Had to find one in a hurry. Friend of mine, an ex Navy SEAL and instructor of SEALs, died Aug 21, 2022. Under his instructions 3 of his trainees went on to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was my most faithful usher in our church and he surprised me one morning when he made me his honorary swim buddy. The pipe I found needed a lot of work to tune, but managed to get a passable tone. Thanks for your instruction.
Thanks for sharing the video, I was a machinist's mate on an aircraft carrier and just remember the reveille call using this whistle and was given one recently as a gift, so I thought I'd see if I might learn to make that call myself. This didn't get me far towards making the call but it is filled with interesting information and great details.
I'm pleased to see the methods and magic of the boatswain's call being shared by people from so many diverse traditions. I'm a Piping Instructor with the Sea Cadet Corps in the UK, and I'm very impressed with Mate Stacey's presentation. It is refreshing to see so much detail and attention being paid to the care and tuning of a call, and to the preservation of the customs of the host tradition. Our customs and practice differ somewhat, being based on those of the Royal Navy, and I found the information intriguing and enlightening. Thank you for sharing this video. Yours Aye, PO (SCC) Pete Morris.
Since you're in the UK. do you call your boatswain a whistle or a pipe? Also, do you put bees wax in yours? Finally, do you flatten the sides of the bowl? or do you keep the spherical shape intact?
In the UK Royal Navy and the Sea Cadet Corps, it's known as a 'boatswain's call', or simply a 'call'. The word 'pipe' is used to mean the verbal order occasionally given after the call, and some people use it to mean the call itself. The use of the word 'whistle' is deprecated, but of course a boatswain's call is indeed a whistle! I don't use wax, and I've asked senior instructors, and I was given an 'old-fashioned look', meaning it is not the custom in the UK to do so. We do not flatten the sides of the bowl; many antique calls have this feature, but modern RN-issue calls (which can be bought from Hudsons / Acme Whistle Co Ltd) have spherical buoys and I know of no-one among my peers in the UK who distorts them. Thank you for your interest, georg. Kind regards, Pete.
Wow this thing is a whole discipline! I bought one at the Boston museum for my toddler and now I'm trying to learn how to do the higher pitch. Read Birds of Prey by Wilbur Smith, privateers in South Africa used it! Awesome!
I'm sorry you are upset by the names used in the video. I didn't make the video, I just uploaded it. Sea Scouts BSA created it and is responsible for the content. It is included as part of the printed Sea Scout manual. I've uploaded the videos to make them available to everyone using the PDF version of the manual. Personally, I've heard the device referred to as a pipe, a call and a whistle. Thanks for your concern, and taking the time to comment.
hi, nice to be able to see and share their knowledge to younger siblings Sea Scouts. I Sea Scouts from Indonesia. I hope what we have given to the brothers beneficial to the formation of good character.
Where did you get your Bosun's Pipe? I purchased an EWhistles. It looks of great quality, but in my large hands, it is hard to hold as you are. Great educational videos.
you keep calling it a pipe and you know dang well it is always called a call this message is brought to you by an old sea dog with 38 years of sea time thanks boats
