Review by: Bill Dawes – 2/06/2023
This might seem a strange thing to warrant a review on, but honestly – there are whistles, and there are whistles!
I stumbled across a discussion amongst mountain guides a few years back regarding which was the best whistle for outdoor emergencies, and that’s where I learned about the Fox 40 – the agreement was pretty much unanimous that it was the one to have. Better still, it’s widely available all around the globe – sports stores sell them over the counter, or they’re easily sourced online.
I’ve now been using them for several years, and am 100% happy with their performance. They’re robust, small and light, and they never clog up, they’re entirely unbothered by being submerged in water, and they’re just loud as hell!
So here’s a super cheap way of turbo-charging your safety equipment. If you don’t already have a whistle, this is a great one to get. You may already have a whistle on your buoyancy aid; a red one like this.
They’re OK, quite a sweet sound. But the Fox 40 is literally twice as loud. When I demonstraste them in the classroom during SUP safety courses, people flinch – it hurts, it’s that loud. Which is what you want from your safety whistle!
So, do yourself a favour, replace that red one with a Fox 40. If you ever need to rely on your whistle you’ll be glad you did!