How many times have you cracked your cell phone screen? Or worse, your laptop? You can save yourself hundreds, even thousands of dollars with technology and solutions made for the farm lifestyle. Here are six pieces of durable tech to help you to protect and preserve your smart equipment on the go:

1. Rugged laptops are designed to endure a variety of environments affected by different temperatures, elevations, and terrain. They can survive most drops and spills, and are ideal for regular outdoor use. Lenovo, Dell, and Panasonic all sell rugged laptops ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.

2. Durable cell phone and tablet cases are available for nearly every device. OtterBox is incredibly popular, and its Defender Series is ideal for individuals who are rough on their smartphones and tablets. The cases protect your device from drops, dust, and scratches.

3. Tempered glass screen covers are an excellent addition if you have a case you like, but no real screen protection. They are available at your local retail outlet but are likely much cheaper online.

4. External hard drives are useful when you need to transfer data and are unable to transmit data over a cell signal. The LaCie Rugged Mini is compact and tough, and can store up to 4TB.

5. Keyboards and computer mice can easily get damaged with dirt and grime at a remote farm office location. WetKeys offers many options for washable keyboards and mice, and some of them are combined.

6. Rugged pens do not seem important until your standard pen gives out on you at the most inopportune time. The Fisher Space Pen can handle a wide array of temperatures and weather conditions, and works at any angle!

Already have technology or equipment you need to protect? Run a simple search to find retrofitted cases to fit your device.

Do you have tips to make farm office equipment more durable? Tell me about it in the comments below, on Twitter @nerdsquawk or via email at [email protected].

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Penton Agriculture.