# Buried with cellphone. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853 "2005-11-13T16:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/1 "2005-11-13T16:11:03Z")
Would a cellphone even work that far underground, I doubt it. Interesting premise though. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/2 "2005-11-13T16:17:31Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Would a cellphone even work that far underground, I doubt it. > > Interesting premise though. :ring ring: Widow: Hello? Dead guy: BRAINS!!! ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/3 "2005-11-13T16:23:14Z")
Depending on the distance to the nearest cell tower, it might ring, but I would be very surprised if anyone answered. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/4 "2005-11-13T16:23:47Z")
‘The conclusion was irresistable. I was _not_ within the vault. I had fallen into a trance while absent from home – while among strangers – when, or how, I could not remember – and it was they who had buried me as a dog – nailed up in some common coffin – and thrust, deep, deep, and for ever, into some ordinary and nameless grave.’ ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/5 "2005-11-13T16:46:39Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > :ring ring: > Widow: Hello? > Dead guy: BRAINS!!! Or… :ringring: Wildest Bill’s widow: Hello? Wildest Bill: GOTCHA YA! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/6 "2005-11-13T17:01:09Z")
Maybe you’re lucky and have an X-Files cellphone. Those things could get great reception buried in a boxcar in the middle of the desert. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/7 "2005-11-13T20:31:04Z")
Underground??? I can’t even get cellphone signals inside my _house_. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/8 "2005-11-13T21:51:47Z")
Given that the signals can penetrate multiple layers of concrete and steel if the cell tower is close enough I suspect that it would work quite a ways underground. Penetrating 6 feet of dirt should be no problem. depending on how far you are from the cell tower. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/9 "2005-11-14T18:43:27Z")
It wouldn’t matter, as I have been trained by Pai Mei, and I can use my wicked martial arts to break out of the coffin. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/10 "2005-11-14T20:47:11Z")
The real question is, how do you leave the cell phone set up with your presumed corpse? The options as I see them are: a) Leave the phone in his hand with his arm bent to his ear. I imagine most coffins don’t have enough room for you to fully extend your arm like that. b) Hook up the body with a headset and leave his finger on the answer button. Then we have to consider that the unfortunately individual would be in total darkness and unable to see what he was dialing. So he’s going to be stuck hoping desperately for a wrong number to call. And if he has the kind of luck that gets him buried alive in the first place, his first call is probably going to be from a telemarketer. _ring_ _ring_ “Oh, thank God! Hello?!” “Good evening, sir. Can I interest you in switching your long distance ser–” “Hold on! You gotta help me! I’m buried alive here!” “Geez…you could have just said you weren’t interested. Asshole.” _click_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/11 "2005-11-14T20:58:16Z")
Intriguing idea. I think I’d call my friends in Europe and talk to them for hours, or until the oxygen ran out, and then die laughing at whoever got stuck with the phone bill. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/12 "2005-11-14T21:05:35Z")
Considering the number of times I’ve used my cellphone as a flashlight, I think this is an excellent idea. Might help me find my car keys. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/13 "2005-11-14T21:07:06Z")
I suspect the battery would run out before the air did. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/14 "2005-11-14T21:11:39Z")
" … yadda yadda yadda my cell phone died and… Oh wait. That was me. So anyways I said to him, I said, like you know? And he said like yeah …" ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buried-with-cellphone/330853/15 "2005-11-14T21:50:29Z")
Better still … Before burial at the closed coffin service the cell phone starts ringing!! 😃