Review - Showers Pass Cloud Cover Smartphone Case

Not my problem

Towards the end of last year I headed to Google in search something to replace a recently ripped zip-lock sandwich bag. Perhaps some cling film or a nice piece of Tupperware, you say? Well, no. I was in search of something in which to stow my phone when out riding. I’d needed to protect it from rain and/or sweat (yes, it is occasionally warm enough for sweat in Scotland), because the sandwich bag, whilst cheap, just wasn’t cutting the (rye with pastrami, cheese, pickles and) mustard. I found it impossible to operate the touch screen when the phone was in the bag and my clumsy oaf fingers did the ripping thing each and every time I tried to open the zip lock.

The interwebs led me at first to Pocpac. Their cases looked pretty cool and were reasonably cheap. It just so happened that a cyclist I follow on Twitter complained later that day about the zip on their Pocpac failing after a few uses.

Back to Google and I landed at Always Riding and the Cloud Cover Smartphone Case made by Showers Pass. It was a tad pricier but looked sturdy and didn’t use a zip closure, which I figured would be a weak point, especially with regular attention from my indelicate fingers.

The Showers Pass is waterproof and comes in various sizes. I chose the one recommended to fit my Samsung (it fits the Galaxy S2, S3, S4 and Note 1 and 2, and there’s an iPhone-specific version too). Fit it does and after half a year’s use I must say I’m pretty impressed.

Unzip the Velcro flap and the (so far, so sturdy) zip lock at the top, drop your phone in and then re-seal (there’s room inside for bank card and notes but not much else). The front is flexible, clear plastic the size of the phone, allowing for use of the touch screen  - albeit slightly desensitised. You can also hear and be heard when making calls and the cover actually seems to buffer the microphone, which helps when calling home (put the kettle on, I’ll be home in four hours) from windswept hillsides. The back has a window for camera lens and flash so you can take snaps without any obvious loss of quality, and the case is flexible enough to allow for full operation of my Samsung's side buttons - it’s a phone that happens to be in a case, not a sandwich bag with a phone trapped inside.

There’s a small hole for threading a lanyard but I just stow the pack in the middle of my jersey or jacket’s back pockets. It might just be lucky coincidence but it fits snugly and hasn’t yet (touch wood) come close to bouncing free (gone is the bulldog clip with which I used to secure sandwich bag to jersey).

Given the cost of most smartphones and the fact that most of us take ours out on every ride (it’s a phone, a mapping device, has Strava and a camera) then the £15 cost is a worthwhile investment for anyone still using sandwich bags (cling film or Tupperware) or just plain doing without.

The only real negative? There’s no way you’d fit a sandwich inside.

Showers Pass Cloud Cover Smartphone Case

£15 from Always Riding

www.alwaysriding.co.uk
www.showerspass.com

Available in black and silver.