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From: <Sandykayak_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 17:57:05 EDT
I've been advised that the Fox 40 is probably the best whistle ($6-8).  Does 
anyone out there care to comment?

Sandy Kramer
Miami

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From: Joe Pylka <pylka_at_castle.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 23:42:36 -0400
>I've been advised that the Fox 40 is probably the best whistle ($6-8).
Does
>anyone out there care to comment?
>
        I have a few of them distributed among several PFDs, daypacks, etc.
They work well; are plenty loud.  I'd certainly buy others when and if the
need arises.
        One of them is made of plastic that glows in the dark.  I don't know
why.
Joe P.


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From: Wes Boyd <boydwe_at_dmci.net>
subject: [Paddlewise] Going to the dark side?
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 18:49:17
Help!

It's Halloween, and I think I must have been seduced by the dark side . . .
I just made a deal to buy a small cruising sailboat!

-- Wes, who's making mini-mothership trip conjectures

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From: Steve Cramer <cramer_at_coe.uga.edu>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Going to the dark side?
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 11:52:21 -0500
Wes Boyd wrote:
> 
> Help!
> 
> It's Halloween, and I think I must have been seduced by the dark side . . .
> I just made a deal to buy a small cruising sailboat!
> 
> -- Wes, who's making mini-mothership trip conjectures

Not so dark. Now it you had bought a motorboat... Or a <choke>
Jetski.....

Beam me up, Wes

Steve
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From: <JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 06:22:54 EST
I've found a Fox 40 to be an extremely effective (read: LOUD) whistle while still small in size.  Had to use it "in anger" for the first time this past summer during a swim support.  A 25'-30' powerboat with twin outboards was bearing down on my swimmer (and me), having gotten past the security outriders, and was clearly not paying much attention to other watercraft.  At about 50 yards closure, I let out five excruciatingly painful (to me) blasts on the Fox 40, the guy heard it over the noise of his twin engines, and turned and throttled back immediately.  That's loud!  I had trouble hearing much for 20 minutes and my swimmer, who had already dived under my kayak and which I was about to roll under myself, heard it loud and clear, too.

Dunno if it's the best, but I can't imagine a more effective and compact whistle.  Maybe somebody with good acoustic monitoring systems could hold a blow-off sometime --- let's check those bios!

Jack
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From: Thomas M. Heineman <heineman_at_enteract.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 08:20:50 -0800
Regarding the below Fox 40 whistle.  Similar large boats make frequent
appearances on Lake Michigan and a whistle would be a good thing to
have.

Anyone know of where this can be ordered on via the web?

Tom
Chicago



JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Dunno if it's the best, but I can't imagine a more effective and compact whistle.  Maybe somebody with good acoustic monitoring systems could hold a blow-off sometime --- let's check those bios!
> 
> Jack
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From: Michael Daly <michaeldaly_at_home.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 10:09:29 -0500
Sandykayak_at_aol.com wrote:
> 
> I've been advised that the Fox 40 is probably the best whistle ($6-8).  Does
> anyone out there care to comment?

The Fox 40 has a well deserved reputation, but there is a louder 
whistle and it is the one in the Subject line - the Storm 
Whistle.  That's a brand name and for a picture, look below
the fox 40 photos on this web site: http://www.fastmed.com/Whistle.htm

The Storm is bigger than the Fox 40 and has the drawback of relying
on a pea in a chamber*, but is really, _really_, REALLY loud.  As 
far as I know, it's available only in orange.  I have both Fox 40s
and a Storm Whistle and would highly recommend the latter, for
kayaking and just about anything else.

Mike

*The problem with the pea is that it could freeze up in cold
weather.  This is a problem for hockey referees and is one
of the motivating factors cited in the development of the 
Fox 40.  The Fox uses three sound chambers that each put out a
slightly different pitch.  The constructive and destructive
interference of the three different frequencies causes a 
set of beating frequencies and that produces the pulsing
that allows the elimination of the pea.

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From: Dan Hagen <dan_at_hagen.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 09:35:02 -0800
Michael Daly wrote:
> 
> The Fox 40 has a well deserved reputation, but there is a louder
> whistle and it is the one in the Subject line - the Storm
> Whistle.  That's a brand name and for a picture, look below
> the fox 40 photos on this web site: http://www.fastmed.com/Whistle.htm

It would be interesting to run some tests of the Fox 40 versus the Storm
Whistle. I recently tested the Storm Whistle against a small compressed
air horn: the Tempo "Safe&Sound" JR-1, which uses a small canister and
is activated via a button on the top. My test was for "audibility",
which depends on a number of factors, including frequency. The test was
conducted in the presence of substantial background noise, including a
couple of motors with different frequencies. While the results might
vary with different sets of background noises or with different people,
I found that the Storm Whistle was about as good as the air horn. The
air horn could be heard from slightly farther away (a difference of
about 5-10 percent), but the whistle was slightly more "noticeable" at
most distances (a subjective judgment) due to the higher pitch. The
whistle's sound does not blend as well with the background noises I was
using, which helps to make up for its lower energy.
  
While I have always carried an air horn and purchased the whistle for
use as a back-up, based on these tests I wouldn't hesitate to carry just
the whistle. Except in bear country, where I will continue to carry an
air horn. I have found that an air horn is very effective at scaring off
brown bears. 

Dan Hagen
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From: John Waddington <waddinj_at_recorder.ca>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 15:34:43 -0500
> 
> *The problem with the pea is that it could freeze up in cold
> weather.  

Here in Canada, coast guard regulations insist on only
pea-less whistles.

John
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From: <JSpinner_at_aol.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Storm Whistles
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 22:52:17 EST
In a message dated 10/31/99 6:32:51 AM, JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com writes:

<<I've found a Fox 40 to be an extremely effective (read: LOUD) whistle while 
still small in size. . . . Dunno if it's the best, but I can't imagine a more 
effective and compact whistle.  Maybe somebody with good acoustic monitoring 
systems could hold a blow-off sometime --- let's check those bios! >>
hey, where'd you find this thing? I've never seen one that I can recall. I 
nearly blew an unsuspecting woman out of her boat when she asked me to show 
her how loud my storm whistle is. I still don't think it is all that 
effective, but yours sounds VERY good.

Joan

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