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So I have this BlackBerry that I keep with me always. I mean really, it never leaves my hip holster unless I am doing “the move”. Even then, it is only out of its snug little home for a few short seconds.

The holster itself has become an extension of my body at this point and is attached to me at all times. Yes. I actually use the drawstring in my pijama bottoms so that the BlackBerry does not cause me to expose myself to my neighbors again while doing the morning newspaper stroll. Yes you read that right, I said “again” (I am sorry Mrs. Seigle and thanks a million for not phoning the authorities — you are a VERY understanding lady).

It has come to the point where my friends, family, and I am sure, even a pet or two are mocking my addiction openly. It is not that I am embarrassed in the least about my habit. After all, I get so much done with my BlackBerry that I could not imagine going without it for an extended period of time. Instead, what I think I might do is look for another means of carrying it. One which is less visible to the judgmental eyes of my twin parrots, and one which still lets me feel like I am as close to my BlackBerry as possible at all times. Join me on my search for a new solution.

My Concerns

I am concerned that I am going to drop my BlackBerry and scratch its lovely screen or elegant casing. I have never missed my holster once, but I have a long history of dropping my cell phones and PDA devices when I get out of the car. You know how it goes, you drop your BlackBerry in your lap while driving and then you forget all about it until you hop out of the car (or worse truck) and it skips across the parking lot surface coming to rest in or near the closest puddle of water or discarded slushie. If this has never happened to you before, consider yourself lucky. I have dropped enough phones for everyone who is going to read this article - twice over.

I am concerned that if my BlackBerry is not right there on my hip that I will manage to walk away from it and forget it in some bar meeting room. Whenever I picture this happening, my heart rate increases and I get a little beads of sweat on my forehead. I simply can not bear the thought of my poor BlackBerry spending the night alone in some cold dark place. Or worse still, going off to start a new life with a new owner who will have all my personal data at his/her fingetips (probably some punk kid who wouldn’t even know what to do with it). Would my BlackBerry really respond to the touch of another? I mean I think I picked a pretty good password . . .

I am concerned about the look and feel of my BlackBerry once I switch over to a new casing or cover. Right now I am pleased with the design of my 8800 and would hate to have to cover up all of the hard work the designers at RIM have put into making this thing beautiful. Can I find an alternative to the holster that does not take away from the natural BlackBerry aesthetic?

My Options

There are many alternatives to the classic BlackBerry holster solution on the market today. I have seen everything from wallet/carrying case combinations and case only designs branded with pop culture references, right down to bulletproof casings. Since I am not really interested in combining my wallet with my BlackBerry (I do however track my money using Ascendo Money), and I am not really into Hello Kitty, I have decided to forgoe the usual BlackBerry case solution. Likewise, it is not often that I find myself in the middle of a war zone (although it has happened once and is one of my favorite stories to tell). I therefore will be eschewing the bulletproof option for something a little less extreme.

I have narrowed my choices down to two solutions. The first is the OtterBox casing which promises to protect my device from the fall and impact that is inevitable once I ditch my holster. The second is what is referred to as a BlackBerry skin. This is a silicone “skin” that wraps your BlackBerry, but leaves the screen and keyboard accessible at all times.

Upon closer inspection, the OtterBox casing is not what I want. Despite the fact that it addresses two of my concerns right off the bat, those being drop damage and loss by separation (seriously this casing is huge, I could not imagine forgetting to take something this size with me), it is seriously lacking in the aesthetics category. The OtterBox is a great casing solution for those who work in the elements. I can see this baby protecting many a BlackBerry from rain, sleet, snow and hail, but it is just not for me.

That only leaves one remaining viable option for me. If I am going to ditch my holster then the BlackBerry skin case has got to really impress me.

Since, like the OtterBox, the BlackBerry skin does not address all three of my concerns outright, I have devised some tests that might help me decide on whether to adopt or not.

The Tests

Spill test: For the first test I wanted to see if the BlackBerry skin case would protect my device in the event that I put it down on the bar a wet surface. It is clear that the skin, which does not cover the screen or keypad of the BlackBerry, will not protect it from a complete submersion. I therefore decided to drop the BlackBerry from a height of an inch and a half into both a puddle of water and a puddle of beer. I perfected the toss with the puddle of water first and was surprised when, despite the fact that the water level was above the tiny cutouts made for the convenience keys on the outside of the device, not a drop of water made its way between the BlackBerry skin case and the device. All was dry save for a few droplets that landed on the screen. The test was repeated with the puddle of beer and the results were identical, only a whole lot stickier.

The drop test: For the second test I want to address my fear of that classic problem of the old slip and drop. The BlackBerry skin case looks like it could become pretty slick if you had say, suntan lotion on your hands or even if they were just a bit wet. Here is how the BlackBerry skin case held up:

• Regular hands: Picking up my BlackBerry with dry hands revealed not a slick texture, but an almost chalky feel. I Juggled my 8800 an apple and a cantaloupe gave it a few tosses back and forth from hand to hand to see if the skin case affected my grip on a quick grab. I can report no issues with the case affecting my grip on the device throughout any of my (if I do say so myself) acrobatic maneuvers.
  
  
• Wet and Greasy hands: The test was repeated with both wet hands and hands greased up with a little Coppertone. Wet hands posed no problem, but the Coppertone experiment yielded mixed results in the form of a broken cantaloupe and a near miss on the family fish tank.

The friction tests: One of my main concerns as I stated earlier was that my BlackBerry would “get away from me”. I devised a pair of completely unscientific tests to try and assuage my concerns. These tests included:

• The inclined surface: For the inclined surface test I placed the BlackBerry 8800 wrapped in the BlackBerry skin case in the center of a board laying flat on the ground. I slowly raised one end of the board by five or ten degrees at a time (I eyeballed it - remember I said non scientific). I observed that at thirty-five degrees the BlackBerry skin case began to lose its grip. At forty-five degrees the BlackBerry was on a slow but steady slide down the board.

  At thirty-four degrees and under the BlackBerry skin case maintained an incredible “BlackBerry Incline Grip” (yes I have coined that as an official phrase).

• The hard car turn: Bolstered by the awesome display of “BlackBerry Incline Grip” during the first test, I decided to add this one to the list as well. The plan was to slick up my vans’ dashboard with Armor All, place the BlackBerry in the skin case mid dash, and take some hard corners. Would the BlackBerry move?

  Throughout the quick cornering, the device never moved an inch. Pretty impressive but I wasn’t sold just yet. I decided to hit a parking lot entrance with a raised curb at a high rate of speed. This is not really advisable unless you are doing it in the name of BlackBerry science as it can quite easily be misconstrued as Driving Under The Influence by officers of the law. Once again, no real movement to speak of. This was even more impressive so I tried again with my windows down =) .

Aesthetic test: One of my last concerns was the aesthetic value of the BlackBerry skin case and if it was going to detract from the awesome design of the BlackBerry team. I didn’t really know how to do a scientific test that would reveal an aesthetic value. I therefore decided to simply hold up the BlackBerry wrapped in the BlackBerry skin case against a whole bunch of things that I consider to have beauty. I did not have a camera with me while doing all of these comparisons so I have Photoshopped the scenarios for your viewing pleasure. You will just have to trust that these events actually took place.

my Conclusion

I have decided that despite the fact that the BlackBerry skin case does not address all of my concerns, I will give it a shot as an alternative to my trusty holster. After reviewing all of my data, I still think there are times when I will require the holster, but I will treat these times like special occasions and stick with the BlackBerry skin as my default protection.

Side Note: During the experiments on the BlackBerry skin case, I have attempted a combination of skin case/holster. This did not work out so well. While it was easy enough to get my 8800 into the holster while wrapped in the BlackBerry skin, it was problematic to get it back out again with any kind of ease. Due to the awesome friction powers that the BlackBerry skin cases posses, answering calls or PIN messages will be difficult to do in one quick move.

The BlackBerry skin did a decent job of protecting my device from spills, though I am still dreading the day where I completely submerge this thing (I told you I was a dropper didn’t I?).

As far as the friction tests are concerned, the BlackBerry skin performed admirably. Through the hard turns in the van and the great display of “BlackBerry Incline Grip”, I have been thoroughly convinced that while wrapped in a BlackBerry skin, my BlackBerry will not be able to quickly hide itself someplace or slide its way out of sight while I am drinking preoccupied.

While I am quite pleased with the fact that my BlackBerry will not be running off on its own, I am still quite wary of the fact that as well as being a dropper, I am also a leaver. I can not see myself using any other color of BlackBerry skin than the solid black and this is not going to help me much, as the solid black skin actually makes the BlackBerry appear duller and less reflective to shiny lights. There is a strong possibility that I will leave my BlackBerry somewhere now that I am going holster free. For those of you out there who are also considering the BlackBerry skin case as an option, you can get BlackBerry skin cases in a variety of colors to match you preferred style.

Overall, I do not think there is a single solution that will totally protect your BlackBerry from drop/spill damage and remain aesthetically pleasing at the same time. There will always be a trade off between the two and you, the BlackBerry user will have to decide which side you are on.

The BlackBerry skin case is going to work best for me. What solutions have you come up with to solve these kinds of problems? Please feel free to leave them in the comments.

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