I'm thinking of a boat blind that is light weight and I'm wondering about Coroplast sign sheets as a weather/wind brake. This is the material many forsale signs are being made of today. Has anyone used this stuff? Do you have a supplier I could contact?

http://www.coroplast.com/...plasticor-white-cap/

Although advertized as weather resistant I'm wondering how it would hold up under pressure of highway speeds and general use. I'm thinking of a liteweight aluminum frame and attaching this to the frame with rivet and backing washers.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

I've made goose silhouettes from cloroplast and they were quite functional but I'm not sure how durable it would be as a blind material.
It would certainly be a good wind break.
It's a little tricky to cut. I ended up using a jig saw and blade speed was the key, too fast and it melted, too slow and it just vibrated and didn't cut.
______________________________________________
It's all about the doin'

If you are building a frame that can be pop-rivetted too, then I would just use the roll aluminum flashing and be done. Probably holds the paint better than the corrugated plastic, certainly stronger, UV not an issue, etc. Try some stick on weather stripping between the frame and the aluminum sheeting and I bet there rattle is minimal if at all. But no personal experience...

http://www.homedepot.com/...hing-68020/100043900

Dave Diefenderfer
Manassas, VA

"Once you set out to build a boat, throw away your square. And if you work on her after she's launched, throw away your level." author unknown

i use at work all the time will not take abuse

It would make a great sail.

Which boat Ed? The easiest and most flexible blind I ever made was to attach raffia to bungee cords. Then just stretch the bungee cords to where you want the boat to be hidden. If you want the blind up a little higher, attach a couple of poles with eyelets at the top that you run theh bungee through. Very simple, lightweight, and takes little room to stow away.

Mark

Mark,

I bought a 14' Alumacraft flatbottom and traded the 7hp PPF for a 13hp Beavertail. I decided to build a duck boat that I'm not laying down in, that I can have a heater, cook breakfast and be comfortable in out of the weather. I'm not totally sold on a hardside blind but leaning that way.

Dave,

It didn't dawn on me to look for flashing. I wasn't aware it came in widths that wide or that long. if I go with a hard side blind that will just be the ticket.

Thanks for the input in the plastic sign board. It would have been an expensive proposition to find out it won't hold up. The flashing is a much much less expensive material to use.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

Ed,
If you are building a rigid (non-folding) aluminum frame, you may as well cover it with aluminum sheeting. It's pretty lightweight and the aluminum sheets are reasonably priced. Here's the post I did for the blind I built last fall:

http://www.duckboats.net/...;;page=unread#unread

Check you PM's Ed. I'll send you a design that works very well. I may have sent this to you before.

Mark W

I built a blind for my jon boat back in the mid 90's and covered the blind frame with coraplast. It worked pretty well. I felt it was plenty durable. My design incorperated a frame work made from PVC pipe and then covered in coraplast. It folded at the gunnel and then again half way up the blind so it would lay flat on itself while traveling. My biggest complaint with coraplast was that it had a bit of a shine to it. I scratched it up and dulled it with some srapy paint but the paint didn't want to stick very well.

In Reply To

OK..

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

In Reply To

Jeff, I like the double hinge idea. I'm considering a hard side so I can stand with the mud motor and have something to lean on or grab if need be. It'll also help me keep track of my dog. She loves to run around the boat and sniff the water as we're underway. I'd hate to hit a stump and run over my dog.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

Modified flyway Specialty type of blind. Not a hard side blind but has many nice features. Best one is that it folds down for trailering and motoring out around the slough. Second is that within 5 minutes it can be removed from the boat and 10 minutes to put it back on. Third is that either side of the blind can be lowered (while the other side stays up) to easily retrieve ducks. Takes the push of one button to lower the side.

Instead of using netting and rafia Ed, you could put some sort of fabric on the inside to make it wind proof and then tie raffia or netting to this to break it up a little bit.



Mark W

sounds like you are leaning away from coroplast...but if you do go that route...don't use the sign board quality. instead buy 1/4" it is amazingly stronger and more durable. That said, it is not metal. but for a blind that folds down, etc, it would work on a smaller situation. Krylon plastic paint sticks well. no issues with silo's made years ago with it. heck, just regular fleet farm el cheap spray paint has lasted on there.


Eric

Ed~

Here's a blind I made for my Sneakbox - so I could bring my Dad along. It's 1/4 plywood. The hinged flaps kept it low enough to cause no trailiering problems AND they protect the grass in transit. I especially like to have the flap up behind us (we shot over the port side) to both keep out wind and hide our silhouettes. I made it to fit over my spray dodger and secured it to the deck with a small cleat at each corner (line ran up from the thatch rails). It literally took less than a minute to install or remove). I definitely liked the rigidity of it - because I usually stood while under way - and it was a secure handhold.



Best of luck in your design deliberations,

SJS
Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Ed

Several years ago I built an aluminum frame blind on my 12 foot John and then covered each side with a camo tarp (the plastic type you buy at hardware store) and then camo burlap over that. I attached it to the frame with zip ties and added bungee cords on the outside of the frame to attach vegetation too. It was easy, inexpensive, light weigth and lasted several years. I am considering putting this blind back on the same boat this year, but this time I will use the tarp, some wire fencing and then cover the outside with fastgrass. I do have pics if you are interested. Good Luck!

John,

I'm always interested in how guys rig their boats. You could post the pictures here send them to my email address: ejlydic@hotmail.com

Thanks,

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

Ed, Here are some pics of the blind I was referring too.....

Ed L. John Lane & John Fraser~

Great ideas and fine workmnship - JF: I really enjoyed your earlier post!

I just found and scanned some more photos of my Sneakbox + Blind. Bundles of grass on blind are lashed onto 2 rows of decoy line (tarred nylon) that run around the blind.



Flaps up - ready for birds....note that the gunning flap is not solid plywood (back flap is - to keep out wind and rain) - it is more of a frame so we can peer through bundles of grass as birds approach.



Gunning flap down.

These shots are on Great South Bay - boat is grassed with salt hay and cordgrass.
Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

John,

Thanks for posting your blind pictures. Looks like it works well and gives me food for thought.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

Steve,

The blind looks comfortable and blends well. I like the fold down front. I'm still on the fence over hard side blind or pop-up.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

If you want to go to a route where ur gonna have the boat for a long time and want it to last a life time use Bimini frame and go to a upholstery shop and have a heavy duty material sewn with buttons. I also had them see big clips on outside for decoy bags to hang off. It's nice to just have ur gun and dog in the boat and all the dekes on the outside so ur not tripping of the bags. Took a while to think it out but I'm glad I went this route.

[URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/...zpsbf3e0334.jpg.html][/url]
[URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/...zpsa0109077.jpg.html][/url]

I just built this yesterday. Total cost thus far is 18 dollars. All 3/4 EMT conduit. Brackets are made from 1x2 tubing with one end cut off. It will be covered with a harbor freight tarp. Then cloth poultry netting which will have 26 pounds of raffia that I just ordered. Windproof and waterproof. Sets up and down with just 2 pins.

Looks good. keep posting your progress. I like it.

Take care,

Ed L.
East Moline,
Illinois
_________________________________________
If I'd had asked what they wanted they would have said faster horses" - Henry Ford

Tyler

Nice frame! Please explane the brackets in more detail? Also, what type of Harbor Frieght tarp are you purchasing? Just post your answers to Ed's thread. Keep the pics of progress coming. Looks great! Thanks.