davidwalton
Member
Picked up some free burlap sacks from a local coffee shop. Started taking some apart to camo a blind. Thought I'd see what others have done or ideas y'all might have.
Burlap sacks
- Thread starter davidwalton
- Start date
I've never burlap camo'd a boat. It must be tedious, but the ones I've seen done well, like a ghillie suit, look amazing and reportedly hold up well. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Eric
Eric
davidwalton
Member
As you can see in the second photo that I started dismantling a couple of bags for the fibers to experiment with. I'm thinking of tying some hanks of those strands together for clumps of "grass" for my boat blind. My local lake doesn't have a lot of grasses so I won't cover the boat with them. Just enough to break things up a little.
roy brewington
Well-known member
Something I,ve not seen in quite a while are burlap sacks. When I first started water fowling back in 70,s they were the go to for covering about anything needing covering. Even carried decoys in them at one time. Old nasty ones blended in particularly well with a fall marsh. Being from E. Shore of Md. we constantly had chicken trks traveling up & down highways. During winter they used large burlap curtains to cut wind along sides of loaded trucks. Was always quite the find to scavenge one already nasty from use. Made a few whole boats covers out of them for areas I couldn't get boat far enough from spread when hunting from bank. Heavy mess once wet though and even worse once it freezes. I do occasionally use strips cut up from camo burlap about 3" wide by 2' long looped into a tank netting blind I use on my ghenooe. Gives it some depth and simple to replace. I Kind of ghillie that netting! Have also looped it onto grass straps on cordura blinds as added camo. The nastier it gets the better it camo,s.
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Steve Sanford
Well-known member
David~
I grew up with burlap bags - usually from potato farms. Bags from grass seed were a tighter weave. They carried my decoys for many seasons - until I upgraded to compartmented bags in recent decades. I also used one for covering my outboard. I just split one side to go forward and sewed some Salt Hay to it.
They sponged up lots of salt water - so I stowed it on the after deck when not gunning. If low temperatures were on hand, it went into my heated cellar each night to dry out. Nowadays I use Sunbrella or other canvas.
All the best,
SJS
I grew up with burlap bags - usually from potato farms. Bags from grass seed were a tighter weave. They carried my decoys for many seasons - until I upgraded to compartmented bags in recent decades. I also used one for covering my outboard. I just split one side to go forward and sewed some Salt Hay to it.
They sponged up lots of salt water - so I stowed it on the after deck when not gunning. If low temperatures were on hand, it went into my heated cellar each night to dry out. Nowadays I use Sunbrella or other canvas.
All the best,
SJS
Here in eastern North Carolina, we used to have access to 8' x8' burlap sheets called "tobacco sheets" because they were used to wrap bales of freshly harvested tobacco leaves ready for market.
With changes in the tobacco industry, I've haven't seen these burlap sheets around much anymore, but they are still available from a company called AGRI SUPPLY. They made for great camouflage covers for boats and motors.
Burlap Material, Burlap Cloth | Agri Supply
With changes in the tobacco industry, I've haven't seen these burlap sheets around much anymore, but they are still available from a company called AGRI SUPPLY. They made for great camouflage covers for boats and motors.
Burlap Material, Burlap Cloth | Agri Supply
davidwalton
Member
Joe,
I am in the Piedmont of NC. However all my family was from Onslow co originally. At one time, in my younger days, I had a tobacco sheet we used to cover our boat. Someone I know shared on Facebook that a local coffe shop had these to get rid of so I figured why not. It's worth the experiment since they were free!
By the way, I am a long time lurker and very infrequent poster here and I know you have been here for quite a while as well! What part of the coast are you from?
David
I am in the Piedmont of NC. However all my family was from Onslow co originally. At one time, in my younger days, I had a tobacco sheet we used to cover our boat. Someone I know shared on Facebook that a local coffe shop had these to get rid of so I figured why not. It's worth the experiment since they were free!
By the way, I am a long time lurker and very infrequent poster here and I know you have been here for quite a while as well! What part of the coast are you from?
David
Hi David,
thanks for reaching out. I'm in Greenville. Been here since 1986, but am originally from the piedmont region, Dallas, NC to be specific. That's a few miles north of Gastonia. I graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne College (now a university) and from East Carolina. I live close enough to Dowdy-Ficklen stadium that I can easily hear the cannon when the Pirates score a touchdown.
I'm not hunting ducks as much as I used to. Aging out, I reckon, and most of my duck hunting friends have moved on as well.
best wishes, Joe
thanks for reaching out. I'm in Greenville. Been here since 1986, but am originally from the piedmont region, Dallas, NC to be specific. That's a few miles north of Gastonia. I graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne College (now a university) and from East Carolina. I live close enough to Dowdy-Ficklen stadium that I can easily hear the cannon when the Pirates score a touchdown.
I'm not hunting ducks as much as I used to. Aging out, I reckon, and most of my duck hunting friends have moved on as well.
best wishes, Joe
Dale Wilcox
Member
Your boat and motor look good. Those ducks did not have chance. That is a good picture! Steve were you shooting a model 12 in those days? My first decoy bag was also burlap bags. And they do make a good engine cover, that is what is I used for many years too. It is amazing how much gear is available to a waterfowl hunter now a days as compared to the 60's thru about the 1980's. New stuff being invented or improved on every season. I suspect a lot of younger waterfowlers just take that for granted too.
Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Good morning, Dale~
Yes, I believe that was my first Model 12 - "born" in 1918. It actually became too worn to shoot reliably - a head space issue. So, I subsequently shot - a continue to shoot - one made in 1925. Next month it will attempt to bring down some September Canadas. I plan to hunt it "forever" - at least until I succumb to my own "head space" issues.
I embrace many of the products unavailable when I was younger: face masks, head lamps, fleece, neoprene waders, compartmented decoy bags. However - like many on this site - I prefer to use the tried and true technologies - and maintain, restore or make them myself. So, my burlap motor covers are now Sunbrella (or Cordura, etc) and nylon/polyester/polypropylene webbing.....
Of course, Salt Hay is still my go-to "thatch". The synthetic cloth does not absorb water like burlap so is easier to manage throughout a season.
All the best,
SJS
Yes, I believe that was my first Model 12 - "born" in 1918. It actually became too worn to shoot reliably - a head space issue. So, I subsequently shot - a continue to shoot - one made in 1925. Next month it will attempt to bring down some September Canadas. I plan to hunt it "forever" - at least until I succumb to my own "head space" issues.
I embrace many of the products unavailable when I was younger: face masks, head lamps, fleece, neoprene waders, compartmented decoy bags. However - like many on this site - I prefer to use the tried and true technologies - and maintain, restore or make them myself. So, my burlap motor covers are now Sunbrella (or Cordura, etc) and nylon/polyester/polypropylene webbing.....
Of course, Salt Hay is still my go-to "thatch". The synthetic cloth does not absorb water like burlap so is easier to manage throughout a season.
All the best,
SJS
davidwalton
Member
Paul Mc said:
I sure started it with a different direction in mind. Lol. One of the things that made waterfowling enjoyable to me when I started in the early 90s was the constant gear work. We were always doing something like making decoys, making weights, painting old birds, making mud stools, fixing blinds or whatever. Now you just order whatever you want in this fast pace life.
Vince Pagliaroli
Well-known member
davidwalton said:
Well that may be true for some in this "fast paced life" yet many of us still do the things that you write about cuz we have been doin them for so long. There does come a point though where one has just about all that is required (Geezerhood) and less becomes more. A really large Cabela's catalog arrived in the mail about a week ago. Studied the entire catalog and could not find anything that I might want at this time.
As for burlap I did use it many years ago. It does work but does get very heavy when wet and tends to rot if not cared for. The camo netting and material from the Outdoor Army Store worked, and still works well after all these years. The price was very low for a good product at that time.
It's only fast paced if ya allow it to be.[
]my 2 cents
roy brewington
Well-known member
Instead of stripping them into threads in past I've cut burlap into about 3" wide widths x 30" long lengths half hitch them around or thru netting or grass strap so they kind of flower out. Gives some depth to blind from bushiness. Works great done thru camo tank netting to add another dimension to blind. Have even mixed it in with rafia grass on grassing boat blinds. The nastier it gets the better it looks.