whats the best type of fastgrass?

[Shannon K]

i made a small kara-hummer squareback with a small go-devil type motor on it. its been painted up, but now i want to make a low fastgrass blind for it, that way i can sit on the floor or low beach chair or lay down . i live in south florida and i dont have any close retail stores to buy fastgrass. do any of you guys know where i can get the best quality mats at a fair price?

 

[Brandon Bolling]

Ebay always has it available, with shipping costs I dont know how much of a deal it comes out to.



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[Ron Schuna]

A place I used to work had a Hawaiian theme party with a bunch of hula skirts. I got to take home the left overs ( about 20 of them). see the link for the 9' raffia table skirt and also the child and adult raffia skirts. I took the adult skirts and used a nylon tie wrap and fastened them to clothes pins. they snap right onto the small 4 wheeler bungee cargo nets that I put on each end of my little boat. You can paint them and also use johnson's water seal to keep them water proofed.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=browse&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=link.itemDetails&demandPrefix=12&sku=25/1567&mode=Searching&erec=6&D=raffia%2Btable%2Bskirt&Ntt=raffia%2Btable%2Bskirt&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&N=0&sd=TROPICAL+LUAU+TABLE+SKIRT


http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=browse&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=link.itemDetails&demandPrefix=12&sku=OTCG423&mode=Searching&erec=15&D=raffia&Ntt=raffia&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&N=0&sd=NATURAL+RAFFIA+PALM++HULA+SKIRTS

 

[Scott Farris]

Skippy, You have three general options; purchased mats, bundles of loose grass (invisagrass) that you have to fix to fencing or netting, or make your own mats from local grass.

Purchased mats: it's hard to beat Fastgrass. I have 6 mats that I have attached to plastic fencing that I bought about 8 years ago. It's seen better days but it is still very usable. I installed it on fencing so I could roll up two 12-ft lengths that do a good job covering the two side of my 14-ft boat I have seen a couple of other suppliers mats and not been as impressed. Maybe others can comment on brand names.

I have not yet played with Ira's invisagrass but it has the best reputation of the bundled grasses commercially available. It's treated against rot and is available dyed to match your back ground or to allow you to achieve a more broken up, camouflaged look.

And finally you have the option of making your own mats which while they won't last as long they will allow you to match the exact cover your trying to hide in. MLB has the method in their resources area - mats

Enjoy!
Scott

 

[Shannon K]

thanks to all for the fast and informative replies, what i think im going to do, is collect all the fallen palmetto fronts from the 100 or so palmetto trees in the parkinglot of my workplace "ups" and exsperiment on weaving them myself, by the time early teal season comes i should have a pile of material. By the time the fronds fall off they are a perfect light tan/brown and ill seal them like you said, i used to weave palmfronds into carrying straps for wild turkeys to haul out the woods. if i cant figure it out by season ill break down and buy some, thanks again everyone!

 

[Mark W]

I've had them all and for the places I hunt (MN and WI) nothing beats raffia grass (generic version of Invisgrass and others like it). Look up raffia online and you can get it from any number of places. I'm on my third year and mine shows no rotting or any others calamities that those who sell more expensive grass claim to afflict the cheaper raffia.

Mark W

 

[Ben Gallup]

Cabellas has their Northern Flight Raffia natural color on sale for about $5 a pound. Go to http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat601993&navAction=jump&navCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat20712&parentType=category&parentId=cat20712
I prefer the natural color because you get more pounds for your money. To color and water proof , I mix one pint of black oil based paint with a gallon of Thompson Water seal in Golden Oak tone. To maximize coverage I cut the raffia in 12 inch lengths and tie small ½ inch bundles to netting. I use binder twine to tie bundles. As I tie each bundle to the net, I spread the individual bundle in an X pattern and tie it a second time. Opening the bundle helps cover more area and locks the bundles in place. Use a garden sprayer to dispense the Thompson’s over the netting. It usually takes two coats and fluffing the individual bundles as you spray helps to penetrate coverage. Dry in the sun. For me I can stretch 5 pounds of raffia to cover 4 X 10 feet of net.