I have a low D aluminum whistle that is as slippery as an eel. It keeps trying to slide out of my hands while playing—particularly after it gets warmed up. I realize part of this may be dry winter hands, but is this a problem for other players? If so, is there a simple way to increase the coefficient of friction (see I remembered something from high school physics) on the tube?
Appreciate your suggestions.
Best wishes.
Steve
Maybe a thumbrest would help?
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/whistles/accessories/thumbrests.htm
Maybe a piece of masking tape on the back?
You could also get a saxophone thumb rest and epoxy it in place. I did that on a Copeland low D and it worked great as a more permanent solution. Be really sure of the location before you glue it (although you CAN get the epoxy off if you need to).
Any whistle that is so inherently difficult to play as to require remedial efforts to simply hold it suggests a serious design flaw, gross incompetence, and blatant disregard for the musician on the part of the maker. Rather than use stop-gap fixes, I’d demand my money back. In a world suddenly filled with ‘makers’ armed with pipe cutters and drill presses hawking their wares as musical instruments, this shouldn’t be tolerated. It will only degrade the true builders that deserve our respect and patronage.
ouch! don’t hold back. what do you really think? 
(hopefully this doesn’t include brewerpaul’s copeland… or those that people modify simply for comfort or preference.)
be well,
jim
Tim, you burn like a hell. C&F delivers, I guarantee it.
Steve, what fingering do you use? Did you try to close the bottom hole on high notes? That may help. Like that:
D xxx xxx
E xxx xxo
F# xxx xoo
G xxx ooo
A xxo oox
B xoo oox
C ooo oox
C# oxx oox
May I make a suggestion?
Rather than doing anything drastic, there’s a pretty simple solution to this one:
Take a white candle. (Don’t use a scented candle for this–it’s a mistake, trust me.) Just a plain, white candle. Doesn’t matter what shape or anything.
Hold it in your hands. Breathe on it, get it warm. Rub your hands up and down on the warm candle several times. Note–you don’t have to use any particular force or get the candle hot.
Then take your low whistle, and do to it what you just did to the candle. Breathe on it, warm it, hold it in your hands, move your hands up and down it several times. You may notice you’re leaving fingerprints and handprints. That’s a good thing–keep on keepin on.
There–whistle is slippery no longer.
Problem solved. 
–James
How about a new player who is not yet used to holding the whistle? By your standard, my Overton low D would have been chucked in the trash bin when I first got it.
Some ideas:
o Attach a commercial thumbrest, like Susato Snappy.
o Wind some tape or string around the whistle to act as a thumb ridge.
o Attach double-sided tape at the thumb positions.
o Moisturize your dry hands with hand lotion before playing.
o Use a sports rosin bag or Gorilla Snot (!) to increase the tackiness of your thumb grip.
o Angle the whistle a bit to the side for better support.
o Use a long tenor/bari sax strap and attach the hook to the bell.
o Make your own MTGuru thumb strap.
Susato Snappy: http://www.susato.com/susatopwaccessories.html
Gorilla Snot: http://www.zzounds.com/item--GRSGOSNOT
MTGuru Strap: https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/mtguru-low-d-thumb-strap/53255/1
P.S. I also agree with breqwas. Using the B3 or pinkie finger for support is a must.
Thanks all for the suggestions. I tried the wax option offered by peeplj and that seems to help a lot. I will have to remember not to play too close to an open flame, but this works so far. It felt like perhaps there had been some sort of polish applied and while it looked slick, it felt that way too.
As for all those slippery Overtons and Copelands out there, just let me know and I’m sure I could find some way to recycle them… 
Best wishes.
Steve
How about a new player who is not yet used to holding the whistle? By your standard, my Overton low D would have been chucked in the trash bin when I first got it.
Who’s talking about a new player with undeveloped skills? We’re talking about a whistle manufactured with a surface ‘slippery as an eel’. By my standard there would be fewer slippery whistles, fewer frustrated players, and fewer makers who didn’t consider the basic requirements of the instruments they sell, namely, that you have to be able to hold them to play them. If you’re going to buy a product, what’s wrong with expecting it to be usable? Perhaps everyone has a right to try to be a whistle maker, but I find myself under no obligation to support their desires if they make a product that demands correction and modification to a basic requirement just to be playable. And yes, by my standard I would have chucked your Overton in the trash bin, or more likely, returned it with an explanation that would help the maker to correct the problem and provide a better product.
To improve a product requires that we get to the root of the problem. Offering and using stop-gap measures doesn’t get us there, it simply fosters and propogates the problem. No responsible manufacturer wants that, they want to make good products.
I do have high standards, but not impossibly high or unreasonable ones, and I intend to stick to them. I expect a whistle to stay in my hands unless I’m doing something wrong, I expect it to play in tune unless I’m doing something wrong, I expect it to conform to a standard fingering scheme, and I expect it to have a longevity commenserate with its price tag. I don’t think those are unreasonable expectations.
Use Corn Huskers Lotion (most grocery stores have it) on your hands.
Please chill out, Tim. I’m sure the whistle is perfectly fine, and as with any instrument, the player just needs to adapt his individual physiology to it - in this case, overly dry hands. The original question was well-answered.
If every fiddle player who needs a shoulder rest wants to toss his or her poorly-designed fiddle in the bin, I’ll take it instead. 
I use moleskin on the surfaces where my thumbs rest and my rt pinky too.
Then I put super glue on the (outside of the) moleskin. This dries to
a rough surface that’s quite durable. Works well.
Oh, MT my friend, I assure you I don’t need the admonition to chill out. I’m perfectly calm. I’m simply offering an opinion on a subject. Just because one encounters an opinion one disagrees with, well, that’s the Internet for ya. I believe instruments should have certain characteristics, and if they don’t, I think they should be improved upon. Lacking that, they’ll be no whistles of mine. I don’t believe a player should need to resort to lotions, wax, pine tar, or anything else to play their instrument, and I don’t own whistles that require it. Indeed, I sold a Copeland whistle for that very reason. I’ve never believed in the adage “It must be good because it’s expensive”. But those are just my opinions.
Fiddles in the bin? Well, that’s another story entirely.
No, it’s not. Your argument is that if a particular player has a problem handling a particular instrument, then the problem is the design of the instrument and the negligence of the maker.
Adjustable shoulder rests, thumb rests, saxophone straps, guitar straps, piano stools, cello pegs etc. exist for a reason: to allow individuals to adapt their personal physical characteristics and preferences to standardized instruments. That’s perfectly normal, something musicians have done since time immemorial.
It the Copeland or any instrument doesn’t suit your body chemistry, then fair play. I assume you play something else that suits you better. Countless others can pick up a Copeland - or any slick-finished whistle (which I prefer) - and play it without danger of slipping. Hardly a design flaw. I’m not sure what cost has to do with any of this.
In any case, let’s take it that your advice to the original poster is “Get a different whistle that’s less slippery for you”, and leave it at that (hint, hint). Thanks.
Well, I suppose we could also say that, for example, a cello without an adjustable peg could only be played by certain musicians, and that the adjustable peg is a response from the instrument makers to allow everyone to play them. A non-adjustable peg might well be considered a design flaw that was corrected, since cello players don’t expect to take a saw to their instrument. Slippery whistles can be played by many, but not by all, yet slipperiness is not a design flaw even though the player is expected to make a modification.
But OK, I get the hint, that’s all I’ll say.
ZOMG!! TEH DRAMA!!!111
Speaking of fiddles. I’m going to the concert of Pratum Integrum next week. That’s an authentic baroque orchestra from Moscow. All their instruments are authentic - and yes, violins and violas have no shoulder rests and cellos have no pegs. And all their stringed instruments don’t have these nice handy thingies for easy tuning - they tune with pins.
That’s not easy.
And they still play best baroque music in the city.
How do the Moles feel about this I wonder…
Mick
Not as slippery as the eels…
MT’s list of fixes for slippery whistles is almost complete, but don’t forget the two other options that require no modification to the whistle:
Lay down on the floor and play with the whistle pointing skywards.
Book a seat on the next space flight. Zero gravity means that the whistle won’t slip downwards.