Whistling as survival skill

theonew

theonew

Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
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It seems like a whistle is standard fare in most survival kits and for obvious reasons. But shouldn't the ability to make a loud whistle using just your mouth, with or without your fingers, be a valuable skill that people should learn. I learned it when I was 7 or 8 and must say that its come in handy hundreds of times. I've even used it to break up dog fights as well as head off a potential mugging situation. Do most people here know how to make a loud whistle without actually using a whistle and if so is there any real reason to carry one in your kit?
 
I can't even make a quiet whistle. I've tried. Just can't do it.
 
Most people can't pucker and whistle when they are breathing hard but they can Exhale into a whistle.
 
I don't see how yelling is not an option in any of those scenarios.


If you're lost, yell.
If you get trapped, yell.
If you need to find someone, yell.
If you see a dog fight, yell.
If you see someone getting mugged, yell.
 
Squeezymo said:
I don't see how yelling is not an option in any of those scenarios.


If you're lost, yell.
If you get trapped, yell.
If you need to find someone, yell.
If you see a dog fight, yell.
If you see someone getting mugged, yell.
Click to expand...
They take more energy, which you might not be able to spare in a true "survival" situation.
 
Squeezymo said:
I don't see how yelling is not an option in any of those scenarios.


If you're lost, yell.
If you get trapped, yell.
If you need to find someone, yell.
If you see a dog fight, yell.
If you see someone getting mugged, yell.
Click to expand...

It doesn't carry as well.
I've been in large crowded rooms where two or three people were yelling to try to get someone's attention to no avail, where a loud piercing whistle did the trick.
 
if you cant yell anymore because your voice is gone you can still exhale into a whistle.
Trying running a quarter mile full out and then Whistle or Yell so someone 100 yards away in a wind can hear you. Then try a exhaling threw a jet scream whistle.
then you will know.
 
redscorpion6 said:
if you cant yell anymore because your voice is gone you can still exhale into a whistle.
Trying running a quarter mile full out and then Whistle or Yell so someone 100 yards away in a wind can hear you. Then try a exhaling threw a jet scream whistle.
then you will know.
Click to expand...

I've never tried or heard a Jet Scream whistle, though now you've got me curious. :D But nevertheless its a tool that can be lost or broken unlike a skill.
 
I do think a whistle like the Fox40 or the Storm is superior to whistling with just your mouth, but I also think that loudly whistling with your mouth is potentially useful in a survival situation, and I've wanted to learn how. I can whistle (like the theme to The Andy Griffith Show), and when I was young I could do the Tarzan style whistle with my hands, but I have never been able to achieve the "wolf whistle"/"taxi whistle".

If someone can teach me how, I would appreciate it very much.
 
Evolute said:
If someone can teach me how, I would appreciate it very much.
Click to expand...

The easiest way to learn, at least for me when I was young, is to hold the index and middle fingers together on each hand and touch the ends of your middle fingers together at a 60 - 80 degree angle to each other, slide them into your mouth about a half inch deep, using the tips of your fingers to curl the tip and about 3/4 inch of your tongue back so that it presses against the rest of your tongue. Tighten your lips around your fingers and exhale. Give it a try, it takes a little finesse, don't get discouraged.
 
Some people can whistle; some cannot. If you can whistle, more power to you. I'm one of the "cannots".

A whistle is cheap (carry more than one), light and easily used by anyone from a child to an nonagenarian.

After shouting for several hours and having a hoarse throat, you can still blow a whistle effectively.

As an example, in the movie "Titanic", when the girl was in frigid water calling for help, she was unheard. She then retrieved a whistle and blew on it to attract the rescuers.

Yes, it's only a movie, but the principle still applies.

I always recommend whistles for hikers.

Jim FBtE
Hiker leader, Hawaii
 
jimfbte said:
Some people can whistle; some cannot. If you can whistle, more power to you. I'm one of the "cannots".

A whistle is cheap (carry more than one), light and easily used by anyone from a child to an nonagenarian.

After shouting for several hours and having a hoarse throat, you can still blow a whistle effectively.

As an example, in the movie "Titanic", when the girl was in frigid water calling for help, she was unheard. She then retrieved a whistle and blew on it to attract the rescuers.

Yes, it's only a movie, but the principle still applies.

I always recommend whistles for hikers.

Jim FBtE
Hiker leader, Hawaii
Click to expand...

I agree with almost all of the above, except primarily the first part about some not being able to. Did you try the technique I described?
 
oneW,
I have an earpiercing whistle that I have to warn people about before using and even make my own ears ring ... a very handy tool for rounding up the kids although seems to loose distance on the beach (either that or the kids just dont want to acknowledge)
Seems to loose significance in the bush ... sorta of like birds or animals
 
I can whistle using my fingers but I still carry a Fox40 with me in the bush. In the kind of situation where you'd need a whistle there's a good chance your mouth might be dry and parched, making it pretty difficult to produce a good high pitched sound.

Another thing - for young kids in the bush a whistle is probably the highest survival priority. No kid should be in the bush without one attached to them.
 
I can whistle(not as loud as my carry whistle) I do prefer to carry a whistle than actually whistling...less energy..
 
I simply carry the Horn of Gondor when I am in the woods....
image001-797952.jpg


Seriously though, my father could split wood with his whistle from 100yds (or so it seemed when I was young). No matter how many times I try however, I only manage to spit on whatever is in front of me.
 
Well, growing up on a several thousand acre dairy farm, when mom or pop whistled for your to come running for supper - had better come if you wanted to survive with food in your stomach. Every country child in those days could whistle up a fair tune - loud or soft. Yep, it was a good survival tool to have in your arsenal.

If you live in the city, or near a city, chances are that you are involuntarily deaf to many types of sounds. Your brain simply refuses to sort out and identify the variety of noises lest it go into overload (understandable). Friends and family come to visit us in the isolated countryside, and they all complain that "the silence is deafening!" They can't hear a human whistle or other over the silence (they need bells and horns!). We, who have lived in the outback for some time, can hear a human whistle, bark of a deer, the screech of a hawk, voices, etc., many miles off. Something like the Fox 40 sounds like a Boeing jet to me! After friends and family have been with us for a week or so, they find that it is no longer necessary to run fans and radios to be lulled to sleep. Learning to hear again, with definition, is a good survival skill to have...even if you are getting up in age like I am and losing some hearing with time. We have forgotten, as part of a noisy society, what good hearing is and how it can benefit us in the outdoors. Protect your precious hearing, and by all means, learn to whistle. :)
 
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