Has anyone tried a Storm Whistle underwater to get a divebuddies attention?

[UnderWaterFlyerGuy]

Has anyone tried a Storm Whistle underwater to get a divebuddies attention?

All-Weather Safety Whistle Company - The Loudest Emergency Whistles


Other cheap attention getters?
tap on tank with knife? <is this the most cheap and practical?

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I *highly* doubt a whistle would work underwater.

This is my very own opinion, but I believe that if you need a tool of any kind to get your buddy's attention, you are diving solo. There is nothing wrong with diving solo when trained and equipped properly, but most people dive solo without realizing it.

 

[PvtStash]

tried it

 

[DevonDiver]

This is my very own opinion, but I believe that if you need a tool of any kind to get your buddy's attention, you are diving solo.

I kinda share this position. Proper buddy skills would render the need for such measures worthless.

At the very least, it represents an equipment based solution to a skills/procedures based problem.

I know that some SB members would like to raise the issue of unreliable insta-buddies, but really... if the buddy was that unreliable, what difference would a signalling device make? They're either supporting you, or they aren't.

Having a long-range underwater signalling device just encourages more distant buddy separation. It's a false sense of security.

 

[CuracaoJ]

I sort of agree with Devon and Abyssal, but then again, I sort of don't....

I agree that a noise maker should not ever be a replacement for good buddy skills and practices. I also agree that they should never be allowed to be used as a crutch. One should never think "oh my buddy isn't looking but I'm going to swim 10 meters away and go look at xyzthingy, she or I can rattle a noise maker if we need each other."

However, that being said, I carry one, and I require my son to carry one as well. I also keep a spare in my bag for other buddies. Good buddy skills should be the norm, but lets face it every once in a while things happen, and people get distracted. Occasionally they are useful to get the attention of other divers besides my buddies. A few dives back I had to grab another divers attention in a wreck that was about to wrap his tank into a wire going across a room. He was about 5 meters away, and I was able to get his attention and have him notice the wire.

I look at it sort of like my knife. I don't ever want to be diving in a mess on monofillament, but if it happens I want to have a knife with me. The other thing is it can be useful to say "hey you are about to get eaten by a giant swimming lobsterman from behind!" Which again, doesn't happen often, and eye contact should be easy to get, but again, just in case the lobsterman attack is eminent and the eye contact is not there...it could be useful.

My two BAR
Jeff

 

[UnderWaterFlyerGuy]

Thanks for the info and advice

 

[Mopar]

I got one and have tried it underwater. Not to get my buddies attention, but just to try it. The answer is no he could not hear it to well.The now ex manager of my lds told me you can hear it underwater really well. Also told me you can hear it a mile away above water but I always said he could blow one really well. ...yes thats right.

 

[spectrum]

Yes I have. I could hear it fine but my buddy never noticed. 7mm hoods probably didn't help.

Pete

 

[windapp]

If someone blew a whistle at the surface close to the water, how close would you have to be hear it? There is just not enough energy to travel through the denser medium. In the rare event you need to get your buddies attention, a knife against your tank would work much better.

 

[UnderWaterFlyerGuy]

Thanks again for helping a new diver gain knowledge and understanding where the air is plentiful... at the PC keyboard. Thanks