Electronic Devices At Tournaments

I have never been to a tournament where anybody said a thing about a mobile devices being turned on as long it did not make a sound.
I have been to a lot of tourmanets.

if the phone makes a sound just a tiny beep you have lost the game.
I have left my phone at home or I will take the battery out but I've a lot look at their phone for various reasons maybe they expect an important message or they want to find out which team is winning in soccer.

In Denmark you lose instantly: no warning. you are warned before the game starts. sometime it happens that the player giving the warning forgets to turn off his phone. it is the only rule I've seen been handled strict with no exception. even tournament leaders have lost due to cell phone ringing. 
you lose even if you have a winning positions with 3 queens against a king and a pawn if the cell phone rings or make a tiny beep.

I found the rule in the chess handbook and it looks like USCF is not being strict on the rule.
12.3 Without the permission of the arbiter a player is forbidden to have a mobile phone or other electronic means of communication in the playing venue, unless they are completely switched off. If any such device produces a sound, the player shall lose the game. The opponent shall win. However, if the opponent cannot win the game by any series of legal moves, his score shall be a draw.

I once had a cell phone go off, the tournament director just gave me a "make sure your phone is on vibrate"

vibrating is also interpreted as a sound in Denmark so the phone needs to be completely muted. therefore I either place the phone at home or take the battery out.

Those crazy Denmarks!

Thank you all for the helpful information!  It is much appreciated!

Hmm. I used to have a small clock in my bag and it would do the 60 second hour beep for a whole minute sometimes, when I forgot that it was in my bag.

That would be a liability in a Denmark chess tournament

That's when you say "who's bag is that!" somethings rotten in Denmark :)

Ha!  That really killed me, man!  No offense or anything; I realize we're all products of our environment 'n all; but, it just seems surreal to me to consider being forced to turn my phone off or be kicked out of a chess tourney "draconian".  Maybe, if they were going to cut my ears off or something, I'd be with ya'.

On topic:  My lady and I played in a tourney a couple weeks ago and she had an opponent who had the black pieces and one of those do-hickeys.  His board didn't have the coordinates on it and he refused to use her board.  She was kinda' annoyed about that.

no offence taken, but even if the cell phone is a very important part of our identity today I think it is no big deal to turn off your phone for 4 hours.
you don't even need to turn it off you can simply keep it on mute and set vibrate to off. and set it to blink instead.
as to the clock in the bag as silly as it sounds is not disalloud since it is not a communication device.
I think it is draconian as well, it would be enough to lose 20 minutes. I think there are things that are more annoying than a cellphone

There are a lot more annoying things then a cellphone going off, especially having your opponent saying variations that could never happen under his breath, Somethings rotten in Denmark :)

actually Marcellus said "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" not something is rotten in Denmark. there is a big difference.

Yes but it was the three stooges who said "something is rotten in Denmark!" "Oh Boy! we're going to Denmark!