Stuff We Like - The Whistle System

Our kids, especially our boys, love to run ahead of us on the trail.  99% of the time we feel safe with them out of our site in the woods, but every so often we want to know where they are.  We tried to implement a whistle system, but our chintzy plastic whistles from the fish pond at the school carnival weren't cutting it.  So, we got these little beauties on Amazon:

The first time I blew it I thought it wasn't loud enough.  As I thought about it more though, I realized I don't want it so loud that anyone in the park can hear.  I don't want the sound to carry much farther than the maximum distance I want between me and the kids.

Here is our system.  I keep one attached to my pack, and they kids keep one attached to their pack.  One whistle is a check-in.  Either I or the kids can start and the other will respond with one whistle.  This is just to say everybody's fine.  If I blow two whistles, the kids know that they need to come back closer until they can see us again.  Three whistles, blown by anyone, is an emergency, which we define as dangerous wildlife or serious injury.

We tried it for the first time at Hobbs, and it worked great.