Gosh, I would imagine that the USFS would have an issue with you lighting of a flare in the Sierra in the summer. Talk about going from bad to worse!

And I am curious about some of the cellphone batttery life mentioned here. I get about three days out of my blackberry, if I leave it on all the time. I never take it backpacking, but if I did, I would only turn it on once or twice a day, perhaps when I might imagine there would be some kind of reception. The battery would last way more than a week at that rate.

But I am interested in these new phones that offer a GPS function that receives the satellite signal separate from cell phone reception. No, that won't help you as a signaling device, but it should allow you to use your phone as a GPS...and if it has a good camera as well, I can imagine taking a phone for the camera and GPS function.

And yeah...this may be derailing the original conversation...but what the heck. I started the thread!