can anyone give me an opinion about whether it is easier/better to learn to play with a whistle that has an inline or offset hole pattern ? Seems like maybe the offset is better in the long run but might be easier to learn on inline ?
Hello there,
Off set tone holes can be a good feature for folks with hands on the small side; especially on larger low whistles. On a low D, for example, it can facilitate making the stretch to the low D note on the right hand and the G on the left hand.
What size are your hands? With my hand open and out stretched, I measure from my thumb tip to my little finer tip. In my case, I get nine inches and have no problem with inline holes.
I had an Irish flute with off set holes and found it rather a nuisance, and switched back to an inline.
I would stick with inline until you get to a low F where stretch could be an issue. Cheers, Cyril. 
thanks as always kind sir…Inline is tis
What Cranberrydog was saying in short: depends on your hands. I prefer the holes to be in a line; but when you are talking about a large D whistle, a bit of Ergonomitry for the right hand might be a good idea. I ordered a PVC flute from Doug Tipple, who gives buyers the option of ergonomic lining or straight line, and I got straight line. It feels much like a pennywhistle, and the digital adjustments are fairly minor. But if your hands have problems with the stretch of lined holes, I’d give the others a try.
Wow. Cranberrydog you have large hands or maybe that’s average for a male. I just measured my husband’s and his are also 9. Mine are a full 2 inches shorter. 
I struggle with reach on every instrument but tin whistle. Didn’t even know offset holes were an option but glad someone brought it up - food for thought as one day I would like to get a low d.
awww, mine are only 8 inches…
But I can cover all the wholes on my tipple flute with the classical grip easy.
Are low d’s harder to cover than D flutes?
nevermind, question wasn’t answered but I figured it out for myself.
My hands are 9 3/4" (in your face.) Offset holes are never off-set nicely for me. They’re situated even worse.
The Burke “pro viper” low D whistle has a moveable bottom finger hole so that you can make it as offset as you wish.
I’ve experimented with various positions and guess what- I like it best dead-on centered.
It’s probably simply because every other thing I play- the uilleann pipes, Highland pipes, flutes, whistles, etc, have in-line holes.
Someone asked what offset was- imagine the holes on a whistle:
OOO OOO
That’s in-line. A whistle with an offset bottom hole would be:
OOO OO
_______O
Well that’s an exaggeration but hey.
One of the reasons I like my Burke AL-PRO low D whistle is because the tube is in two parts, separating the left and right hands.
I can rotate the sections to allow my elbows to be able to drop down to my sides, allowing me to play it standing up or sitting down.
If the holes are in-line for my low F and below whistles, I have to sit down and prop the bottom of the whistle against my leg and stick my elbows out.
If the bottom hand hole is offset, it is easier for me to play standing up.
My hands measure 7.5 inches. I can handle inline holes on my Tipple PVC flute with the piper’s grip. I imagine that is quite similar in size to a low D whistle.
My Folk Flute is conical bore and has very slightly offset holes. I find that the pads of my fingers go exactly right to the hole. It’s very convenient.
But I’m not so sure it would be the same with a low D whistle because I think in order to reach the OTHER lower holes I’d have to use a piper’s grip like I do with my Tipple flute, which would put my right ring finger in the perfect position for an inline hole.