Last night I accidentally crushed (with my knee) my beloved Dixon trad, which I’d had for years and was by far my most heavily played whistle. No one to blame but myself - the whistle was on the bed, and I climbed into bed, with the whistle and my knee both at exactly the right/wrong location.
I offer this up as a cautionary tale: it’s late at night - do you know where your whistles are?
Sigh, sniffle, whimper …
Walt
…and thankfully it was your knee 
My condolences to the family 
Queen Victoria never looked behind her when she sat down. Clearly she never played whistle.
Ah yes… Condolences, and all that. But what a truly wonderful excuse to exercise your WHOA… Hmmm. I hope your travails do not give any other whistle pilgrims, ideas…
Best.
Byll
Thanks all for the kind words and whistle (or bodily) humor 
I had hoped to at least turn this into a teachable moment for my 2-year-old daughter. When I told her that I was sad because I had broken my toy, she pointed at one of her toys, smiled confidently and said, “Hazel’s toys are good!”
OUCH! We’re clearly going to have to work on her empathy skills!
To cushion the blow, I’ve ordered a Tweaked Mellow Dog from Doc at the Irish Flute Store. Eventually I’ll get another Dixon trad, but it’s just too soon; I’m not done grieving yet!
How squashed is it? Is it truly a goner?
I rescued a squashed Walton’s Little Black by working it back to round with a wooden dowel and various makeshift tools. Of course, the thin aluminum is easy to work. But you might have luck with a wooden or metal rod as a mandrel. Or maybe one of the whistle makers on the Chiffboard, like Daniel Bingamon or Chuck Tilbury, might be able to fix it.
In any case, be sure to save your old whistle head (assuming that wasn’t crushed!). They may not be 100% consistent, and putting your old head on a new Dixon tube will more or less guarantee resurrecting you old friend.
Same here, only with a Reyburn brass C. It had been completely squashed flat from the third to fifth holes (don’t even ask 
) and I used a wood dowel and rubber mallet to ever so gently get it back into shape. It took quite a while but you have to look very closely to tell it had been damaged, and it plays great. All that remains is a very small ripple near the fifth hole.
If your trad isn’t over the edge and the head is still ok, maybe you can give it a try??
Thanks MTGuru and Ballyshannon for the suggestions. I may try salvaging it, and even if I can, I can certainly recycle the head. I was even toying with trying the head on, say, a Generation … figured at the very least I’d have a great Frankensteinian whistle for Halloween … it’s ALIVE!!!
I had the same thing happen with my Sweetheart a few years ago. I crushed it good. I still miss it.
I have partially restored the whistle to its former glory, thanks to a wooden dowel rod and a rubber mallet. Sadly, there are still dent’s on both sides of the 5 hole, and the area from the 5 hole to the end of the whistle is still bent a bit.
But it’s playable and reasonably in tune … eventually I’ll get a replacement, but this takes some of the sting out of it!
Ouch! I’m a big fan of Sweethearts … that must have been quite a loss.
You’ll like the tweaked mellow dog…it and my dixon trad are my 2 favorite whistles. I play the mellow dog more though because of the better volume for sessions. If I squashed my dixon trad, I’d order another the next day - lovely sounding whistle and a bit quieter for in-home practice.
Eric
Terrible luck, crushing whistles, a man I know once ran over a Burke whistle in his car! It was never the same again…
Best of luck!
The man, the car or the whistle?
Best wishes.
Steve
I initially misread “a man I know once” as “I once” … I was thinking, “Wow, you ran over a Burke whistle in Michael Burke’s car? What were you doing in his car, and where was he at the time?”
Must … read … carefully …
I lost a newly acquired Burke Brass Session D before NewYear. I went to town to pick up my son, and when I came home the whistle was not in my bag. I went back to town and looked and asked around, nothing! I was devastated.
A week later I read in our community advertiser that someone had found a whistle. It was found by a neighbour on the narrow lane a few steps from my home! It must have slipped out of the bag when I stepped into the car. I was overjoyed receiving it back, in its padded pouch. But the tube was crushed! A car must have gone over it, perhaps even myself? Still, mouthpiece and barrel were fine, just a crushed tube. I straightened it out as good as I could, and it plays as before.
I am most grateful for my neighbour, and for the padded pouch!
I sat on a whistle one dark night at a festival and snapped the head right off. Now I never, ever, ever put a whistle down where there is a chance something could happen to it.
It’s a painful lesson to learn. My thoughts are with you.
That would make for a great Halloween story … “It all began one dark, dark night at a festival. The night air was filled with the sounds of music, laughter, and gaiety – until one man’s anguished cry drowned all the merriment.”
Riveting stuff! 
Walt…the question everyone would want to know in your story would be…was the anguished cry in the key of D, Eb or low D… 
steve