Eco-Blast rechargeable compressed air horn...is it good, or too busy being 'green'?

[dancrane]

I saw this the other day, and wanted one. Not sure why, I'm unlikely to go sailing if fog is remotely likely, but there it was in the chandlery looking ingenious...

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It says the output is 115db...which I know isn't as loud as various non-rechargeable horns. But is it louder than the classy-looking brass mouth-horns available?

There's a Youtube demonstration which makes it sound unpleasantly high-pitched - though as long as it's audible I suppose that's what counts in a serious situation.

Before the humorists descend, it isn't my plan to bolt a train-horn to the Osprey's foredeck, I'm just interested whether this rechargeable solution is effective at sea.

 

[Tony Cross]

I have a similar one from Eco-Blast. Mine has a plastic reservoir. It is loud, louder than most other horns in the marina here, but it doesn't last long on a single fill-up. Mine probably will sound for about 20 seconds on a full pump-up of air. That's fine for fog signals and the like but for getting someone's attention it's less effective. I still like it though because it always works, no cans of gas to buy for example.

 

[Angele]

I have one. It is (or rather was*) quite loud, but not as loud as an aerosol one I think.

* "Was" because, despite being rechargeable, its lifetime was cut short by corrosion. It is not made of non-corrosive steel and so succumbed to rust in one of my cockpit lockers. I then bought one of the mini "vuvuzelas" that you can buy. Quite effective, but I am not looking forward to the day I have to blow it every 2 minutes in fog!!

 

[JumbleDuck]

I saw this the other day, and wanted one. Not sure why, I'm unlikely to go sailing if fog is remotely likely, but there it was in the chandlery looking ingenious...

I use one of these Plastimo ones:

Dirt cheap (four quid), indestructible and did very well in comparative tests one of the mags ran recently. You have to blow it properly (slow start to avoid locking the reed closed) but learning the technique takes about ten seconds. The only down side I have found is that if you leave it in a cockpit mug holder on my boat, and go about at just the right rate in the middle of the night, the mainsheet neatly hooks under the bell and flicks it overboard. Curses.

 

[NUTMEG]

Had one on a bike some years ago. Worked really well. However you do need to have a tyre pump handy to recharge it.

 

[dancrane]

Thanks for responses, especially regarding avoidance of the rusting metal cylinder. I've seen the all-plastic one too.

Does the cylinder stay pressurised indefinitely, ready for action as required, or does it leak gradually?

I'm wondering why anybody continues to buy the throw-away type, if the Eco-Blast is as loud and offers free rechargeable ever-ready performance.

Does the tone diminish pitifully as the cylinder empties? Though, I suppose the same is equally true of non-rechargeables nearing expiry. Like sleeping flatulence.

 

[Blueboatman]

They work well.
What I always wanted was the megadecibel 'Whoop Whoop' sound of a ? Type 40 ? going to action stations and pushing the turbine pedal to the metal..

Nudging into Yarmuff in fog...hello blurry ferries..

Why grow up eh?

 

[maby]

I have one of those Eco-blast things and it seems fine though I have to admit that I've never used it for anything more than attracting attention from a passing boat and scaring the cat when he's misbehaving. We keep ours in a dry internal cabinet, so corrosion has never been a problem. The little hand pump that comes with it is ok, but hard work to get it anything like up to full pressure. I carry round one of those 12v electric car tyre pumps that I plug into the accessory socket at the chart table for normal use - just keep the hand pump for emergencies if I lost my power supply.

 

[LittleSister]

We have one. Not unusable by any means, but we did find that in fog it would need very frequent pumping to keep up with regular sounding off (as per colregs) to the extent that on our two handed boat it was detracting from concentrating on listening/looking out and nav.

Would be better with a decent sized stirrup type pump, and/or a bigger reservoir, but like most of that sort of thing it will never really be loud enough anyway (i.e. to be heard from the wheelhouse of a passing fishing boat, etc.).

 

[prv]

I am not looking forward to the day I have to blow it every 2 minutes in fog!!

+1

This seemed like the obvious problem with most horns found on yachts, either gas or mouth. So when I bought Standard Horizon's gx2100 VHF for its AIS capabilities, I was quite pleased to find it came with fog signals built in. A twenty quid horn speaker halfway up the mast and it can now tootle away at the regulation intervals all on its own.

Pete

 

[dancrane]

Not unusable by any means...but like most of that sort of thing it will never really be loud enough anyway (i.e. to be heard from the wheelhouse of a passing fishing boat, etc.).

Ah. That would seem to reduce the Eco-Blast's usefulness a good deal. Are all handheld horns a bit weedy, in the same way? I imagine small sailing vessels in fog will mainly use their horns in order to avoid catastrophic collisions with exactly that type of vessel - commercial craft with an internal helm.

 

[maby]

Ah. That would seem to reduce the Eco-Blast's usefulness a good deal. Are all handheld horns a bit weedy, in the same way? I imagine small sailing vessels in fog will mainly use their horns in order to avoid catastrophic collisions with exactly that type of vessel - commercial craft with an internal helm.

I don't think that EcoBlast is quieter than any other small fog horn - but I guess you have to think realistically about scenarios before you decide if it is of any use to you. If you are caught in thick fog in a busy shipping channel, is it going to be much use? Probably not - a large cargo vessel needs hundreds of yards to slow down or alter course - is anyone up on the bridge going to hear any small horn at that sort of distance over the noise of several big engines? I doubt it. Smaller vessels may be a different matter - they can stop or change direction in short distances, so there is a fighting chance that they will hear your little hand-held fog horn in time to avoid you.

 

[LadyInBed]

I have one of those Eco-blast things and it seems fine
We keep ours in a dry internal cabinet, so corrosion has never been a problem.
The little hand pump that comes with it is ok, but hard work to get it anything like up to full pressure.
I carry round one of those 12v electric car tyre pumps that I plug into the accessory socket at the chart table for normal use - just keep the hand pump for emergencies if I lost my power supply.

Same here, I always use a 12v pump to recharge.
I've had an Eco-blaster for about 15 years and have had to respray the container bottom after signs of rust.
Used it on French canals and in fog, it sounds impressive.
OP - it does loose pressure over time, it is a car tire valve and tires don't hold their pressure!

 

[dancrane]

Thanks LadyInBed, that's as I expected.

If you are caught in thick fog in a busy shipping channel, is it going to be much use? Probably not - a large cargo vessel needs hundreds of yards to slow down or alter course - is anyone up on the bridge going to hear any small horn at that sort of distance over the noise of several big engines? I doubt it.

Maby, that certainly sounds like sense...

...so...are portable air-horns only really for sailing boats to announce their unseen presence to other sailing boats? I mean, boats whose crews aren't deafened by their engines?

I know race-starting horns at the club seem very loud if you're standing fifty feet away and not expecting it...much less so if one is in a parked car fifty yards away, windows up.

 

[Sgeir]

The ecoblast horn is fine, which Mme S prefers to the old brass thing which takes a bit of puff. As a tenor sax player whose reed of choice is Rico Royale 3.5 strength, I prefer the old brass thing.

Nobody likes sailing in fog, but it happens from time to time, and the horn that perhaps has lain unused for years comes into its own. As a simple piece of safety it's best to have at least one back-up in my view, so we carry the horn, the ecoblast, and a standard compressed air horn, which, incidentally, uses the same screw thread as the ecoblast.

 

[dancrane]

I guess for the non-foggy sailing I intend enjoying myself, even a basic horn would attract the attention of on-deck crew aboard inboard-powered vessels fairly nearby.

I'm surprised the makers of the EcoBlast - or an after-market accessories manufacturer - haven't produced a much bigger cylinder for the horn. Its size seems to be the downside.

 

[Spuddy]

Like Blueboatman, I too would love a detroyer whoop, whoop. There's a 555 circuit that offers this and I've been intending to get around to it for the last 20 years; hook up to the battery with a decent amp. Needs a big red button labelled "Do not press this button" to set it off or a lanyard, maybe. Praps this year.
I was wondering about a euphonium but don't think I've got Sgeir's puff.

 

[alan_d]

I was wondering about a euphonium but don't think I've got Sgeir's puff.

Slightly off the point, but I have never played a wind instrument so I was slightly surprised to get one of those targeted web-adverts offering to sell me hand-cut oboe reeds. Then I remembered I had recently bought a Reed's Nautical Almanac ....

 

[Blueboatman]

D'you live in a cottage? These marketing algorithms are dead clever. Wait for the Norfolk reed 'best price' offer.

Though I am told that a lot of thatchers material now comes from China too!

 

[Dave-Shafa]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PORTABLE-...-SPORTS-HANDHELD-SOUND-30W-Z104-/400452704014

I have similar Very loud