Is there a tin whistle that is loud enough that a Boy Scout could use it instead of a Bugle to sound Reveille, Taps, and Charge on campouts - and for it to be heard about 50-100 yards away (like a fife) ?
It also has to be less than $50, durable enough to camp/backpack with, and easy enough for most 13 year olds to learn to play pretty quickly.
What key would you use to play the National Anthem, Reveille, Taps, and Charge ?
Thanks.
There’s a good reason why military signallers used buglles and fifes rather than whistles. I don’t think you’ll find a whistle capable of rousing an entire camp. Military signallers use bugles, fifes, and bosun’s calls in preference over whistles for good reason.
Perhaps not, but it’s very difficult to sleep whilst being poked in the ribs with a whistle.
You might like to consider an overtone flute. This is played in the same manner as a bugle, and one of the kind moderators here directed me to the U.S.Navy bugle call book (here) which was a great help in teaching me to progress. You’ll find the calls you mention there, in the appropriate key.
I think the volume of the noise is not the significant factor. People train themselves to notice the noise of an alarm-clock, or are perverse enough to ignore a pneumatic drill/jack-hammer. It’s the ritual and routine that sticks in the mind. Someone will always here the bugle call, even on overtone flute, and will wake up the rest of their companions.
An overtone flute can be made as long or as short as is comfortable for the player - with the qualification that it may need trimmed to find the exact spot best for the harmonics.
Bugle-calls on an overtone flute sound pretty damn good. They are not difficult to learn either. This is the way to go, if you can’t lay hands on a bugle.
You can find instructions for making your own overtone flute on Youtube. Just search on “Overtone flute 3 minutes” - that’s how long it takes. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXnAXsMyCFU
Plenty more overtone flute pieces on Youtube, including me. No bugle calls though. That’s an omission. I must post one!
If we’re talking 100 yards, I think there is no need for a fife or a brass tube. For under 50 bucks any whistle should be suitable. But I like Innocent Bystander’s suggestion, why buy when they can make?
The harmonic series is a great way to introduce music, physics, and perhaps other things. There is much to the overtone flute.
Just for the record, bosun’s whistle is not all that loud. Just above the lower notes of the sea waves. It didn’t have to travel more than 100 yards to get commands done because it was on a boat.
And just to clarify about bosun’s whistles … They can’t be used for playing bugle calls. Bosun’s calls are only two tones with two intermediates: high, low, rising, falling. So just pipe down, everyone. 
Answering the last question first …
For bugle calls you need the harmonic overtone series: 5-1-3-5. There are several whistle keys (fingerings) that give easy access to that.
G: D-G-B-d (d-g-b-d’)
A: E-A-c#-e
C: G-c-e-g
D: A-d-f#-a
I don’t have a good intuition whether a whistle might carry and be loud enough in a small camp situation. The high sequence above might be pretty penetrating, especially if played on a loud high whistle like a Susato. High pitches carry very well indoors, but might be masked by ambient noise outdoors.
Also, be aware that whistles are generally very sensitive to ambient wind, and playing directly into even a moderate wind will silence most whistles. At best, in windy conditions you need to cover the fipple, or turn the whistle head upside-down, or face away from the wind - any of which could severely limit volume in the desired direction.
Fifes are a bit less sensitive because of embouchure control. But the bugle’s relative imperviousness to wind is one of the reasons for its eventual triumph over the flutey signalers.
As for whistle choice, the Susato S-bore is probably the best loud option under $50. But for learning, pick any standard Generation-type ~$10 whistle and have at it! Depending on conditions, it might just do the trick.
Oops, the Star-Spangled Banner is a different beast altogether. It’s definitely not a bugle call, and can’t be played on a bugle.
Best key (fingering) on whistle is probably G, with access to c-nat and c#, and rising up to high d’. Wouldn’t recommend it as a beginner’s tune, though. 
Also …
Hmmm, if the thought here is that a whistle is easier to play than a bugle, you’re probably going to be very disappointed. As with any instrument, whistle breath control and finger coordination takes time to master, so it’s not a quick fix. And effective simulation of bugle calls really requires double-tonguing, which would be considered an “advanced” technique by most whistlers.
I’d side entirely with MTGuru as he has described things concerning the whistle. Susato S series high D would do.
I’d also offer that a 13 year old can certainly play a fife and most any decent military fife would be loud enough to rouse a group of scouts in a small camp situation. There should be little problem hearing one played in the upper octaves at 100 yards. The fife would be louder than a whistle but would potentially take longer to master. It has the same challenges as the whistle as far as fingering goes but it also has the the added challenge of developing an embouchure. But a 13 year old can do amazingly well with such tasks provided the proper motivation is there.
If all else fails there is the Digital Bugle.
Feadoggie
I’d think that this is the most important consideration…
It just doesn’t sound like an idea that’s going to work out very well. I suspect that by the second morning the whistle will have flown into the woods and the OP will be banging pots and pans.
The whistle vs bugle was really a cost and backpack-ability issue.
But since the whistle is harder to learn than the Bugle, not very loud, and wind sensitive - I guess it’s not very well suited for this use.
Fife may still be an option since it’s loud enough. Harder to learn vs small & light seems like an OK trade-off. I was hoping a whistle would be loud enough primarily because the flute (and flute-like things) seems to be perceived as a girly instruments to 13-15 year old boys…
Let’s assume some of the boys are brave enough to play fife.
1st question: Can a fife play something like taps, or do they only play super shrill notes ?
2nd question: Are there fifes less than $50?
3rd question: How hard is it to learn to get good sounding notes & control the octaves on a fife - compared to developing the breath control for a Blackbird whistle ? A little harder, or twice as hard ?
Thanks.
They can sound very pretty.
Not that I have found, and I look. Cooperman makes a plastic one that is consistent, but it might be better to make one from PVC or copper pipe.
I cannot play whistle, heck I can barely play a traverse flute. It’s not about the quirks of an instrument, but what a person wants to play.
I play overtone flute in my local park, and the Postal Delivery people tell me they can hear it half a mile away.
NB: There are no finger-holes in an overtone flute. For simple tunes like Bugle calls, it is easy to pick up.
Your biggest problem if you opted for an overtone flute is to stop the boys hitting each other with it.