they use the same tech as the cell phone towers

iPhones will call anyone in your contact list while in screenlock mode.   Push and hold the home button, and say 'call (insert contact name here)', and the phone will call them even if it is locked. 

If you have the "Hey Siri" function enabled, you don't even need to push and hold the home button.  Simply say "hey siri, call (insert contact name here)', and the phone calls them.  Locked or not. 

iPhones will call anyone in your contact list while in screenlock mode.   Push and hold the home button, and say 'call (insert contact name here)', and the phone will call them even if it is locked. 

If you have the "Hey Siri" function enabled, you don't even need to push and hold the home button.  Simply say "hey siri, call (insert contact name here)', and the phone calls them.  Locked or not.

So preprogram the Coasties and/or local rescue groups into your phone and you're set. 

iPhones will call anyone in your contact list while in screenlock mode.   Push and hold the home button, and say 'call (insert contact name here)', and the phone will call them even if it is locked. 

If you have the "Hey Siri" function enabled, you don't even need to push and hold the home button.  Simply say "hey siri, call (insert contact name here)', and the phone calls them.  Locked or not.

So preprogram the Coasties and/or local rescue groups into your phone and you're set. 

Definitely.   Especially the Coasties.   It will call 911 too, but if you're in the ocean, they'll just call the CG anyway.   Save some time and call the CG directly.   My experience with 911 dispatch centers dealing with lat/lon coordinates has been tenuous at best.  Most don't even know there are different formats to them in the first place.   

Better yet, call on VHF 16. 

But if you're just calling the spouse or a buddy, the voice dialing works just fine. 

I guess Siri is the answer to the problem of using an iPhone on the water.  It looks like I need to get more familiar with my phone.  I guess I'm old school, but not being able to swipe and unlock the phone with wet fingers definitely got my attention.  I wanted to make sure others were aware of the issues when it's wet out.  Thanks for solutions to the problem.   

You *could* just remove the lock while on the water, but if your fingers are so wet that it won't swipe or take your PIN, you won't be able to dial, either. So yeah, voice is the only way to go.

Or marine radio.

With the right skills you can also operate an iPhone by nose tip.

I went through this same annoyance before I started using Siri to send my GF "all's well" texts if I'm staying out on the water longer than expected.

Something to keep in mind with Siri... If your phone is locked and you use Siri to make a phone call, it also UNLOCKS your phone without ever needing to type in your security code. I think there are settings you can adjust to fix this, but I haven't messed with it. I don't really have anything private on my phone, but if you do this might concern you,