Peter Atwood Tactical Whistle

Hi there!

I am interested in the stainless steel tactical whistle from Atwood. I don't buy it to add to the collection, but to use it in my scouting group. Does anyone have experience with this whistle? Is the sound loud enough and is this whistle suited to use intensively?

Thanks for sharing your experiences

Cheers!

One note of caution about steel whistles, remember the scene in the schoolyard in A Christmas Story?

It's loud. I have one and, after blowing it, I'm temporarilly deaf for some time. I agree with the fact it is metal--carry it on a lanyard in the cold weather and, you'll get more than you bargained for in short order!


Karl

You can add a small piece of shrinking tube to the end to avoid problems in very cold weather.
It is a great whistle the pitch is very noticeable and is good to attract the attention of a group.

Luigi

Link to short review of Atwood whistle.

Consider also the Fox 40 and its two smaller siblings. You get a Fox 40 micro whistle on the pocket survival pak show here .

cheers

I know nothing of the Atwood whistle, but the Mini Fox 40 is a stupid-loud, plastic, and only costs about $5 at REI.
The bright orange color is also easy to find among gear.

Yeah the fox and storm are loud as hell!

Bill97z said:

Yeah the fox and storm are loud as hell!

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I was dumb enough to stand outside my back door to test the mini-fox 40...my ears rang for quite some time after, and I only exerted about 75% of a puff.

It has this interesting trilling or wavering tone, instead of a single note.

Hmm still doubting... I have a bunch of Fox 40's (the regular ones, not the mini's) since I'm a soccer referee so I might use those. But I was looking for something with a loud tone but not a sharp tone like the Fox 40, if you understand

The Storm Whistle is in general the loudest
But the particular pitch of the Atwood is very easy to recognize
So it depends on what you prefer if you need very loud sound because of distance I'd get the Storm Whistle.
If you want to get attention of a group IMHO the Atwood pitch is easier to recognize.

Luigi

The Atwood whistle has road along on my keychain for about a year, and still looks and performs as new- it's fantastic! :twothumbs:

Mini Fox 40's also work well- but they're not as industructable. They're easier to carry if you file down the extra plastic on the bottom.

I've worked crowd control at perfomance road rallies (think Travis Pastrana and the X Games last fall). If I want to alert people of an approaching car I use a Fox 40. From as far as 50 yards away in a moderately dense woods, it can be heard over crowd noise. Yep, it's cheap and it's loud. The Atwood is more funky, though.

chmsam said:

I've worked crowd control at perfomance road rallies (think Travis Pastrana and the X Games last fall). If I want to alert people of an approaching car I use a Fox 40. From as far as 50 yards away in a moderately dense woods, it can be heard over crowd noise. Yep, it's cheap and it's loud. The Atwood is more funky, though.

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Funny you should mention that. My former crew chief and I worked a finish control at the Black River Stages Rally last fall and I used my Atwood whistle to signal him to stop the clock each time a car crossed the flying finish. (The talkabouts we'd been given had crapped out.) Never had a problem.

Edit to add: Peter Atwood is a great guy to deal with too!

These are two different animals. The Fox40 is a great whistle, no doubt. And for $5 you can't go wrong. But the Atwood is turned from a solid piece of high grade steel. It is a piece of art (IMO) that just happens to produce a hella loud noise as a useful by-product.

If you can afford to spend $35 on a whistle, get the Atwood. It will last a lifetime and become a family heirloom. In a world of plastic, some things are just better in good old worked metal. You should see the damascus ones

One word of caution though - this whistle can rust. Best you spray it down with WD40 every so often. Peter also makes brass ones, but they are rarer. I actually traded my brass one for a steel. Stupid perhaps, especially considering it had an Atwood stamp on (which he doesn't do on the steel ones) but I wanted one I could hang on my keyring and not worry about. The steel ones are tough mothers. Just check for rust from time to time, especially if you are messing around near the sea.

The Atwood whistle is loud, though not as loud as the Fox40. However, it's not nearly as shrill as the Fox40 either.

Buffalohump said:

Stupid perhaps, especially considering it had an Atwood stamp on (which he doesn't do on the steel ones).

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I've bought 3 of the stainless whistles from Peter in the last 6 months, and they all had the Atwood stamp.

Buffalohump said:

If you can afford to spend $35 on a whistle, get the Atwood. It will last a lifetime and become a family heirloom. In a world of plastic, some things are just better in good old worked metal. You should see the damascus ones

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Atwood's products have a fantastic reputation and are very sought after. I have yet to read about someone being disappointed with one of his products.

What do you guys think about it for situations in public (in the city, say downtown where there are a lot of people around and traffic / so loud cars) where somebody tries to attack you or something...

walk into your local sporting good store and ask to try some referrees whistles, I used to ref Hockey and If I can make a 4 dollar Easton heard over 4000 screaming chanting high school or college kids, believe me its loud enough,

35 (*#$&%#$ dollars for a Whistle? ARE YOU ON CRACK? I don't care if its been on the lips of Sandra Bullock, $35 dollars for a whistle is INSANE.

Come on guys, the emperor has no clothes on....