lightweight bow blind

[Right_wing]

Here is a lightweight, fairly inexpensive permanent bow blind. It has a wooden floor, the floor weighs about 50 pounds. The walls are 3/4 inch foamboard, taped together at seams with aluminum tape. I used burlap for a matte because it was much less expensive than glass sheets. I painted on polyester resin with a paint brush (took two coats and about 5 gallons). All the corners are reinforced with 12 inch wide strips of burlap. I painted with an oil base primer prior to "camo" job. I estimate the total weight to be about 125 pounds and is big enough to accomodate two people. I can share floor layout if anyone is interested.

The blind is hexagon shape for two reasons. The first being that the extra corners add strength to the blind. The second is that the blind can be laid over on it's back and slid into the bed of a full size pick-up.

I added a canopy over the shoot hole to deter water and sunlight. The shoot hole has a 24 x 24 inch cutout having a frame that has shoot-thru netting on it.

I used a frame to position and reinforce the foamboard during lay-up. After lay-up and curing, I removed the internal frame to reduce weight.

I will attach some more photos that better describe assembly.

[Right_wing]

stand by - All my other pics are too big

[Right_wing]

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[Right_wing]

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[Flame-Tamer]

You answered alot of my questions. I always wondered if you could get Resin to stick to the foil sides. Looks like it would work. Thanx for the info.

Hank

[Legdog]

wicked cool

thanks

[Right_wing]

cost is as follows

wood for floor - 30
resin - 160 ($32/gallon)
burlap - 30
hinges/hdw - 25
foamboard - 50
paint - 40
carpet - 10
caulk/screws - 20

total - $365

[Flame-Tamer]

How many hrs?? It looks awesome.

Hank

[Texastaxi]

Are you still feeling the effects of the resin fumes? LOL

That's an awesome idea.
How sturdy are the walls after you took out the temp bracing?

[Right_wing]

I think I have about 60 hours in it, maybe a little more. Most of my time it seemed, was just doing the little stuff (attaching hinges and door fit-up and stuff). I forgot about the price for the aluminum tape and it's not cheap. It took two rolls at about $8 a roll.

The blind is pretty sturdy especially at the corners. The walls deflect some, but I think it would take quite a blow to damage them.

Liquid nails works really good to seal the edges around the doors. On the entry door I used aluminum tape. On the shoot door, I used a dremel and sanded away the foam about a 1/2 inch deep and filled the edge with liquid nails. Liquid nails worked better than aluminum tape.

I think I got a little dain bramage from smelling that resin.

Thanks for the compliments.

[Texastaxi]

Wes, you might want to darken up the inside too. Either with black paint or black fabric. That and dark clothes would make you invisible inside that thing.

Another idea that popped into my head is a roof vent. I'm sure that thing will be pretty warm in the early season hunts.

I can just see Luke smokin' some deer outta that thing this season!!!!

[Right_wing]

That dark fabric is an excellent idea. I've been looking at Wal-Mart and some other fabric stores for something on sale. For some reason, solid black is never on sale. I think I'll use fabric instead of paint because I think it will help keep sound from resonating back out the shoot hole.

I hadn't thought about the roof vent. Good idea. Any suggestions on making it water tight?

Luke smoked 2 does last year out of pop-ups. It seems that I don't get to hunt anymore (smily face). But, that's ok I enjoy watching him!

[Dave W]

That is cool. How wide were each of the sides?
I was thinking of one but with a pentagon and 4' sides.

Thanks
Dave

[Flame-Tamer]

What are all the screw heads for on the bottom??

[Cull]

Black landscape cloth would work and be cheap to boot.