Fox 40
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Fox 40 International Inc. is a company founded by Ron Foxcroft in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. The company's main success is in the whistle industry but it also produces other equipment like mouthguards, LED lights, marine safety equipment, coaching equipment, hockey sticks, and support products (tennis elbow braces, etc.).
[edit] History
Ron Foxcroft's football playing days ended at the age of 17 when he was injured. After his injury, he took up basketball refereeing. Foxcroft found himself let down by a key piece of equipment to his profession, his whistle. He often found himself blowing a whistle but not loud enough to sound over a loud crowd. One famous occasion where Foxcroft found himself let down by his whistle was during the Montreal Olympics basketball final when he saw a violation take place and blew his whistle and it failed to sound.
Foxcroft set out to solve his problem and went to a plastic company looking for a better whistle. The company agreed to help him as long as he provided the design. Foxcroft found Chuck Shepherd, a partner to help him design the whistle.
Three years later the partners had 2 prototypes which were turned down. Foxcroft introduced the Fox 40 whistle to referees at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana. Before the end of the games, Foxcroft had orders for 20 000 whistles.
Fox 40 became the leader is whistle technology selling 40 000 whistles daily in 140 countries.
[edit] Pealess Technology
The Fox 40 whistle owes its power to pealess technology which was developed by Foxcroft and Shepherd. A regular whistle uses a small ball inside of a chamber which vibrates producing a sound.
These whistles produce less sound and they are often jammed by dirt, saliva, water or even ice. A hard blow may cause the pea to stick to the walls of a chamber producing no sound.
The Fox 40 avoids pea technology and has no moving parts. Therefore it cannot jam or freeze. It will always sound. The Fox 40 can be submerged in water and brought back into the air and blown immediately because the water will drain from the chambers and the whistle is ready to go.
It is a preferred whistle by mariners, lifeguards and other people who work in less than ideal conditions because of its hardiness.
