Fox 40 whistle choice....Mini or Micro???

Neither! I recommend the metal Acme Thunderer.

I used to have the Fox 40 but it split in the cold. I've had my Acme Thunderer for a loooong time now and it's not going to break plus it's load.

Collecter
 
The metal one has the advantage that in extreme cold it sticks to your lips! Mac
 
The Mini is a bit louder, but you have to file off those dang flanges they added to carry it comfortably. Been carrying Micros for years, save the Mini occasionally on hikes, but I always keep a Micro on my keychain. They recently redesigned the Micros to have just a loop on the top, but more compact. The fact I know that is sad, but hey, I actually got to talk about it.
 
I am not sure what it is called,but I got a fox 40 whistle that is kinda flat oval shaped ,no corners to grab. They were like two for five bucks at Canadian Tire. Hangs great on a key chain. For what its worth ,one fox 40 sells for 8 to 9 bucks at the local running shop
 
If you want it for EDC then the best one is the one that is more convenient for you to carry, which I guess would be the Micro. If size is not an issue (like for a medium to large survival kit), I would recommend the Storm Whistle.
 
I don't know which is which by name. I carried an orange Fox 40 for years, the approximate size and shape of a Thunderer. I liked it a lot, kept it on my keychain. Now I've retired it in favor of a smaller Fox 40 also in orange that makes almost as much noise. For EDC, it's just as good and slightly less obtrusive.

For getting out in the wild and wanting a real noisemaker, I have a Storm. Ouch, that's loud! :)
 
On the subject of Micros, there's one thing to bear in mind about them: it takes a pretty robust blast of air through them to make noise, and if (for whatever reason) that blast isn't available, you may find yourself with a whistle that won't work.

Why should you care? Well, maybe you don't need to. But I learned this fact after I'd bought a bunch of Micros for my kids to carry as part of their survival kits (and even ordinary everyday carry). I then discovered that my maybe-3-year-old daughter couldn't get it to make a sound you could hear from the next room. She really needed a smaller whistle. I've found my other kids have varying abilities to get sound out of a whistle.

I wonder how much of an issue that would be if one were wounded, exhausted, etc., even as an adult. Just a thought.
 
I can confirm that the micro is easiest to carry, is loud and takes a lot of wind to blow. I prefer the Acme Tornado (I forget the model number, but it is the compact plastic one) which is slightly more compact than the micro, but has more corners on it so maybe not as comfortable to carry in some cases. It may measure slightly less loud but is easier to blow and has a deeper trill which I think makes the sound more distinctive. The packaging on the Micro states that it is louder than the classic Fox 40 which may be true, but is hard to believe. There are some vagaries in how sound is measured.

For a kid or senior citicizen, the amount of air it takes to blow a micro is definitely an issue. I have found that the tubular single-note aluminum whistle carried at REI with their brand is very easy for young kids to blow loudly and is also very easy to carry and indestructable.

The conventional wisdom of a metal whistle having a risk of freezing to your lips is a bit of an urban legend in my opinion. This can happen with a frozen flag pole or steel pipe playground equipment or other massive object, but for something with the small mass of a whistle, it would be easily warmed to above freezing by the contact with your body unless you were in almost unimaginably extreme conditions.
 
The best whistle I ever found was a horn tip from Brazil. it had a wooden insert to form the whistle and was sold in a dog supplies catalog. Shrill and loud with a tiny amount of air. Painful when blown hard. But that sort of thing has to be handcrafted, it can't be machined, production-lined.
 
I can't say what is best, but the Fox 40 micro is dang loud. I've had a couple of them for a good while and never played with them until reading this thread. Gave the micro a blast just now with my ears plugged, and could hearing it echoing off the neighbor's distant house. I'm sold. Maybe have to start carrying one.
 
I carry a Fox 40 but I generally just use my fingers when I need to whistle. Works great, loud as hell.
 
I have both the micro and regular whistles. They both work fine and think the micro would be fine for carrying.

Another option would be a Jetscream whistle. Don't know much about them but they are plastic and small.
 
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