In need of desperate help

C

christopher w

New member
So I'm brand new to the site, and I hope I found the right one. I just bought a brand new Triton 1650 DS with a 50 hp mercury tiller handle, a basic pic of the boat is attached. I need some ideas on building a blind simply because $700-$900 is outrageous for a commercial blind. The areas i will be hunting mostly consist of the mississippi river and open water lakes in southern illinois. please help. pictures would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

View attachment duck boat.jpg
 
http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=7979

This link is for the Montana Redneck boat blind thread on the DHC. It shows a simple way to make a scissor blind and other folks have posted their solutions.
 
With some conduit, conduit straps, PVC and some military camo, you can make one for about $200.00, with most the money in the camo netting. I used cerex in the past but the new cerex sucks, rips like paper. I got my netting from Barre Army Navy, plain green/brown. I stretch panels for cerex in between the support rails for close up the top opening.
This is what I use and it works great for the open water diver & puddler hunting we do on Mobile Bay & the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
We always stick a little cane in around it to hold the boat in place, make it look a little more natural and break up the outline a little.

[inline CerexBlind2.jpg ]

[inline BoatBlind1.jpg ]

[inline BoatBlind2.jpg ]

You could also do a scissor blind with the same netting:

[inline ScissorBlind.jpg ]

View attachment CerexBlind2.jpg
View attachment BoatBlind1.jpg
View attachment BoatBlind2.jpg
View attachment ScissorBlind.jpg
 
Similar design but with fastgrass panels.
I designed this support system after seeing one Eric had used on his old jon boat w/camo netting, before he became a boatbuilding/DHBP guru.
Eric, do you still have those pics posted??
View attachment Blind1.jpg

This pick kinda sucks, I will try to find the original larger one:

[inline BoatinBlind0102Small.jpg ]

View attachment BoatinBlind0102Small.jpg
 
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As for pics, get a photobucket account, upload your pics then copy and paste into your post from the appropriate format selection below your pic on photobucket.

As for DIY blinds, I've been there, done that. The problem is finding the right fittings to go with whatever tubing you choose. The correct tubing would be 3/4" or 1" OD by 1/8" wall thickness aluminum tubing, and the correct fittings would be Kee Klamp fittings or equivalent. By the time you add up the cost of the tubing and fittings, then the appropriate material to cover it with, the trial and error, the sewing time, the this, the that, by the time you are done you'll have something not near as good as the commercially made blind and you won't save a lot of money.

EMT is a nice material for blinds, cheap, light, but you have ONE fitting available, a cast pull elbow. I haven't found any fittings out there other than what's in the electrical department. If you go that route, ditch the set screws on the fittings and zip a self drilling sheet metal screw thru the set screw hole and into the conduit. Otherwise you'll have a mess when it falls apart on you in the dark when you are setting up 30 minutes before legal. (as I said, been there, done that)

Good luck

Jim
 
wow guys, there is a lot of great info and pics. I appreciate everything from all of you. I think I'm gonna go with the 3/4" EMT/conduit solid frame and have my buddy tack weld the pieces together, that way i dont have to worry about finding/buying the right fittings for each individual piece. but if there is any other great ideas out there, please post. once again, thank you so much for your help...

i will post pics (if i can figure that out) when i have a final product
 
Id used 3/4 for the main supports but I used 1/2 everywhere else... Save on the WEIGHT AND $$$$$$

Make sure on door areas and stuff WELD THE HECK Out of them, easier to do before any cammo on the blind.

Personal EXP. On this new one I took my time and welded the heck out of it.
 
There really isn't (IMO) a lot of weight savings between the various tubing sizes...no more than you will actually use for a frame. One more option is to use chainlink fenxe top-rail (1 1/4"?), as it's swaged on one end and will slide into another for your joints. Very sturdy, and suprisingly light. Diameter adds stiffness and wall thickness can be thinner, if going larger in diameter. Swivel Casters can be used for pivot hardware, by knocking out the axle and removing the wheel. They'll also remove any stress in the frame than un-tru bends or uneven dimensions can cause, such as on tapered hulls, etc. :)
 
View attachment 2009-10-24_17_53_53.jpg
this is what i have done so far. I'm thinking about taking off the 'knockdowns' (white rectangles) that i have at the top. They will be painted and brushed, just haven't got to that yet. Obviously i need to brush it up some more

View attachment blind2.jpg
this is how i built the frame. all 1/2" EMT conduit with threaded connections and threaded T's. the blind is as solid as a tank. turned out much better than i had expected
 
Where can you find threaded conduit and threaded tee's? That would be great for my blind, and some of my connections are just not that solid. Thanks.
 
My neighbor works for an electrical supply distributor and he got them for me. However, you can buy them at lowes. The pipe itself is not threaded, you can buy connectors that have compression rings. You can buy them all at lowes, just not as cheap as I was fortunately able to do
 
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