Do you take part in outdoor and extreme sports activities? Well this nifty little waterproof housing for mobile phones from Boxit looks like it could provide the

necessary protection from the elements for your phone, small GPS or other small valuables whilst you're out and about.

Not only is it compact and distinctive in design, but its features are also unique. Boxit is the only product of its class that uses a Gore-Tex Audio Membrane, which not only allows sound to travel to and from the phone inside whilst being 100% waterproof, but Gore-Tex is also breathable. So you won't get condensation and moisture building up from inside the case on a humid or damp day, that's something that no other product in the market has to offer.

With an IP67 rating which means it is totally dustproof, and waterproof to 1m for 30 min; the cases material is shock proof and will provide some protection from impact.

Made from plastic and rubber materials the unit is strong, light and best of all you can use your phone through the case;istening to the conversation via a breathable waterproof membrane from Gortex.

So what do you get ?

In the universal box there is a main compartment, two lids an ariel adapter, foam strip and clip to fit inside the boxit, and a bung to allow ear phones to be attached where possible.

There are other accessories available including neck strap, arm strap and a bike adapter.

This little unit takes a variety of phones and almost every phone is catered for from a size point of view with various pads, clips and adapters to allow small and large phones into the units. The only phones we had a problem with were the larger flip phones, but there is a list of compatible phones on their website.

Out of the box (we tested the gift pack) there were a number of components. Two lids, belt clip, internal clip, foam pads and a foam bung. We also had a neck strap and a bike adapter.

The lids were a neon yellow colour and good for the purposes of our test, but there are other colours. The unit is compact and when closed seemed to give a good seal, although we would recommend using a silicone gel to assist the seal, Boxit also recomend this.

The unit with the phone inside feels strong, we tested it by dropping on hard ground with a wooden block in and it bounced, and we feel that this would offer some protection to a phone screen or buttons if the same situation was to occur accidentally. When thrown into a puddle (by British Kitespeed record holder Dave Williams) .... with a GPS unit inside the unit floated and was visible in flat water due to its neon yellow top, and the GPS unit still worked.

Check out the test we did with Dave Williams.

So we had hooked up with Dave Williams, holder of the British Kitespeed record which stands at .....  44.78kn

Dave is always looking for equipment to improve his performance on the water. He currently finds the available housings to date have various flaws, condensation, ripping,excessive flapping are amongst some of the problems.

So we gave the unit to Dave to put through its

paces. Firstly we tried to attatch the unit to the bar but found that any position always blocked the riders arms and hence was knocked off almost immediately. We then tried a elastic velcro arm strap

which Dave had in his kit bag, Boxit also sell these. On the arm Dave found it more comfortable and that it stayed in position better than previous housings he had used. Zipping along at a sedate 30 knots (for Dave its sedate) the unit performed well. The Boxit took a few wipeouts and loads of speed spray without leaking once, or becoming detached from Dave's arm nor was there any condensation on the inside of the boxit.

In conclusion the unit perfromed well under extreme conditions, cold weather, speed and high impact the unit was tested way past what would be considered to be 'normal limits' and stood up well to the beating. Dave could still read and operate the GPS unit through the case and if it had been a phone he could have still used it. So much so Dave now uses the Boxitx as his weapon of choice for his GPS.

We think that this little number could be a real life saver for water sports enthusiasts.

Ian Edmondson, Photographer. Not quite as extreme as the test above but Ian is always out and about on a beach up a hill, by the side of a pitch on a boat or just somewhere where his phone could be damaged.

At the time of testing Ian was using a Nokia n95 The phone is tight when put inside the Boxit. However with the phone fully extended he could use all the keys to dial. Texting is a little more difficult as the screen is partially blocked but still it is useable on most ocassions. What Ian does like about this is that he can still hear calls because the phone is not tucked away in a coat pocket or a bag where the vibrate alert can't be felt.