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whistles
- Thread starter Jimbo
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 6, 1998
- Messages
- 957
Hi Jimbo,
With your firemaking skills you wouldn't need a whistle
people will see the fire miles away.
But if you want to try one get the ACME Tornado 2000 it's so loud that I carry Bilsom earplugs with it so I don't damage my hearing when I use it.
One tip, because it's an "official referee whistle" it has the form of an oldtimer whistle I mean side pieces that only make it look like an old whistle. They are not needed to I cut them off and sanded them so now I have a about 1/3" high whistle that really packs a punch.
You can look them up at:
http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/
Best Scouting wishes from Holland,
Bagheera
------------------
With your firemaking skills you wouldn't need a whistle
But if you want to try one get the ACME Tornado 2000 it's so loud that I carry Bilsom earplugs with it so I don't damage my hearing when I use it.
One tip, because it's an "official referee whistle" it has the form of an oldtimer whistle I mean side pieces that only make it look like an old whistle. They are not needed to I cut them off and sanded them so now I have a about 1/3" high whistle that really packs a punch.
You can look them up at:
http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/
Best Scouting wishes from Holland,
Bagheera
------------------
Thanks!
I now have a Jet Scream on order, Johan, Camper's Village carries them.
You're right about the fire, Piet. I decided to try out the whistles last night after being out in the bush, since I had no idea how far the sound carried under fairly quiet conditions. We could only get 450M straight distance on a logging road. Whistle sounds were much quieter at that distance than I had expected, but a flame from a lighter was very visible in dim twilight.
My buddy's 30 year old Acme seemed just as loud as my Fox 40, and seemed more distinct with lower pitch.
It's going to be interesting to see (hear)how well the sound carries in wooded areas and with background noise from a river - as well as finding out just how far the sound carries distinctly in perfect conditions.
Has anyone done any tests?
I now have a Jet Scream on order, Johan, Camper's Village carries them.
You're right about the fire, Piet. I decided to try out the whistles last night after being out in the bush, since I had no idea how far the sound carried under fairly quiet conditions. We could only get 450M straight distance on a logging road. Whistle sounds were much quieter at that distance than I had expected, but a flame from a lighter was very visible in dim twilight.
My buddy's 30 year old Acme seemed just as loud as my Fox 40, and seemed more distinct with lower pitch.
It's going to be interesting to see (hear)how well the sound carries in wooded areas and with background noise from a river - as well as finding out just how far the sound carries distinctly in perfect conditions.
Has anyone done any tests?
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,938
Just make sure your whistle doesn't sound like a wounded animal... I've seen grizzly tracks along the Kitimat River and tributaries that were longer than my boot.
I have the Ultimate Survival Jet Scream and I am very disappointed with it. The only good thing I can say for it is its low profile. Only about 1/2" thick. Best whistle I've found is a boating whistle from Wal-Mart. Don't recall the brand name. Costs about $5. Comes in bright colors - flourescent orange, red or green.
Bill http://www.caliberdt.com/~bill/survival.htm
Bill http://www.caliberdt.com/~bill/survival.htm
I have the Ultimate Survival Jet Scream and I am very disappointed with it. The only good thing I can say for it is its low profile. Only about 1/2" thick. Best whistle I've found is a boating whistle from Wal-Mart. Don't recall the brand name. Costs about $5. Comes in bright colors - flourescent orange, red or green.
Bill http://www.caliberdt.com/~bill/survival.htm
Bill http://www.caliberdt.com/~bill/survival.htm
Hi Ed:
Strangely enough I was thinking just that while testing out the whistles in the upper Kitimat valley last night. That high pitched Fox40 does have something in common with a varmint call, and I've had bears come in to those. I'll have to try some tests..
Lots of bears around - including a black in the garbage a couple of hours ago.. I was able to spend a couple of hours watching a griz and three cubs last June in the big swamp by the highway bridge, and my little pet is growing bigger and keeping the other fishermen away from Humphry's. The campsite by Williams creek was shut down this summer for a week while they trapped a griz that had been threatening the tourists. I haven't even seen a track of anything really big though in a few years now.
Thanks Bill:
If you can find it - I'd sure like to know the brand of that boating whistle. Trying out whistles should keep me amused for a while.
Strangely enough I was thinking just that while testing out the whistles in the upper Kitimat valley last night. That high pitched Fox40 does have something in common with a varmint call, and I've had bears come in to those. I'll have to try some tests..
Lots of bears around - including a black in the garbage a couple of hours ago.. I was able to spend a couple of hours watching a griz and three cubs last June in the big swamp by the highway bridge, and my little pet is growing bigger and keeping the other fishermen away from Humphry's. The campsite by Williams creek was shut down this summer for a week while they trapped a griz that had been threatening the tourists. I haven't even seen a track of anything really big though in a few years now.
Thanks Bill:
If you can find it - I'd sure like to know the brand of that boating whistle. Trying out whistles should keep me amused for a while.
The big orange whistle I bought at Wal-Mart was a storm:
http://www.stormwhistles.com/
Nice whistle, but big. Have not made any tests on how loud it is.
To be fair, here's the Fox 40:
http://www.fox40whistle.com/
(warning- has slow loading monster sized graphics)
Jet Scream: http://www.ultimatesurvival.com/
I was not familiar with the jet scream so did a search and found this site:
http://www.botachtactical.com/index.html
They show a photo of the Jet Scream which they sell as well as the whole line from Ultimate Survival- Blast Match, Strike Force, Starflash mirrors, etc. They have a sale on, too. Thinking about spending some money here. They also have the Brunton model 9068 watch band compass that I've been hunting for.
I carried metal Acme Thunderer brand whistles for years, mainly because it was all I could find locally in the pre-internet days. It's the one coaches and referees used and was sold in athletic supply stores.
I liked the idea of a metal whistle, though. I thought that a plastic whistle would be more likely to fracture or even shatter, especially in extreme cold, while the metal would probably still work, even if dented.
I've heard that the all metal ones will freeze to your lip or that saliva will freeze inside, immobilizing the pea and rendering them useless. My answer to that is keep it on a break away lanyard around your neck and inside your clothing in sub-freezing weather.
I've also heard that the pea type whistles can be overblown, that is, the pea quits bouncing around inside the chamber because it is lodged against one wall of the chamber.
I have no idea if this has ever actually happened, or if it's something that the makers of the pea-less types thought up. Does anyone know?
I now carry plastic ones in my kits but carry an Acme Thunderer in my pocket.
I've read that a person's voice starts to play out after about 15 minutes of yelling. People after a football game can barely talk. But you can blow a whistle indefinitely.
I notice that some of the whistle makers stress that their whistles are high pitched. Well, low pitch sounds carry farther. When your neighbor is playing his stereo too loud it is the thumping bass that you hear, not the high sounds.
The athletic type whistles advertise that the sound of the whistle can be heard over crowd noises, which is generally of a relatively low pitch. Hence the whistles are of a different (higher) pitch.
A survival type whistle isn't competing with a stadium full of people. Its priority would be on distance, not being heard over crowd noises. However, wind and storm noises might drown out a lower pitch whistle, so maybe the high pitch is the best choice after all.
It would be interesting to see some studies on this.
By the way, I just remembered a supposedly true story involving sound signals. A hunter was hunting alone in a pasture that was one section (640 acres, or one sq. mile, or 1.6 by 1.6 km) in size. The pasture was bordered on all sides by a road. Must have been a high dollar deer lease.
At nightfall the hunter didn't return to camp. His buddies got in their truck and circled the pasture all night long, honking the horn, so he could walk toward the sound and come out to the road.
Figure out what happened? The hunter walked toward the sound, but since the truck was constantly moving, he never walked in a straight line. He spent the whole night walking in a big circle. Didn't have a compass, apparently.
Thanks to Jimbo for dropping the name of Camper's Village. I did not know about this site. Here's their link: http://www.campers-village.com/general.html
bill
(who is on vacation and has free time to write long posts)
http://www.stormwhistles.com/
Nice whistle, but big. Have not made any tests on how loud it is.
To be fair, here's the Fox 40:
http://www.fox40whistle.com/
(warning- has slow loading monster sized graphics)
Jet Scream: http://www.ultimatesurvival.com/
I was not familiar with the jet scream so did a search and found this site:
http://www.botachtactical.com/index.html
They show a photo of the Jet Scream which they sell as well as the whole line from Ultimate Survival- Blast Match, Strike Force, Starflash mirrors, etc. They have a sale on, too. Thinking about spending some money here. They also have the Brunton model 9068 watch band compass that I've been hunting for.
I carried metal Acme Thunderer brand whistles for years, mainly because it was all I could find locally in the pre-internet days. It's the one coaches and referees used and was sold in athletic supply stores.
I liked the idea of a metal whistle, though. I thought that a plastic whistle would be more likely to fracture or even shatter, especially in extreme cold, while the metal would probably still work, even if dented.
I've heard that the all metal ones will freeze to your lip or that saliva will freeze inside, immobilizing the pea and rendering them useless. My answer to that is keep it on a break away lanyard around your neck and inside your clothing in sub-freezing weather.
I've also heard that the pea type whistles can be overblown, that is, the pea quits bouncing around inside the chamber because it is lodged against one wall of the chamber.
I have no idea if this has ever actually happened, or if it's something that the makers of the pea-less types thought up. Does anyone know?
I now carry plastic ones in my kits but carry an Acme Thunderer in my pocket.
I've read that a person's voice starts to play out after about 15 minutes of yelling. People after a football game can barely talk. But you can blow a whistle indefinitely.
I notice that some of the whistle makers stress that their whistles are high pitched. Well, low pitch sounds carry farther. When your neighbor is playing his stereo too loud it is the thumping bass that you hear, not the high sounds.
The athletic type whistles advertise that the sound of the whistle can be heard over crowd noises, which is generally of a relatively low pitch. Hence the whistles are of a different (higher) pitch.
A survival type whistle isn't competing with a stadium full of people. Its priority would be on distance, not being heard over crowd noises. However, wind and storm noises might drown out a lower pitch whistle, so maybe the high pitch is the best choice after all.
It would be interesting to see some studies on this.
By the way, I just remembered a supposedly true story involving sound signals. A hunter was hunting alone in a pasture that was one section (640 acres, or one sq. mile, or 1.6 by 1.6 km) in size. The pasture was bordered on all sides by a road. Must have been a high dollar deer lease.
At nightfall the hunter didn't return to camp. His buddies got in their truck and circled the pasture all night long, honking the horn, so he could walk toward the sound and come out to the road.
Figure out what happened? The hunter walked toward the sound, but since the truck was constantly moving, he never walked in a straight line. He spent the whole night walking in a big circle. Didn't have a compass, apparently.
Thanks to Jimbo for dropping the name of Camper's Village. I did not know about this site. Here's their link: http://www.campers-village.com/general.html
bill
(who is on vacation and has free time to write long posts)
- Joined
- Jan 20, 1999
- Messages
- 738
Some additional whistle comments can be found here: http://www.equipped.org/signal.htm#SoundOff
I look forward to some of the above mentioned tests as to which whistles carry best in the woods.
I look forward to some of the above mentioned tests as to which whistles carry best in the woods.
Thanks guys!
The start of a page is up here: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/5404/survival/whistles.html
Hopefully enough information will be generated on the forum to straighten it out! I got interested in whistles because of having one of my grand-daughters out for the summer. What seems good for getting attention at fairly close ranges and in the open may not be so great for overall use. Ed's post was certainly not a joke: I'd left testing whistles until late at night when people are out of the bush so as not to cause any false alarms. Unfortunately it occurred to me rather late that the Fox40 does have some similarities to a varmint call, and that not only was I blowing it in the middle of grizzly country but where someone was attacked some time ago.
You hear that whistles and such will scare away animals, but since we've had moose and bears come to see what we were up to at shooting competitions, I think I'll take that with a grain of salt.
I'm still puzzled that I haven't been able to find loads of information about how far you can hear any kind of whistle under varying conditions. I still have no idea as to extreme distance under perfect conditions - and that would seem an easy one. It's going to take a bit of work testing for extreme distance in heavily bushed terraine. I'm not sure about frequencies - depends both on background noise and whether the searcher is some old fogy like me who probably has high frequency hearing loss.
The start of a page is up here: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/5404/survival/whistles.html
Hopefully enough information will be generated on the forum to straighten it out! I got interested in whistles because of having one of my grand-daughters out for the summer. What seems good for getting attention at fairly close ranges and in the open may not be so great for overall use. Ed's post was certainly not a joke: I'd left testing whistles until late at night when people are out of the bush so as not to cause any false alarms. Unfortunately it occurred to me rather late that the Fox40 does have some similarities to a varmint call, and that not only was I blowing it in the middle of grizzly country but where someone was attacked some time ago.
You hear that whistles and such will scare away animals, but since we've had moose and bears come to see what we were up to at shooting competitions, I think I'll take that with a grain of salt.
I'm still puzzled that I haven't been able to find loads of information about how far you can hear any kind of whistle under varying conditions. I still have no idea as to extreme distance under perfect conditions - and that would seem an easy one. It's going to take a bit of work testing for extreme distance in heavily bushed terraine. I'm not sure about frequencies - depends both on background noise and whether the searcher is some old fogy like me who probably has high frequency hearing loss.
Well, that's what I thought when I read about the whistles. Why not use the old finger-in-your-mouth build in version?
Ok, here's how it works: The idea is - as in any whistle - to blow a fast stream of air over a column of standing air. That column starts to vibrate and generates the sound. The shorter the column, the higher the pitch. So what you have to do with your mouth is to generate that column/cavity/air pocket.
You do so by widening your mouth like pronouncing a an EEEEE and pulling in your lower lip over the lower front teeth. So far it's easy. The difficult part is how to hold the tongue. It should seal the to of your mouth right and left and leave just a narrow gap in the front. In order to do that you need to roll the tongue upwards on the sides to seal against the upper molars. Then you need to roll up the tip of the tongue against the roof of your mouth and build that narrow gap for the blown out air. Sounds complicated, but its basically rolling up your tongue on each side with leaving the gap in the front. The fingers come into play to push the tongue slightly in-/upwards and support it as well as the lower lip (it needs to be tight). I use the pinkies of both hands, since the are small and allow for a smaller air pocket and therefore higher sound. The whole procedure becomes more stable with the fingers. (If you're good enough, you can do without. I can't.) So now you blow the air over the air pocket build by the bottom of your mouth, the lower lip and the pinkies on each side. This should create a very piercing sound if done right.
Ok, here's how it works: The idea is - as in any whistle - to blow a fast stream of air over a column of standing air. That column starts to vibrate and generates the sound. The shorter the column, the higher the pitch. So what you have to do with your mouth is to generate that column/cavity/air pocket.
You do so by widening your mouth like pronouncing a an EEEEE and pulling in your lower lip over the lower front teeth. So far it's easy. The difficult part is how to hold the tongue. It should seal the to of your mouth right and left and leave just a narrow gap in the front. In order to do that you need to roll the tongue upwards on the sides to seal against the upper molars. Then you need to roll up the tip of the tongue against the roof of your mouth and build that narrow gap for the blown out air. Sounds complicated, but its basically rolling up your tongue on each side with leaving the gap in the front. The fingers come into play to push the tongue slightly in-/upwards and support it as well as the lower lip (it needs to be tight). I use the pinkies of both hands, since the are small and allow for a smaller air pocket and therefore higher sound. The whole procedure becomes more stable with the fingers. (If you're good enough, you can do without. I can't.) So now you blow the air over the air pocket build by the bottom of your mouth, the lower lip and the pinkies on each side. This should create a very piercing sound if done right.