where do you carry the whistle?

rather than hijack a post about whistles, let's start afresh.

where do you carry your whistle?

i carry a whistle on my car keyring. recent stories about cars over the edge or people trapped under buildings post earthquakes spurred me to this.

i day hike. i carry a 'storm' whistle in a pouch on the waistband of my backpack. it may be hard to reach and dig out in a hurry if i walk off a trail down a slope.

i also carry an 'acr' whistle around my neck on my dog tag chain. which, as a recent poster noted - thank you very much - stands a 50-50 chance of ending up between my shoulder blades if i crash off a trail.

perhaps a mountain out of a molehill, but...curious minds want to know...

where and why?

i carry it in my pocket with a bit of dummy cord to a beltloop along with my flint and steel...it lays flat and is not a problem...vince g. 11b inf...

I carry a bunch of whistles.

I have 3 large key rings (work, home and play) and each have a whistle of a different colour so I can quickly tell one from another. I am now switching brands of whistles on the key rings (they were all Fox 40's) so I can tell by feel which ring of keys I have. I carry another whistle on my work belt, actually 2 if you count the 1 in my mini-PSK. When off playing in the bush I have one clipped to my Nite-ize pockets pouch and another buried in the mini-kit in my EDC cell phone pouch. More whistles can also be found in every vehicle, boat, ATV, snowmobile, PSK and FAK plus in my shaving kit attached to a small flashlight. Whistles are a cheap but very effective signaling device.

I even have a whistle collection that I use when teaching signaling to children, the kids blow the whistles and we rank them by loudness.

Mike

In one of my EDC's (I have several I can choose from, because it's fun in life to mix things up a little, lol) I've got a pealess metal whistle clipped on to my black SAK Compact model, and with that a black Photon.

And in a hand-made pouch I threw together, I've got another pealess whistle I have from some type of a convention, along with a locking-blade SAK, a flint/steel, compass, and some petroleum jelly/cotton balls in a baggie.

I've never had the need to blow on them in an emergency but they're there for that purpose should the need arise. And for me that's all that matters.

One on my compass lanyard.
One dummy corded into my jacket pocket, when out and about.
One on my car keys.
One on my flotation suit.

I have a cut down Fox 40 on my EDC PSK Keyring and several different kinds of whistles in various other PSKs.

I keep a Fox 40 on EDC keyring (i.e. house and car keys), a Storm
in the glove box of my main vehicle and a Fox 40 in the second car.

In my emergency kits BOBs, I usually have a whistle and some spares for the rest of the family.

Everywhere. I mean literally everywhere, even on the plane.

While I've not used it in an actual life or death situation, I have used it for a number of interesting things like stopping a moonbounce full of kids to retrieve my three-year old who had been bopped in the nose and I needed to get the other kids to stop jumping so I could get in and grab my kid.

We've also used it at impromptu games of soccer to referee, and we were at a festival and there were various races (sack race, 3-legged race) and it was fun to become the race-starter.

But I carry it mostly for the NYC factor. Three things I think I need in NYC if I survive the initial blast - a way to signal rescuers, a bandanna to cover my face to lower the risk of long-term illness from the dust, a light to see my way, and some water to drink and keep my bandanna wet. All of this is on my person all the time, everywhere except in the shower and in the swimming pool.

That's actually four things.

I've heard it said that there are three types of actuarys; those that can count and those that can't.

Jim

I carry a DR PSK so I have it with me pretty much all day
(except when sleeping then it's about 12" away from my head)
Like Martin said you never know when it will be needed.

Mike

never carry one except on canoe trips--one on the PFD and
one in a pocket..

A Fox40 Micro on my keyring along with an Inova flat flashlight and a SAK Classic. One is also attached to my Coast V8 flashlight in my EDC pouch, as shown in the Photo Gallery.

I fit right in with swamp, typically they are cheap, so i toss one in about everywhere. Recently, i started adding to all my packs as well. I use ITW Nexus (mfg) brand-they fit most sternum straps on all my packs-its give you a whistle built in to the buckle http://www.itwnexus.com/catalog/index.php/dw/op/a/8/c/24/p/76

PS if you play it cool and dont drill them with requests, you can order"samples" aka a neat way to get a free one.

...and as one mentioned "except when swimming" i recently started adding one to my wrist on a little plastic springy wrist loop thing.......needed to signal the lifeguard, whom was "adjusting his umbrella (not saying it was his fault by no means " when i seen a small child almost drown at disney last year.

I didn't notice how many I have until I started hanging out on these forums.

- 1 on car keychain (round REI aluminum) which is only an okay whistle, used for controlling my dogs
- 1 on the keychains of EDC gear in each briefcase (regular and pocket)
- 1 buckle-type on sternum strap of daypack
- 1 on a cord attached to my belt along with an SAK knife while backpacking and dayhiking.
- 1 in DR PSK, in pocket of vest used for some casual hiking without a pack.
- 1 in each car kit.
- 2 in home BOB.

Sheesh. That's a lot of whistles.

I found these selling for less than $2.00 at an outdoor store near me, so I bought 5 even though I already have a bunch of Fox 40 classics and micros.

http://www.acmewhistles.co.uk/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=75&cat=8&page=1

You never know where they will come in handy.

One integrated into the plastic scale of a SAK Classic on my everyday keys and Fox40 Micro (the flattened one) on a lanyard for non-urban days. The lanyard is one of those ID card numbers with an integrated plastic link to seperate should it snag on something to save it pulling your head off.

Key chain EDC.

Zinger-attached to shoulder strap on packs.

PFD in pocket.

In PSK and PFAK.

Hi OIMO,

How does the sound of your SAK Classic whistle compare to your Fox 40 Micro? I was thinking of going more "multi-purpose" on my key-ring whistle, but it would be nice to know that it would do the job before I ordered one in.

Thanks,

Mike

I EDC a metal REI whistle on my key chain and have ACRs or FOX 40's in my packs and truck.

I have one in my PSK and I carry another flat pealess one in my S.O.S kit for my swisschamp.

-Bill Liptak

Okay, have we ever finally decided on the best whistle for survival applications?

I have read that the Fox 40 is hard to hear in a wooded area , although I have also read that younger ears say it is louder because they can hear the higher frequencies.

Just a quick search and at least 4 whistles claim to be the loudest

Fox 40, either the classic or Sonik
Jetscream
Acme T2000
Storm Whistle

If you carry them all and use them all in a survival situation, the last one used is the loudest since it you got rescued, right?

Or the old fallback: "The loudest one is the one you have."

Hi Mike,

It is not as loud as my Fox40 Micro, however it works as a compromise for me. I never used to EDC a whistle or a blade of any sorts in urban/office settings (only a keys, a photon and a Res-Q-Me previously). The SAK classic with whistle fixed both of those issues without adding any real bulk.

It seems cheap enough that if you get it and don't like it I am sure you could find a non-EDC home for it somewhere in your life.

1) Compass Lanyard
2) Multiple Zipper pulls (not quite one on every jacket)
3) Separate Lanyard with a few other essentials (ie: firesteel)

All Fox40's.

A FOX 40 Micro on my EDC keychain, which strangely enough doesn't have any room for keys (I carry a SECOND keyring for those!)

You can find some testing of whistles here:

http://sgtmikessurvivaltips.blogspot.com/

Adam

This thread just got me to thinking. I've now added a Fox40 to my pocket kit...much more stealthy in my pocket than mixed in with my wad of keys or on a zipper pull.

Same here, I carry two keyrings, one of which has keys, the other with various items including Fox 40 Micro.

OIMO,

Thanks for the info on the SAK Whistle Knife, I am thinking I will receive one on Fathers Day (I just have to order it, pay for it and pick it up; the kids will do the wrapping and presenting).

Adam, Thanks for the link to Sgt. Mike's site, good information.

Mike