Acme have made whistles in Birmingham since the 1870s and the numbers on them are pitches, not model years. Almost everything here is an Acme.
The numbers
- 210 - ultra-high, with a pea. The pea gives you a trill as well as a pip.
- 210.5 - the standard gundog pitch and the one most spaniel and retriever handlers start on. Held in black and orange.
- 211.5 - a lower pitch, and the usual alternative if you work alongside other handlers on 210.5 and want your dog to pick out your whistle.
- 576 Shepherd's Mouth - a different instrument altogether, for close work and for a range of notes rather than one. Held in black, purple, red and yellow.
- 535 Silent - adjustable ultrasonic. Not silent, just above where most people hear it.
- Bisley Buffalo Horn - single pitch, a traditional horn whistle.
The advice that matters
Pick one pitch and stay on it for the life of the dog. The dog learns the note, not the whistle, and a handler who switches to a 211.5 halfway through training has undone months of work. Buy the spare at the same time and in the same number - whistles get lost down the back of a seat and dropped in a river, and the day you need to replace one is not the day to find out the shop has a different pitch in.
Beater horns and crow and predator calls are on the Acme page. Keep the whistle on a lanyard - round your neck, not in a pocket.
Related: Collars & Leads · Dummies & Launchers · Lanyards · Gundog Accessories