High Sierra Topix

After the incident with the hiker in the Sierra National Forest, thought I would ask, how many of you carry whistles as part of your basic essentials? Which on do you have?
http://survival-mastery.com/skills/comm ... istle.html

I don't have one. I probably should have one. Will try to pick one up.

Had one. Gave it to a friend who hiked out solo 2 days early because he couldn't sleep at altitude. Never got it back. They are a good idea.

Still have my Storm Safety Whistle, that thing is loud.

Actually carry two -
One REI clipped to my pack shoulder strap,
and another, attached to my headlamp strap (BTW, always worn around my neck at night.)

rlown wrote:Had one. Gave it to a friend who hiked out solo 2 days early because he couldn't sleep at altitude.

I wonder if 125mg tablets of acetazolamide might have worked better. That's what I take when I'm having trouble sleeping at altitude and it works like a charm.

No whistle for me. I had one of those orange whistle/buckle things on my sternum strap. But I don't like sternum straps so I removed it.

I played a part in a rescue that was initiated when I heard someone blowing their whistle. Would we have heard them screaming help instead? I'll never know since they had that whistle.

longri wrote:

rlown wrote:Had one. Gave it to a friend who hiked out solo 2 days early because he couldn't sleep at altitude.

I wonder if 125mg tablets of acetazolamide might have worked better. That's what I take when I'm having trouble sleeping at altitude and it works like a charm.

I made him go to the doctor and they prescribed Xanax. I found that 151 made him sleep better Still has my whistle though.

Longri wrote:

Would we have heard them screaming help instead? I

A whistle is much easier to blow than to yell, and the sound travels much further, even up to a mile away.

One of the features of my Aquilo pack from Elemental Horizons is a built-in whistle attached to the sternum strap. I also carry a small Liberty Mountain aluminum whistle like this, attached to my light shell jacket as a zipper pull. The shell goes with me whenever I wander away from camp.