Air Horn selection....

I'll use it when I see somebody I know far from home, or if I want to startle my friends.

I can use mine to get a seagull of a piling.

Twice per trip coming and going from the marina...the Coasties are right there behind me, so I'm trying to gain some trawler cred. Then if I ever see a kayaker in the main river, I use it as I pass him just to scare the bejeebees out of him. Then when I see a ferry, I blow it as a greeting to all the passengers. If there are kids on the shore pumping their fists up and down, I will give them a long blow.

Other than that, I hardly ever use it.

FlyWright said:

I use it as I pass him just to scare the bejeebees out of him. Then when I see a ferry, I blow it as a greeting to all the passengers. If there are kids on the shore pumping their fists up and down, I will give them a long blow.

Click to expand...

Having access to a big ass horn has been a perk of my job. People never seem to get tired of it. It's like being in a parade wherever I go. Some people lose their minds with excitement and childlike joy. Some kids start crying and fall down. Either way, its very satisfying.

Does that make me a bad person?

GFC said:

OK, nobody responded to my earlier thread questioning everyone's concern about the frequency of their horn, so I have another question:


How many times a year to you sound off with your horn?

Click to expand...

Once a year when we get our Courtesy check...........

FlyWright said:

...
Other than that, I hardly ever use it.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a lot. Is this behavior after installing the Kahlenbergs? Are you loving their sound?

FlyWright said:

Twice per trip coming and going from the marina...the Coasties are right there behind me, so I'm trying to gain some trawler cred. Then if I ever see a kayaker in the main river, I use it as I pass him just to scare the bejeebees out of him. Then when I see a ferry, I blow it as a greeting to all the passengers. If there are kids on the shore pumping their fists up and down, I will give them a long blow.

Other than that, I hardly ever use it.

Click to expand...

Pretty much same for us, except for the part about the Coasties being behind us. Actually, we use the horn when leaving the marina due to a blind turn. When greeting other boats, pleasing the kids, or greeting the passengers on the tour boats, we use the air whistle (every tug needs a whistle). When we pass friends at marinas or approach a raft up, we usually have people begging us to blow the whistle. Only down side to the whistle is that it takes about five minutes to build up enough air pressure for it to work at full db.

GFC said:

How many times a year to you sound off with your horn?

Click to expand...

Last two-week trip in Maine, six days of fog, 5 hours a day underway, one prolonged blast every two minutes...

When there's any doubt in a crossing situation, one or two short blasts...

Occasionally, when it's clear the other boat is doing something stupid I don't want to take the blame for, five or more short and rapid blasts...

At low tide, when I can't see around the pier leaving the fuel dock, one prolonged blast...

With young children aboard, each gets one turn to blow the horn, and strike the bell...

Wait, you want a total for the year? That's gonna take a while.

Naw, I wasn't really looking for an annual total. The first part of this thread made it sound (ok, bad pun there) like some of you were blowing the horn frequently.


I let kids blow my horn if they want. The grand kids love it, but that's about it. It gets used maybe a half dozen times a year. And when I use it, I never worry about if the frequency is correct.

Boat is equipped with original Buell Triplex horns. The Buell compressor was toast, so I inquired as to the cost of a replacement. Suffice it to say, Buell is mighty proud of their stuff. Wound up replacing it with a 12 v off-road tire comprssor that works great.

Unsure as to frequency and db rating - never able to locate real specs from Buell. On a functional basis - loud! Sounds like a freighter. Enough that I warn passengers (if possible) before sounding.

Use it infrequently. Let kids sound it when we're well away from traffic.

Aside from VSCs or a very occasional warning shot to inattentive traffic, it just sits there and looks pretty.

GFC said:

In all seriousness, do you guys REALLY think the USCG is going to be out there measuring the frequency of your horn?


IMHO I equate horns to testosterone levels with a direct inverse relationship. The smaller the "tool" and the lower the testosterone level, the bigger and louder the horn is going to be.


Sort of like the old saying: "Got a small dick, buy a Corvette."


I have no idea the frequency of my horns. They're loud. At least the last time I blew them, which was a couple of years ago, they were loud. That just suits me fine.


Would I spend a boat buck to replace them if they died? Hell no. I'd rather spend that boat buck on diesel.

Click to expand...

I don't feel too guilty anymore about wondering if the loud horn thing was a height issue.

I'm glad that no one in my marina toots their horn. That would be very annoying to those just relaxing on their boats if every boat leaving and returning blasts their horns.

The Admiral is resisting me on these horns (Chimes). I think I will just sneak them on the boat.


Loud Mouth Triple Train Horn 120 PSI Kit – Train Horns USA

The week I bought my horns, my wife was teasing me calling them 'wind chimes'. When they arrived, I hooked them up to a jump start battery in the dining room. Without warning, I sounded the horn. Without warning, that Sharpie pen missed me by ...... that much!

She hasn't called them wind chimes since, though!!

Alaskan Sea-Duction said:

The Admiral is resisting me on these horns (Chimes). I think I will just sneak them on the boat.


Loud Mouth Triple Train Horn 120 PSI Kit – Train Horns USA

Click to expand...

You won't regret it, I got a pair of train horns in my truck, they are great!

GFC said:

In all seriousness, do you guys REALLY think the USCG is going to be out there measuring the frequency of your horn?

Click to expand...

Unlikely. But what if you are involved in a collision and an investigator discovers that your whistle is not "legal"?


Keith

refugio said:

Unlikely. But what if you are involved in a collision and an investigator discovers that your whistle is not "legal"?


Keith

Click to expand...

Really? So a horn sounds and someone goes "oh I think it is a bigger/smaller vessel based on Hz so I will ignore it.." and cause a collision? Can't see an investigation hinging on that detail.

Mariners pay attention to all horns.

refugio said:

Unlikely. But what if you are involved in a collision and an investigator discovers that your whistle is not "legal"?

Click to expand...

Not a completely unlikely scenario. However, if your horn are "dang loud", my guess is that the % amount of liability added to your side of the equation based on the horn frequency would be relatively minor.

dhays said:

Not a completely unlikely scenario. However, if your horn are "dang loud", my guess is that the % amount of liability added to your side of the equation based on the horn frequency would be relatively minor.

Click to expand...

Well there you go - your guess is that violating the ColRegs for the single most important piece of signaling gear is "relatively minor" issue. Everyone with non-standard equipment can rest easier tonight!


Keith

Murray, those shorty horns are very loud but they sound like a big frog fart. I've never actually heard a frog fart, but if they do, it sounds like that horn.
Maybe Possum needs one?

Go play here Schmitt & Ongaro Boat Horns | Boat Horn Sounds | Marine Parts
I wish there were more to try.

refugio said:

Well there you go - your guess is that violating the ColRegs for the single most important piece of signaling gear is "relatively minor" issue. Everyone with non-standard equipment can rest easier tonight!

Click to expand...

Keith, I must have been unclear as to the intent of my post. Completely my fault I am sure. I will try to clarify.

My point, poorly made to be sure, wasn't that anyone should use a non-standard piece of equipment. It also wasn't my intent to imply that using equipment that didn't meet the COLREG requirements was a minor issue.

What I was trying to say (again obviously not very well) was that in the very unfortunate event of a collision there would be some type of adjudication to determine the level of responsibility for each of the involved parties. My understanding is that it is not generally an all or nothing determination. ie one party is not normally found to be 100% at fault with the other bearing no shared responsibility. Fault is often apportioned on a percentage basis.

Given that, I would imagine (and I could be completely wrong) that if a horn was loud and applied appropriately by one of the parties involved, that if the horn was found during the subsequent investigation to have, for example, a fundamental frequency of 245 Hz instead of 250 Hz that the fact didn't meet the COLREG requirements wouldn't appreciably increase that skipper's liability.

Air , electric or canned , there will come a time when it does notbwork.

Have a human powered back up?

dhays said:

What I was trying to say (again obviously not very well) was that in the very unfortunate event of a collision there would be some type of adjudication to determine the level of responsibility for each of the involved parties. My understanding is that it is not generally an all or nothing determination. ie one party is not normally found to be 100% at fault with the other bearing no shared responsibility. Fault is often apportioned on a percentage basis.

Click to expand...

I would agree that conforms to my general understanding admiralty / maritime law. But I've also seen anecdotal cases where seemingly whacky (to us) determinations were made as to contributing factors.

dhays said:

Given that, I would imagine (and I could be completely wrong) that if a horn was loud and applied appropriately by one of the parties involved, that if the horn was found during the subsequent investigation to have, for example, a fundamental frequency of 245 Hz instead of 250 Hz that the fact didn't meet the COLREG requirements wouldn't appreciably increase that skipper's liability.

Click to expand...

Honestly, that's not scenario I was envisioning. I'm thinking of someone on this forum who says "I use a train whistle - I know it's not the right tone but I love the way other boaters jump" - and having to defend that statement in a wrongful death civil lawsuit.

refugio said:

Honestly, that's not scenario I was envisioning. I'm thinking of someone on this forum who says "I use a train whistle - I know it's not the right tone but I love the way other boaters jump" - and having to defend that statement in a wrongful death civil lawsuit.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that might create more of a problem.

FF said:

Have a human powered back up?

Click to expand...

A good idea but it would have to be done after I'd eaten a healthy serving of Campbells Pork and Beans. I'm sure nobody would stick around long enough to determine if the frequency was right or not.

GFC said:

A good idea but it would have to be done after I'd eaten a healthy serving of Campbells Pork and Beans. I'm sure nobody would stick around long enough to determine if the frequency was right or not.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry, if I hadn't posted it, RTF would have.

Its far easier to blow on a horn than stand outside and scream for a few hours.

Regarding the 'legality' of what frequency used: Several years ago a USCG Ice Breaker collided with a Block Island ferry in -0- vis

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAR1101.pdf

The USCG vessel was found predominantly at fault because they were using the electric hailer on 'fog signal' which did NOT meet the correct characteristics for their size vessel and it did not have the range necessary too. Note the attached report that says "MINIMUM" decibels. Pg 26.

The Morro Bay switched to the normal air horn just prior to collision.

So legally the 'post accident investigation' is where this would be checked out. Are you a gambling sort of person? As another recent post showed, having gotten underway with multiple violations of Colregs (ignorance) does not make the issue less valid.

cappy208 said:

Regarding the 'legality' of what frequency used: Several years ago a USCG Ice Breaker collided with a Block Island ferry in -0- vis

http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/MAR1101.pdf

The USCG vessel was found predominantly at fault because they were using the electric hailer on 'fog signal' which did NOT meet the correct characteristics for their size vessel and it did not have the range necessary too. Note the attached report that says "MINIMUM" decibels. Pg 26.

The Morro Bay switched to the normal air horn just prior to collision.

So legally the 'post accident investigation' is where this would be checked out. Are you a gambling sort of person? As another recent post showed, having gotten underway with multiple violations of Colregs (ignorance) does not make the issue less valid.

Click to expand...

An electric hailer speaker produces NO WHERE NEAR the dB of an air horn. I bet that incident hinged more on dB than Hz.