Miscellany: Personal Alarm Faceoff - She's Birdie 3.0 vs. POM Personal Alarm

There are very few self-defense tools you can carry with you on a plane, especially if your final destination is a city like New York or Chicago. For such occasions, and in addition to my trusty EDC flashlight and pen, I've been looking into carrying a personal alarm.

What is a personal alarm? It's a noisemaking device designed to draw attention in an emergency.  Now, you have to temper your expectations - these alarms are not flashbangs, and they will not in any way physically ward off an attacker.  However, for certain types of situations faced by travelers (purse-snatchings, hotel room invasions, vehicle fires, etc.), they make a lot of sense.

I compared the most popular alarm on the market, She's Birdie, with an alarm from POM, and there are countless others on the market just like these (I'm sure they all hail from the same factories in China). Both alarms are rechargeable via USB-C port with very similar form factors, though I much prefer the feel of the POM alarm (She's Birdie seems plasticky and cheap). I also don't like that the She's Birdie alarm has an on/off switch - it seems like an unnecessary complication and one more thing to go wrong in an emergency.  

However, the alarm on the She's Birdie 3.0 is slightly louder and more shrill - not by much, but enough to notice. Since having a loud alarm is the whole point of the exercise, I think She's Birdie is the winner of this faceoff - barely.