Hello again. This may be a stupid question, but I must ask it. I realize that aluminum is a lightweight material, but is it too light? My son’s friend had said that he wouldn’t ever buy an aluminum whistle because the one he had (called a Walton’s Little Black D?) bent and broke EASILY. Is it different when people say that their whistles are made out of aluminum alloy, or not. Any thoughts?
Yeah the LBW is a bit fragile that way. The aluminum is very thin in this whistle.
However, I have an aluminum Burke which is very sturdy, it’s been dropped on a concrete floor a couple of times and took no damage.
I also have an Alba Q1 which I believe to be aluminum. I don’t think anything short of a sledgehammer would make much of a dent in that one.
–James
I have a very very very cheap whistle made of aluminum. I think I could crush it between thumb and index finger should I have the desire. But I’ve seen pictures of aluminum whistles that look to have thicker walls and hence more durable. I’d like to try one of these aluminum whistles.
Most of the time whistles get bent when they are carried in the back pocket or mistreated other ways. Good care of them and they will last indefinitely.
I can think of several whistle makers that make high quality and durable whistles out of aluminum. Two already mentioned, Burke and Alba. Two more are Overton (both Bernard Overton and Colin Goldie) and the Chieftain/Kerry line. Erle Bartlett makes his Syn out of aluminum as well. I am sure there are others that I am totally forgetting. Oh, how could I forget O’Riordan. 
Being anodized black probably did it.
Check this out:
L to R are LBW, O’Riordan, Chieftain, Syn and Overton
The silver part on the O’Riordan is a ring on the bell end. The actual whistle wall is black (anodized).
The LBW and others of its ilk (Sweetone and Clarke orig) are actually rolled sheet metal. The others are either extruded or milled aluminum tubes. No comparison and there is a reason the thinner ones are usually referred to as CHEAPIES!
-I have a Silkstone D+ alloy whistle which is sturdy and has been
undamaged by careless carriage among heavy, hard objects in luggage, backpack and truck. A modicum of care will keep most metal whistles from damage. -“Modicum” does not include challenges like a three-year old using a whistle to excavate backyard tunnels or a desperate motorist tightening an alternator belt using the whistle as a pry bar. Truly destructive scenarios justify a cheapie so tears are saved for more important things.
-I don’t know of any maker whose whistles are guaranteed with a
Craftsman tool-type whistle guarantee. (Break it, bring it back and we’ll give you a new one!) Some makers have been known to fix or replace an instrument whose demise or damage is no fault of theirs, however-a warm fuzzy testament to their sense of service.
A warranty: Three years or 36,000 reels, whichever comes first. 
I have a LBW and a Guinness (essentially the same whistle) which both are very fragile and extremely light weight. This is due to the very thin walls however. My Syn set is made of thicker aluminium and they are very sturdy and have a solid feel, not very heavy but definately not very light weight eighter.
I would say Syns are some of the sturdiest whistles out there.
Most useful secondary function of a whistle:
To pull out the bridge pins on your guitar when you break a string in a session. Better than any tool I’ve found so far 
Hmmm…I’ve never thought of that…
as I learned this past weekend, whistle can also be good for opening cans of beer
LBWs and Guinness whistles make a much better supports for your sweet tater plants than do Generations because, being aluminum, they do not rust.
For that same reason, you could also use them for aquarium decorations.
With my Dixon polymer/aluminum hybrid, the aluminum is much thicker and sturdier, and furthermore, when under stress, the polymer protects the aluminum by cracking first.
yeah whistles work fine for openig a beer but they work terribly as straws