Re : MichaelJ07

You have raised a very interesting point about the design of whistles. I think there is a too much emphasis on which type and make is best suited for a survival situation. Obviously the louder the whistle the better but the effort required for continual signaling needs to taken into account also. There are a few whistles out there that are being marketed as the worlds loudest. The main reason for a pealess whistle is the reliability and the maximum potential performance that they have. Although some whistles such as Fox 40 Classic has an extremely loud sound at 115dB, while some other similar designs suggest even higher volumes even greater than 120dB. What is not mentioned is that it takes quite a bit of puff to get these Whistles to start oscillating. Even the Acme Tornado at 107dB may prove a bit difficult for small children to get any sound oscillations started. The Fox40 Howler is rated at 110dB. Of course the louder the sound on the dB scale (which is a logarithmic scale) the effort to start to get it to work will I suspect be on a logarithmic scale also. If you are concerned that your grandchildren are unable to get the whistle to start oscillating then it may be worthwhile getting a whistle which is specified at around the 100dB. Of course this will reduce the range at which it can be heard. But then if it is taking a considerable amount of effort by the child to even get a few blasts then this may put the child off from continuing to signal. Something like the orange plastic Perry whistle or the aluminum Lifecycle Mountain Whistle (your grandchildren should be able to get Lifecycle one started but should not be used in freezing temperatures unless you instruct the child to first warm up the whistle by placing inside a coat pocket for 5-10 minutes before they begin to start signaling). I think you may need to purchase a few other whistle designs and give them to your grandchildren for them to experiment with to see which ones they are comfortable with. Also three short blasts on the whistle every 30 seconds to a minute should be taught to your grandchildren as this is generally recognized as a general distress call.


Edit - Incorrect information

Oops - That should have been 6 blasts on the whistle with a period of 1 min before the repetition for the internationally recognised distress signal.

The 3 blasts on the whistle is used as an acknowledgment that the distress signal has been heard.