pop up blinds

[ken nikiel]

hi folks
my hunting partner and i put up some elevated platforms this season, we put box blinds on 2 and on one we used a primos xxl popup. for those who do the same, how do you keep the blind from collapsing in windy conditions? the wind collapsed 2 sides and snapped the poles.
thanks
ken

 

[yoderjac]

The issue in my area is snow, not wind that causes popup blinds to collapse. Often the fiberglass rods break. I've had marginal success using those bars that secure loads in the back of a pickup. They are ratcheted between the sides of the pickup so loads can't slide past them. I use them vertically in a blind at the end of the season. Our snow load usually comes after our season is over. put them in the center of the blind providing direct support for the center roof hub.

I say marginal success because if the snow is deep and wet enough they still collapse.

I'm not in a super windy area, but I find it hard to imagine wind collapsing a popup if it is properly setup. On the ground, the bottom is directly anchored with stakes going through loops on all 4 sides. The hubs on all 4 sides have strings tied to stakes to keep them popped out. It must be a unique wind that would allow the top to collapse.

If it is the sides that are collapsing, I'd suggest tying the hubs to some part of the structure like they are when setup on the ground. How to do this may depend on the specifics of the elevated platforms you put up.

 

[ken nikiel]

the top never collapsed, it was the sides. the blind was screwed down to platform where tent stakes would normally go. not sure how we could stake out the side hubs like you can when its on the ground.

 

[yoderjac]

It really depends on the platform. Consider taking 2x2 and fixing them to the underside of the platform at 90 degrees so they stick out a couple feet on each side. Then put an eyelet in each one and use it to tie to the hubs.

 

[buckdeer1]

Most of them have a tie down in the middle of each side

 

[ken nikiel]

thats what we are thinking too, but wasn’t sure how well it would work, thanks!

 

[Drycreek]

When I hunted antelope in WY, I had a side collapse multiple times on the same day. The wind there can be strong, and generally blows all the time to some extent. As I was constantly in view of the antelope I was loathe to get out of the blind to tie it down. I had no more stakes with me anyway. I even had to hang my backpack to one side once to keep the wind from pulling the stakes from the ground. The “stakes” were just oversize aluminum nails that didn’t hold well in the soft dirt in a pond bottom. The pond was a large one that had shrunk due to drought, and I was close to the water. I bought some more stakes that night at a Walmart and double staked it. I had collapsed it overnight so I wouldn’t find it hanging on a fence a half mile away the next morning.

I think Jack has a good idea in adding to the frame some way to tie the sides down.

 

[Jcataudella]

I have a platform I use with a pop up blind for the last 5 years. The blind won't collapse because I put the platform between some trees, and the blind has loops to tie onto. Each side of the blind is tied off to its respective tree, and one line runs from one tree, through the top center and across to the other tree. I'm just tied around the trunk but I could also screw some eyelets into the trees to tie off on, I suppose.

 

[ken nikiel]

good idea

 

[gjs4]

I wonder if a ubolt through the blind deck to a fiberglass rod (like driveway snow stake) through the eyebolt on the hubs would work