I gave some EDC items this year for Christmas, and in a non scientific test (with old ears) of which whistle to purchase, the Acme 636 sounded better (frequency and amplitude) than the Fox or TOPS... the best deal I found was from the Lifeguard Store

I found a series of blog posts for a couple dozen emergency whistles.
bigpigblog.com/2014/05/05/whistlemania-i/
bigpigblog.com/2014/05/15/whistlemania-ii-the-iceman-cometh/
bigpigblog.com/2014/05/28/whistlemania-iii-slippery-when-wet/
bigpigblog.com/2014/06/13/whistlemania-iv-sound-off/
bigpigblog.com/2014/07/09/whistlemania-v-come-sail-away/

The top performers for the mini whistles (decibel loss with child vs adult blowing, detectable range over water with adult blowing, and distinctiveness of tone) were the ACME 660, the ACR, the Hammerhead, and the Fox40 mini. The ACME 636 had a big 10 dB drop when blown by a child instead of an adult, and the Fox40 micro/SOL rescue howler came in dead last with an 11 dB drop and a 1/2 mile range while most of the rest could reach out to 3/4 miles.

Because of this, I ordered the ACR to compare with the 636, and did an impromptu test using a smoke alarm as a reference. It was daylight savings time, so I was changing the smoke and CO alarm batteries anyway. I was wearing high fidelity ear plugs (Hearos) to protect my ears as is my habit when working with the alarms.
The 636 was slightly (objectively speaking) louder than the smoke alarm, and had its distinctive trill.
The ACR tone sounded almost exactly like a smoke alarm, but much louder.
The smoke alarm (Kiddie i9060) was rated at 85 dB at 10 ft, so 95-96 dB at 3 ft. I believe the rating to be accurate.

The ACR, because of its lower air requirements, and smoke alarm tone, has replaced 636 in my urban travel kit. The 636 went into my small gear drawer (whistles, knives, lights, pouches, and specialty batteries) for carry as the situation requires.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Fox 40 Sharx Whistle. The Sharx isn't flat but it is loud.

Interesting to hear about the Acme whistles. I need to find one of those and try it out for "keychain" duty.

I have a couple of the Fox 40 Sharx whistles. They are VERY loud and effective (the original Fox 40s are nowhere near as loud) but too big for my keychain. The Storm whistle is a bit louder still, and the sound is more directed forward (thus easier on the ears of the user). But a Sharx, tethered to a pocket compass, is standard pocket carry for me when I'm anywhere off pavement.

ACME tends to perform better then most pea whistle. The 660 is their smallest pea whistle. Their biggest whistle (558) usually ranks just behind the storm whistles in audible range over land.

FWIW, you can listen to several different Acme whistles on this site: http://acmewhistles.ca/products/tornado-pealess-whistles/ .

If you're looking for a flat whistle, then I recommend Acme 636. The Acme 636 is not only a great small whistle, it's also my favorite pea-less whistle. I also own Storm, Fox Sharx, Fox Sonik Blast, TOPS, and others. I do not own the ACR whistle. Regarding the Fox Sharx, it is about three times larger than the Acme 636.

The whistle I carry 24/7 is the Acme 660. It is my favorite pea whistle and favorite overall. For size comparison, the Acme 660 is substantially smaller than the Fox Sharx. The Acme 660 is also way easier to blow than any of the whistles I mentioned above. For reference, my daughter was able to make an extremely loud sound with the Acme 660 when she was two years old. She could not do so with any of the other whistles I mentioned.

http://bigpigblog.com/2014/05/15/whistlemania-ii-the-iceman-cometh/

He said the pea froze on the Acme 660 and the Storm. Sorry, I don't believe it. I have run numerous freeze/abuse tests on the Acme 660 and the Storm. I could not get the pea to freeze on either whistle.

Further, he summarily claims all of his pea whistles froze up. That's just fishy. Anyway, I can't speak for the others because I don't own them, but I'm highly skeptical he got the peas to freeze in the Acme 660 and the Storm.

http://bigpigblog.com/2014/07/09/whistlemania-v-come-sail-away/

He talks about the pea in the Storm getting stuck from over-blowing. Sorry, I don't believe that either. This guy has a bias against pea whistles and has decided to perpetuate the myths.

What kind of test did you run?


Doesn't seem fishy to me, seems like predictable outcome whistles were shaken not blown. The pea whistles have a pea, and are deep with small openings ... shaking won't get all the water out, once in the box gravity makes the water and the pea settle on the bottom, and they freeze


I don't see the bias or the myth

I don't have that acme whistle but I've gotten a pea stuck more than one pea whistle ... that is stuck temporarily for about one breath and one touch .. in over 10 years it happened maybe about 10 times over 10000 tries (0.1%)

so yes, the peas could get stuck temporarily, its not just theoretical. Its also plausible the peas could freeze temporarily ...

hmmm... so worst case scenario, your whistle is frozen like an ice cube, how long does it take to melt an ice cube with your hands? with your body? while floating next to some ice in an immersion suit?

peas, don't worry about it, thank you

For every plea whistle, the blog says, "Pea froze, but whistle still worked." I don't know what that means because "frozen pea" implies the whistle is not making a sound. As far as I am concerned, a whistle that works does not have a frozen pea.

For my Acme 660 and Storm, I froze the whistles in a freezer after dunking them in frigid water (like the test he ran). I also took the whistles with me snowboarding on Colorado summits, and I buried the whistles in the snow for awhile. I repeated those tests several times. The peas never froze. In the end, I trust my experiments the most.



A whistle frozen in an ice cube would be a problem for any whistle, pea or pea-less. However, I'm guessing a smaller whistle (like the Acme 660) will thaw faster than a larger whistle (like the Fox Sharx).