I saw the Carey Parks Walkabout Whistle and was really interested because of the whole volume thing. Plus the sound quality that I heard was really sweet. How quiet is the quiet setting? I’m not looking to be so quiet I can practice in an apartment and not wake the day-sleepers. I just thought maybe if I went down to the beach I could play and not bother people there for some quiet nature or draw a lot of attention to myself. Would it work well for this?
I think Carey’s mechanism works quite well but quiet is relative. Compared to what and who is listening or bothered. Watch this and decide for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfgdUv41u98 There are other demonstration videos on YouTube as well.
And there is nothing complicated about how to quiet a whistle. Any whistle can be muted to a large degree by limiting the width of the airstream and/or window. And there is always the “whisper method” of playing which requires no modifications to the whistle but you only hear one octave of notes. It can help make for a happy home.
Hope that helps.
Feadoggie
Yeah, that does help. I do sometimes use the whisper method but that’s not quite the same as actually playing the whistle. I’ll have to think about it some more. I’m not a whistle acquisition person. I might bring my flute to the beach instead, but that pocket-size feature of the whistle is also appealing, plus whistle doesn’t make me mad like flute embouchure sometimes does.
Just remember that windy beaches and whistles don’t always mix. You might need to find yourself a sheltered spot. Or face away from the wind. Or turn your whistle head upside-down. Or there’s always Tidy Cat …
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/the-tidy-cat-set/78773/1
I have one of these and love it - the “muffler” works really well, too. It does change the pitch when you crank it way down, but it is still in tune with itself. If you cover the window completely it still plays and makes a whispering sound that allows you to practice your fingering with enough sound to recognize the tune. Highly recommended!
Pat
You can always put some poster putty on the sides of the wind way and that’ll have the same effect.
As a person who travels quite a bit, ( about 140+ nights a year away from home) I carry one of these with me to use in hotel rooms. I like it because I can quiet it down a lot and still reach the second octave notes without too much trouble.
And it’s practically indestructible to boot. 
I’m not going to restate the excellent advice you’ve already received.
Carey makes excellent whistles, tone ring or not they are among the best you’ll find.
I often play at the beach and in parks around San Francisco and I’ve never had anyone complain. In fact, I was playing at Stern Grove (a local park) this past Saturday and several folks picnicking nearby stopped to ask what instrument I was playing, then encouraged me to continue. At that time I was playing a Busman Delrin/Dymonwood D, which is one of the loudest whistles I own. Whistles are just not perceived as loud when outside in the open air. If I were you, I’d get one of Carey’s whistles but play it wide open and see what the reaction is.
Oh, BTW, I’m not exactly a professional player either…
ecohawk