I bought a separate hobby phone but end up using my regular phone on most occasions. The reason being that it would be easier for me to explain away one or two random phone numbers than another phone.

I leave the hobby phone at work but this means I have to go to the office before hobbying and after or take it home. There is always the risk if I take it home that I might forget to turn it off. Or it could drop out of my bag, etc. One time the battery was running low and it kept emitting this beeping sound that could have tipped off my SO.

On the other hand with my regular cell phone my SO would have to first decide to check my phone, call a number that appears suspicious and then get someone on the other that gave incriminating evidence.

I wonder how others have weighed the risks between a hobby phone and using their regular cell phone.

Yes, it is safer.  Just get in the habit of turning off the phone as soon as you get to the door, then you don't have to worry about it.  Keep it hidden in your car or computer bag when it is not at the office.

If you do happen to leave it out, just say that one of your coworkers left it in your car when you went to lunch.

Don't forget, that your SO finding your phone could be a very minor danger - if one of these girls gets busted, then her phone could be seized and all of the history used to track down clients.  It is doubtful that  you'd be arrested, but I have heard of LE sending patrol cars to the houses of each of those people and making some inquiries - which, depending on how descriptive they get - could be very hard to explain away (at least, much harder than a cell phone).

But, you do need to be very careful with this stuff.  Double check your phone and your cash stash.  Make sure you haven't left anything out and delete your webhistory daily.

Yes, my hobby phone stays in my desk drawer at work unless I am seeing someone while I am traveling on business.  I don't play in my own backyard.

Absolutely, hobby phone.  
I don't want to EVER chance a call back on my own cell...  or numbers on the bill (even if details not displayed, they can be retrieved).  I shut off the hobby phone when I return to the car.  At one time I kept the hobby phone burried in my garage workshop.  
Be sure to clear the memory of the hobby phone too.  
The beauty of a hobby phone is you can place it under a tire if necessary...
skb

What is everyone doing??

Check the prepaid phones, register to a fake address (trak fone goes to a default address in Florida) buy with cash.  Buy minutes with cash.  

I only have the hobby phone on me when hobbying.  Otherwise phone is shut off & stashed.
skb

Yes, definitely if you have an SO.  I do not so I choose not to have two phones, but many of the guys that hobby do have a partner in some situation or other, marriage or otherwise.

You have been given some good ideas for protecting yourself from unwanted discovery.  Should I get into some kind of relationship, I would probably get a hobby phone if I chose to continue hobbying.

Swim

I can only share with you an incident that happened to me.  I was using my personal cell phone and had seen a local provider 2 times.  She started texting me asking when I was coming back.  Next thing I hear, the cops turned her and she was setting up customers to get busted to lighten her sentence, I assume.  Anyway, I was scared to death after that.  Fortunately I was tipped off as to what was happening and didn't return her text messages.

Guys (and ladies), check out google voice. You just need an email account and any name to sign up. It will take a week or so, but they will send you an activation link.

At that point, you can pick a phone number from any area code (minus alaska i think).

Your google voice number can be set to ring any number of phones you want. Someone calls your google number and your cell can ring, office, or home number. All at once, or just one of them. You can also transfer calls between any of the phones you have associated with the number.

You can easily turn it off and on from the website (a simple check box). I only turn it on when I'm setting things up and day of. You can check voicemail, and see all your call logs (placed, received, and missed) on the website. So if the provider calls to cancel or something, you'll still get it even if you've stopped your google number from forwarding. You can also set it to tell specific numbers that your number is no longer in service (effectively blocking a number). There are some other things you can do as well.

To make a call so that your google voice number shows on the person's caller ID (this is important since providers often ask what number you'll be calling from):

regular phone - call the google voice number, press a button (2 i think) and dial the number you want to call.

smart phone - there is a google voice app. You just call the number from the application and your google number will show up on their caller id.

For incoming calls, you can set it to display the caller's number or your google voice number. I prefer the latter because if I just see a number I don't know, it could be anyone. If it's going through my google voice number, I know it's hobby related. So it's easier to tell if I should excuse myself to answer, not answer, etc.

You can also set it to "screen" - asks the caller to record their name before your phone rings. You hear the recording and can decide to pick up or not.

It's free, a great solution to this problem, and has a ton of features.

You can always get your cell number changed and your house number changed.

No big issue. ROFL