The cell phones we throw away are amazingly capable devices.

Being a bit of a cheapskate, I have not yet gotten a smartphone for myself and my only phone is a flip-phone provided by my company. But I do keep my wife happy with smartphones and she recently got her second one for her birthday in October. I asked her if I could have her old one and she said, "What for?"

I installed a software app called AlpineQuest, which lets me download maps for offline use (which is mandatory if the service agreement is expired). I use a software program called Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC) to download topographic maps from USGS and convert them to AlpineQuest format. There are perhaps dozens of other offline mapping programs available to both Apple and Android products, at varying costs; I am not endorsing any specific product, nor am I affiliated with any.

So with the built-in mp3 player and camera, I have an offline mapping tool for chasing blue lines, a device for listening to the latest Fly-Fishing podcast, and a camera to take pictures of fish and scenery, all without a monthly payment. I suspect I could also make emergency phone (911) calls with it too, except that most places I go fishing have no cell service.

I even modded the phone to send GPS coordinates to my Kindle Fire so for driving I can have a 7" color moving map, a capability the Kindle Fire was never intended to be capable of.