Which One You Should NOT Trust! 

Good stuff man! Blowing a whistle is a hell of a lot easier than screaming

I checked and lo and behold I still have my old ACR meets USSG requirements and maybe SOLAS as well. Higher pitch I think the theory is pierce above waves which are lower in frequency. We never tested as far as I recall. You're 1000% spot on correct about the lower freqs traveling longer distances. That's why we hear boom bass boxes in those little hot rod kid cars! Lol And I really liked your assessment about 400 yards off trail and no one can hear you talking or branch snaps! That was a GREAT takeaway from your tests! Super useful information!

The comparison we didn't know that we needed! This is good stuff. Personally, I think the Fox has more of an "alarming" sound with its higher pitch. It just feels more like it will grab attention than the other 2. The psychological effect of the pitch could be a determining factor if someone is nearby but not necessarily looking for. Now if rescuers are involved knowingly looking for you, sheer volume may be the better thing. Thanks for this video; it may save a life one day.

Definitely nice review on whistles. I have never seen a review on them ever. And it is nice to know how effective one really is

Great video, thank you for taking seriously a often overlooked subject. Many years ago I tried to get the UK consumer organisation "Which" to carry out a comparison test on survival whistles, as I was totally disappointed by what was supposed to be, "the loudest whistle in the world". Three letters, no replies or acknowledgements ! At that time I was worried about a youngster like a boy/girl scout/guide lying in the heather with a broken ankle and blowing on a useless whistle. Found over the years generally the best whistles were in USA, ACR [like the one in your tests] . In the UK, any whistle made by J. Hudson & Co trading as ACME. (No relation to the company used by Wile E Coyote. Beep ! Beep !) Their "police" and "Thunderer" whistles are world famous. Their specific survival whistles "Tornado" at 117 decibels and "Survival 649" ,on which most other survival whistles are based, are both SOLAS, USCG and Mountain Rescue approved. Thanks again for highlighting this neglected,but important, area.

sounds like i can hear the china classic up to 1km in this video

Excellent video that is a big time saver. I have a a fox 40, acr, sailors whistle, coaches style, and others. I had often wanted to know how effective they really were. I hadn't taken the time and made the effort it took. Thanks for doing it.

Thanks Bill! This test answered a bunch of questions for me.

Fox 40 works for me …and I have to use mine daily … under all conditions

Great info, thank you for posting!

Very interesting ! This is the very first comparison of whistles I have ever seen. To my knowledge, no one has done this before !

Stokermatic....Great review and analysis. Thanks for all your hard work Hoorah!

Dog whistles are best for coyotes...Afghanistan is full of them and dogs...when you're patrolling blow it they hush and run really quick.

@Stokermatic, It's hard to get a true sound evaluation from a camera. What a camera hears -v- what a human ear hears is vastly different. Also what one person hears -v- another person hears is vastly different. Some people hear high-pitched sounds better and others hear low-pitched sounds better. So there is a wide spectrum. I did a sound test once with 6 people (3 males, 3 females) and three different whistles at .25, .50 and 1.0 mile. Test Subjects: Males - 1-40 y.o., 1-27 y.o., 1-19 y.o. Test Subjects: Females - 1-38 y.o., 1-26 y.o., 1-17 y.o. 1. Fox 40 - @.25 mile 6 heard it. @.50 mile 6 heard it. @ 1.0 mile 4 heard it 2. Jetscream - @.25 mile 6 heard it. @.50 mile 6 heard it. @ 1.0 mile 6 heard it 3. Hyper Whistle - @.25 mile 6 heard it. @.50 mile 6 heard it. @ 1.0 mile 6 heard it The 40 and 27 y.o. males stated that the 2nd & 3rd whistles were feint at 1 mile, but they did not hear the 1st whistle at 1 mile, the rest of the test subjects stated that they heard all three whistles the same at all 3 distances. Another conclusive factor is the amount of auditory damage a person has suffered over the course of their life. So my conclusion. All 3 whistles I tested are viable options for survival. A big part of their effectiveness depends on the hearing of those that are within ear shot. Personally, when I worked S.A.R. I wore Walker's Game Ear Amplified Ear Muffs to enhance the sounds and I could more accurately pinpoint people's location for rescue, especially if they were injured and unable to scream or shout, but could talk.

I have many Fox 40 whistles, Storm whistles and assorted Acme whistles. For absolute loudness, you can't beat the Storm. In urban environments, Acme's sound is the nicest because of the pea, but isn't as loud as pealess designs. My EDC whistle was the Fox 40 Classic CMG for many years, but I've switched to the Fox 40 Epik CMG because of its lower tone and nicer rounded shape. A few things you did not mention: 1) flat whistles are harder to blow 2) Ergonomics are important -- I insist on silicon-covered grips. 3) hearing protection may be necessary with louder whistles.

Good information. I run a Storm Whistle.

Interesting test! Thanks!!

Simply outstanding!👍👍👍

Thanks Bruce willis

In my backpack I carry one of the old style metal referee's whistles with the pea inside it. It's pretty loud but I would like to compare it to these. It's a pretty good bet that if someone can hear 3 blasts on it they are going to know that it's somebody blowing a whistle. Personally, at my age with 66 year old hearing, I'm not sure I would recognize the tones of the others as a distress signal unless I was out looking for someone that I suspected was lost or hadn't shown up when they were expected.

Good testing. Interesting results. I like the logic of how you conducted the experiment. Given, it's not rocket surgery, but quite an effective process.

Good video , thanks for sharing , God bless !

I remember Aron Ralston from a while back. A whistle would very likely have saved him from amputating his arm. He was only a few yards from the trail. But, of course, he did just about everything wrong that day.

LOL - "interpyulate, if I can start making up my own words ...". Wait. Which was the one we shouldn't trust?

I wonder whether something like a vuvuzela would carry further.

Great test of frequency and distance Top! Now I need to test my emergency whistles LOL! 😁😂

Personally, id stick with the regular old whistle. Maybe pack it and one of those screamers and blow one or other depending on terrain but never one then other as in a life or death situation that would decrease being found. I have the "px" classic (lol) somewhere. I know its one of the things for the bag, just needs to get it there.

Try shouting at the top of your voice and you'll soon wear your throat out. Great comparison. I have all types. including ones identical or similar to the ones used. Storm whistles are loud but bulky. They found Doctor Michael Mosely's body alongside a fence to a tourist resort, on a Greek island. If he had a whistle, he might have had a chance of someone discovering him before he perished.

Have you ever used a Storm Whistle, I think they're even louder, though bulkier?

Lives have been lost simply because they did not have a whistle. This is only one elementary survival skill. Thanks for sharing.

Hey brother you have a beautiful dog

I would be curious to know how much effort is needed to make the whistles effective. Like if someone were injured and couldnt blow into the whistle as hard as normal, how much effort is required to still get someones attention?

Good video. What signal or pattern should you be using / blowing?

I wanted a loud whistle like a referee would have, but there was two problems it was to shiny, and it made noise it raddled because of the ball on the inside.

Fox is good for coaches, educators, sports or traffic control.

🌟 Extra smart and useful demo.🌎 🍎✅

fox 40 not enough performance compare to other

So if you hear a coyote, is it safe to say it is within 500 meters?

👍👍👍👍👍👍

I prefer the metal “coaches whistle”. It’s loud enough and is harder to break. One is on my edc keychain, and one in all my bags. Also put dog whistles in my rescue kits. For obvious reasons. Semper Fi 🇺🇸

None of those.

Is there a link to that China whistle? I can't find one anywhere.

Just use a hyperwhistle. That thing is hands down loud as shit

500 meters is 1640 feet or about 546 yards. So 500 meters would be about 5 and a half football fields in length. An American football playing field is 100 yards/91.44 meters long. For Non - Americans, football what Americans call soccer, the field size is 100m * 50m