Is it wise to carry a whistle

[werewolf won]

Funny whistle story. I was diving with a friend years ago now and I lost track of him. The procedure for a lost buddy is pretty simple, if you have the flag you stop and wait for your buddy to surface find the flag and descend to you. I waited a few and he never appeared, so I surfaced. I find my buddy floating face up regulator out of his mouth hung up on some rocks about 20 feet down current of me. Well, across a small inlet I see three guys fishing in a small boat, so I start whistling and waving my arm at them. The three all look up at the same time, see me and wave back and then go back to fishing. It was surreal. I'm flapping around, blowing a whistle for all I'm worth, with a body 20 feet away and these guys are waving at me. I swam to buddy boy grabbed his regulator and started swimming against a raging current with him in tow. Well, the boaters saw what was going on and finally came over and pulled his carcass into their boat and motored him to shore. As I’m swimming in all I can think is. “I wonder what kind of paper work I’m going to have to fill out for this disaster”. I get to shore it looks like a diver’s yard sale; there was gear strewn everywhere, and my buddy is sitting half naked in the middle of it all. He decided to go diving without eating and his sugar problem got the best of him. All I can say is it’s a good thing I don’t carry a dive knife, or I would have found out what kind of paper work needed to be filled out

Wolf

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Boils water & cooks dinner too ....http://cgi.ebay.fr/ARMY-STYLE-WHIST...Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item27bd22e5ce

 

[SRC]

I used the little titanium one I have on my key ring this afternoon. I used it to attract the attention of the owner of a rather nasty pit bull hybrid which had invaded the children's playground I was at with my 3 year old.

He ignored it. I ended up shouting across the park at him. That did the trick. The fact he didn't hear it was a bit worrying. Hopefully it'll work better in an emergency.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

of a rather nasty pit bull hybrid.

In what way was he nasty ?...more likely to have been a staffie cross than a pit.......personally I'm against any dog in a childrens play area.

 

[SRC]

Seemed bigger than a Staffordshire Bull Terrier it was rather intimidating. Particularly to a 3 year old with special needs.
Fortunately the owner was very apologetic and came and got it quickly. Didn't put it on it's lead though.

 

[Highbinder]

As i say a bit bulky and a very odd shape, but if you have room they really are painfully loud.

Looks like it'd make a good whistle for the wintertime. I have one of the aluminium hiking ones and it's great but with numb fingers and or big mitts yours would make much more sense.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Seemed bigger than a Staffordshire Bull Terrier it was rather intimidating.

Acted intimidatatingly or looked intimidating.?..not the same thing ....
I suggested a staffie cross as pitbulls ( & crosses) are banned in the uk under the dangerous dogs act of 1991.(along with 3 other breeds) they are still bred clandestinly for the dog fighting circuits though.
The bull breeds get a lot of bad publicity & breeds such as the staffie & American Staffordshire bull terrier are often wrongly labelled as pitbulls by the public............................

Sorry OP I won't say another word about dogs, unless................

 

[SRC]

Acted intimidatatingly or looked intimidating.?..not the same thing ....
I suggested a staffie cross as pitbulls ( & crosses) are banned in the uk under the dangerous dogs act of 1991.(along with 3 other breeds) they are still bred clandestinly for the dog fighting circuits though.
The bull breeds get a lot of bad publicity & breeds such as the staffie & American Staffordshire bull terrier are often wrongly labelled as pitbulls by the public............................

Sorry OP I won't say another word about dogs, unless................

It was off it's lead. It was snarling. It was in a play area. I think that was intimidating enough.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

It was off it's lead. It was snarling. It was in a play area. I think that was intimidating enough.

Can't argue with that , that falls into my definition of intimidating too. ....................................................

 

[oldtimer]

Whistle, flashlight and matchsafe on keyring at all times with SAK. Have had mobile fail because of cold battery or lack of signal twice in the mountains. Whistle good to attract attention of nearby searchers.

 

[cbr6fs]

Looks like it'd make a good whistle for the wintertime. I have one of the aluminium hiking ones and it's great but with numb fingers and or big mitts yours would make much more sense.

No doubt the Aluminium and Titanium whistles are tougher, not had one of these break yet but i imagine if hooked onto a keyring with many keys it'd take a right beating.
I have had a few good brand Ti and Alu whistles, i ended up either giving or throwing them away though as they either simply didn't work when blown hard or i didn't think they were loud enough.

Because they tend to be cheap i have a tendency that if i see a whistle when out i'll throw it in the basket.
As i say living in a highly active earthquake zone i don't believe you can have too many whistles, and i hope that there is always one within arms reach somewhere in the house.

So we've tried a fair few over the years, i've yet to come across any that are as loud as that one.

If your travelling light though the shape and size is to bulky for most pockets so when something smaller is needed i take the "Windstorm" version.
Not as loud, but close and a LOT smaller and easier to carry.




Cheers
Mark

 

[Opal]

What part of Greece are you in, Mark? my favourite holidaying country/islands.

 

[Smith28]

I have a whistle on my keys, on and in every pack and bag i use outside and one on my belt clip, they cost little, weigh little, don't need batteries, need no skill to use and will always work when you are in a pinch, i was bought up to always have a whistle on my person 'just in case' when out and about, even if you are in an area with high foot traffic, you only need to slip and fall in a ditch or down a slope and you are instantly more difficult to find, sure you could climb back up, but that's assuming you are not injured in some way.

.. long post

Pre reading your post I was going to post in this thread. Then I read you post. Post reading your post, my post became obsolete. In other words, I couldn't have put it better myself.

That said, there is always one on my keys, in my bags, or in my car. I gave my lady a whistle and a torch for Christmas because she had neither.

If no whistle available, we all know the old grass trick don't we. http://youtu.be/qc9Zc2g9D94

 

[cbr6fs]

What part of Greece are you in, Mark? my favourite holidaying country/islands.

Athens unfortunately

There are some fantastic and beautiful places in Greece.
I'm guessing you usually hit the Islands or Halkidiki?

 

[ambling along]

I always carry a whistle now, having learned the hard way. My fieldworker and I were separated in the NZ rainforest, cooeed for all we were worth, never heard each other. We were really lucky to find each other. Not a big deal, just an inconvenience. But my 3 year old wandered off at a large and busy agricultural show, a stranger found her 200 m away! I was very lucky to find her. Her sister disappeared in seconds amidst the legs of a crowd of about 40 people. Amazing how they moved when i shouted i'd lost her though! Now 4, she and her sister and I all carry a whistle in any crowd or on any walk. They know exactly what to do! Whistles are cheap, small, lightweight, simple. Mobile phones are still a little beyond them.