I got a whistle because there's nothing else i can think of that can get someone else's attention over a mile away given its size (2 inches, thick as a pencil, disappears on my keychain). Granted, i did have a slightly bigger whistle before (GITD fox40 i got for free) and that was for me past the point of useful-to-carry-for-its-size.
Every time I see this thread, I think of the scene from the move To Have and Have Not where Lauren Bacall's character says to the Humphrey Bogart character, "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
I agree and am glad you brought it up. Didn't mean to dismiss such a devastating crime. I had my head in some 70s cop drama where everyone gets assaulted in a dark city alley. As a matter of fact, I live in Japan and do not know any women who have not been sexually assaulted. Every woman has her story, from being grabbed by someone in a passing vehicle and pulled through the window to being followed into the lobby of an apartment complex and thrown to the floor beneath the mailboxes. And I'm not sure a whistle would have changed much. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
This is going off on a tangent, but what are the carry of weapon laws in your country? I.e., concealed carry, open carry, self defense weapons?
haha...not so funny thing about this is...I cannot whistle. I've tried all my life but I simply cannot. My lips release a slightly noisy whipser, but no whistle. Having said that, I do not carry a whistle to compensate for my lack of being able to perform a function nearly as easy as breathing.
Neither can I after undergoing orthodontia as an adult, believe it or not! Could whistle just fine before my teeth were straightened. Stoo-pid orthodontia!! Tod
I agree that whistles are better tools for getting attention than anything else, and I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from carrying one for survival, but neither would I call anyone reckless for not having one, and personally, I don't bother. I did have rescue personnel called on me once when I managed to get myself stranded by darkness in the rain without sufficient gear while hunting. Light would have allowed me to see the path back to my vehicle, and fire would have reduced my risk of cold weather injury. These are things I won't do without now. A whistle wouldn't have made a difference, because I could not have stayed awake all night in those conditions to blow it every few minutes. That is more exhausting to do under physical duress than one might think. Also, the sound, in clear air and when one is listening for it, does carry a click or more easily. That night, a sheriff's deputy found my car and sounded a couple of chirps on his siren to try to signal me. I wouldn't have answered if I had had a whistle (I did have a firearm and could have answered with three shots into the muddy ground) because I couldn't hear his siren through the wind, rain, and exhaustion just a couple of hundred yards away. There is nothing wrong with a whistle--if you have one, you should carry it--but It's not so essential in my mind that a man without one should sell his cloak to buy one.
Like most EDC, if you find yourself without it when you really need it, you won't be without it again. I refuse to be the one, who but for the grace of a____, would have been fine. I hated Boy Scouts when I was in it, but I am still prepared, and still help old ladies (mainly the wife these days...)
I try to keep it simple but there are some things that you realky don't want to risk being without. I don't tote the kitchen sink but everyday I use a knife and a flashlight. The rest just makes sense to me. Sent using Tapatalk... embrace the typos
To be honest I don't understand the whistle thing either, but it doesn't stop me from wanting a Fenix NW30 whistle to carry around with me
Recently picked up a mini Gerber Ultralight L.S.T. The handle is definitely short. (But expected on a knife with a 2-inch blade.) Ideal knife for a short lanyard. Instead of a bead on the end or just a knot, a whistle in the shape of a zipper-pull would be ideal. You get a short lanyard to increase grip, and an out-of-the-way whistle for whenever you might need it.
In Japan the carry of weapons is verboten. A knife over 6cm long is no bueno. You can be detained for carrying items that are "aggressive or can be made in to an improvised weapon". You are left to finding a brick or a full soda can if the ball drops in your court. Outright assault wasn't common in the area I knew, most of it was American vs. American/Brit/3rd country. If you're a female it's a game changer. A handled pocket comb in the guys eye is better than flailing for a whistle on unwieldy keys. I carry a whistle in the back country but that's it. I mean 10+ miles to the road at least. And that's only in case I break something and can't move, or get bit by something and have to stay as still as possible. Daily? No, it's pocket clutter for me.
For those of us who "speak" Morse Code, a whistle is a great way to communicate over distances of many hundreds of yards. No batteries required. (So is a bright flashlight, at night. Batteries required.) I just weighed my TOPS Knives whistle. 7.5 grams. 120+ dB. Works even when full of water (or even under-water). Can supposedly be heard for a full mile. (I have not yet personally tested it at that distance.)
I EDC an Acme whistle in my school bqgfor reasons of Birmingham pride. I imagine it will be very useful if I ever get round to learning morse code
Blow the fox 40.. Around 115 db You nearly hurt yourself,your ears will ring like you just fired your 30/06 I can't yell that loud So ya trapped at the base of a cliff or whatever scenario where you are out of sight andunable to reach or use your other signal methods an attached whistle makes sense.. Do I carry mine, no, I haven't been, I mean to though.. I'll go attach it now
I'm a whistle carrier myself because I think its value-in-an-emergency to weight ratio is good enough to justify carrying it everywhere. I don't, however, have any cool stories about when I deployed said whistle (which is probably a good thing), but I do have this link. I contains a number of cases when a gal used a whistle to great effect. As for the a whistle for self defense, I'm not convinced it's useless. Though, I do believe it's value is probably either in (a) spooking off an attacker who may be looking for especially easy prey, or (b) as a way of temporarily distracting/disorienting an attacker so that you can take more aggressive action. I agree that just expecting you can puff away on it and deter all (most? any?) attackers is just not realistic. But, what the heck do I know -- I'm the farthest thing from a self defense expert.
I carry a whistle because anytime I walk by myself after dark, I am in fear of being kidnapped or raped. This is not me being paranoid, but me being aware of, statistically, how often females get assaulted outside of their homes. It is actually one of the first "prepared" items I ever carried and I have never doubted its usefulness since expanding my edc. Having it just as accessible as a knife or a can of mace is very important for my purposes. If I can use it to signal for help, or for someone to simply wonder "hmm what's that sound?" then it is worth carrying to me.
