Get the nylon flags that are the torpedo style. Honigs even sells flags that have a second piece of tape for long distance tosses. I don't see the need for that. Also, get the plain white nylon bean bag. I use the bag that is one sided with the weight on the other side, if that makes sense. Nylon flags and bean bags work best because if they get wet or muddy, they clean off MUCH better. On a side note, don't ever machine wash your flags or bean bags. Learned that the hard way.
Whistles- our state (Missouri) uses a pealess whistle, the Fox style. I moved from Minnesota, where they used whistles with peas. If you go pealess, I suggest the mini fox. Sounds the same as the big one, just smaller. They also sell one that is rubber-tipped. I haven't used one of those. Some officials use the finger whistles. I have one and never used it. This goes back to another post on this forum about whistles in/out of mouth. I personally keep my whistle in most of the time. Some say that is a no no, I've never really had a problem with it. No IW, knock on wood. Plus I think it looks bad to kill the clock with one arm and have the other hand in your mouth to blow the whistle. For lanyards, it's personal preference. I have the short one that clips to zipper and one that goes around the neck and synchs up. I personally like the synch kind. I think it just looks better. I'm big on looking good/professional.
If you have more questions, feel free to email me
[email protected] and I can put together a "suggested shopping list." Some of these items also depend on state and association norms, you might want to check with these groups too. I've been doing this for 10 years and I made some bad purchases and wasted some money. I will be happy to offer my opinion.
Edit:
As I was typing this someone else posted. After reading their post, it reinforced that many of these decisions are personal preference.
[Edited by grantsrc on Jun 2nd, 2005 at 09:48 PM]