Fox 40 Classic Official Referee Whistles

 (20 customer reviews)

I just did a real world distance test tonight with 7 different whistles. "decibel" tests with meters are NOT representative of real world distance tests with wind, birds, hills, etc.. They are misleading.

These are the 7 whistles I tested at 1/4 mile distance, over a hill and with general outdoor noise present (birds, wind, etc.), in order of loudness:
1) Storm (or Fox Sonik Blast - see update below)
2) Fox 40 Classic
3) Acme Tornado 2000 - the "loudest whistle in the world"
4) Acme Tornado
5) Cheap round tubular aluminum whistle.
6) Fox 40 Sharx - on paper, their loudest whistle in decibels
7) Cheap $1.50 whistle\compass\thermometer from DealExtreme

I did my test two different ways and then compared the results. First I had my 90 lb. son blow each whistle 3 times while I listened from 1/4 mile away, over a small hill. We could not see each other, but we used walkie talkies to communicate. Then we traded places and repeated the...Read more

I am soccer referee and have a large collection of whistles. This whistle is appropriate for full-sided games (11 v 11) on a full sized field. For small-sided games on smaller fields, this whistle is a bit too loud. I've had players cover thier ears when I blow it hard for a foul. For small-sided games, I use either a traditional pea whistle (Acme Whistle Plastic) or a Fox 40 Pearl Safety. The Fox 40 is also a bit hard to "tweet", as it requires more air to produce sound than a pea whistle.

I bought the fox 40 classic and the All Weather Storm Safety Whistle. Both are really loud! The fox has a higher pitch. the storm is throatier. if you are not hindered in your breathing both are good choices. If you have breathing issues or are injured such that you can't blow hard, the All Weather Storm Safety Whistle, is so much easier to blow that there is no choice. The Storm is my whistle of choice in my emergency kit.