I know this is off kinda off the subject for this forum or maybe it's not.....

When I a little kid (6 or 7) my grandfather took me out on his farm one day. He cut a small branch off a bush or tree on the land with his pocket knife. After a few minutes or working on it he made a whistle.

As best as I can remember it was about 4-5 inches long, he cut around the branch about 1 inch from one end and was able to pull the center out. So it looked like a dowel sticking out of the short end he had just cut around and a hollow branch for the rest. A couple of more cuts to the hollow piece and making a plug to put in the end to blow, voila, a whistle.

So what I am asking all the great people reading this forum is....

Does anybody know what kind of wood was used or could have been used? Has anybody ever heard of or seen a whistle made like this? Sadly my grandfather has moved on from this world and I cannot remember how to make this whistle. I would love to pass this knowledge on to my grandchildren one day soon, and to anybody else interested.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Mike

I have a faint memory of my dad making me one long ago, but for the life of me I can't recall anymore than you have. I will have to go ask Mr. Google I guess...

Ya gotta love google, first hit was this. I hope is helps. Happy whistling...

Yup, willow whistles. We used to make them all the time. A commercially made whistle is much better (and more reliable), but they are pretty neat.

When I was a kid I used to make the whistles out of the willows that you find near the lakes and rivers. I tried Dogwood, willows, birch, and poplar saplings (bitter!). I found that the best season is in middle to late spring, only because of the amount of water in the stems.
Cut a length of sapling then form the whistle with notch on the top. Be sure to leave a section for you to hold while you are tapping to loosen the bark from the wood. Then cut the bark around the base of the whistle. Gently tap the bark, all the way around the stem. Generally I find that when the water oozes out of the ends that the loosening step is at hand. Grip the bark and twist slowly, the bark should loosen and slide off. Form the inside of the whistle and moisten the wood before sliding the bark back on. Then blow! Adjust shrill by opening the gap where the wind escapes the whistle.

Hope it works!

You never know until you try.

When I was a kid I used to make the whistles out of the willows that you find near the lakes and rivers. I tried Dogwood, willows, birch, and poplar saplings (bitter!). I found that the best season is in middle to late spring, only because of the amount of water in the stems.
Cut a length of sapling then form the whistle with notch on the top. Be sure to leave a section for you to hold while you are tapping to loosen the bark from the wood. Then cut the bark around the base of the whistle. Gently tap the bark, all the way around the stem. Generally I find that when the water oozes out of the ends that the loosening step is at hand. Grip the bark and twist slowly, the bark should loosen and slide off. Form the inside of the whistle and moisten the wood before sliding the bark back on. Then blow! Adjust shrill by opening the gap where the wind escapes the whistle.

Hope it works!

I've done it out of maple here in the pacific NW. Saw an old guy on PBS make one when I was a kid shortly after I got my first barlow knife. Took me several tries, but I got one to work.

Hello,

Here in Belgium, whistles used to be made from elderberry.
Don't know if it grows in you region.
Some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus_nigra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elderberry
http://www.tirbriste.org/dmir/MusicalInstruments/2303.html
http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/fun/whistle.htm
http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/fun/whistle2.htm

Greetings

Very nice information, thank you!

But personally, I'm still wondering, why people prefer to include a whistle in their survival packs instead of learning and mastering the ancient art of whistling without it? Even in the genius Doug's PSK some of the precious space is sacrificed for a whistle. I can tell you for sure, that the simplest 4-finger whistle method will outperform any small plastic whistle, being of 0 oz in weight and 0x0x0" in dimensions...

Any thoughts?

Doesn't work when your missing one of your hands or they're are so cold you don't want to take your gloves off. The nice thing about a whistle is it doesn't require your hands, so you can still signal even when your hands are frost-bitten and you're too tired and beaten up to yell.

Hmm... I see the point now. The last thing people continue to do is breathing. So, why not to exhale through the whistle then? Though, in such a cold weather, I'd be very cautious to put a whistle in my mouth if it's as cold as the air. Also a single hand and fingerless whistling technique do exist.

Seems to me that if it is already freezing, the last thing I want to do is take my glove(s) off, stick my fingers in my mouth, and blow on them. On the other hand, I can take my plastic whistle out of my pocket, where it is semi-warm, and stick that in my mouth, even wearing gloves. That was I can blow my brains out while keeping both hands warm. But finger whistling could be a handy skill to learn anyway...

Alex, if you're unconscious and discovered by a couple of 60-yr-old women, would you absolutely INSIST that they use your fire piston and whistle with their fingers to get help to you???

"What do you suppose this funny tube with the knob on the end is for?"

"I don't know, I've never seen such a thing. Look through his things and see if there's something useful, so we can build a fire. Look! There's someone way down there! Can you whistle?"

"No, can't you? I wish he was carrying a regular Fox40 or something. He doesn't even have any matches or a lighter on him!"

"Maybe we should just leave him here and pretend we didn't see him?"

"Oh, we can't do that! I guess one of us will have to hike back down to the ranger station, but that's going to take a couple of hours..."

IOW, sometimes YOU are the victim instead of the hero.

Sue

In Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, Alder works.

-john