Rollup Blind: veg is the edge
Your hunt is only as good as your hide.
For about $25 in readily available materials, this simple-to-build and easy-to-carry panel blind will help you disappear into the marsh. The two-piece spreader bar keeps the panel flat when set up and rolls up inside the blind when it’s time to move.
Natural vegetation in a layered, vertical arrangement makes this blind an extension of the surrounding marsh.
Panel Blind
To conceal two hunters, we use an 8-foot-long by 4-foot-high section of green, plastic fencing and two 4-foot-tall metal fence posts.
Attach each side of the fencing to a fence post using three stainless steel hose clamps. The base of the fencing panel should be even with the top of the foot brace on the post (so you can drive it into the mud with your boot; see photo below).
You’ll notice that about 12 inches of the fencing extends above the top of the post. To give the panel some stiffness, fold it over on itself and secure with zip ties—this will help give it shape and rigidity when set up. Conceal the shine of the hose clamps with spray paint.
Spreader Bar
To keep the panel taught and flat when set up, we use an 8-foot-long spreader bar comprised of two 4-foot lengths of 3/4-inch PVC.
On one end of each 4-foot-long piece of the spreader bar, attach a 3/4-inch by 1-inch (or larger) slip Tee (the Tees must be large enough to fit around the diameter of the metal fence post). Set one of the spreader bar lengths aside; to the other, glue a 3/4-inch slip coupler to the end opposite the Tee. The coupler allows the two pieces to be snug-fit together into a single 8-foot long piece, then taken apart for transport. Camouflage the white PVC using spray paint.
Veg is the Edge
Now for the camouflage. There’s no better concealment than natural vegetation. We use a two-step process that saves set-up time in the field and provides the right amount of depth, texture, and color for blending seamlessly into the background.
Step 1: Ahead of your next hunt, apply a base layer of weeds and grasses to roughly cover half the total area. Use what’s convenient; color and texture should roughly match the habitat you’ll be hunting.
Bunches of weedy grass provide the base layer for this blind.
Step 2: Once you’re onsite in the marsh, cover the remaining open space with local materials that match your surroundings. Orient bundles of vegetation upright, to match your surroundings.
Bunches of reed canarygrass give the blind a finishing touch with the right colors to match local conditions. This spreader bar was cobbled together using a slip-tee as the union and two oversized tees as the slip-on terminal ends—all that to say; use what’s convenient to make it work.
Step 3: When it’s time to pack up, lay the blind on the ground veg-side up, place the two halves of the spreader bar at one end, and roll it all up tight.
Shopping List:
(8 ft x 4 ft) green plastic fencing (Lowes has a 50-ft by 4-ft roll for $36.00)
(2) 4-ft tall powder-coated steel fence U-posts. Note: avoid using fence posts with pointed foot braces—they will puncture your wader boots.
(6) Stainless steel hose clamps
(2) 4-foot lengths of 3/4” PVC pipe
(2) 3/4” by 1” (or larger) PVC slip Tees
(1) 3/4” PVC slip coupling
100-count bag of 12-inch long zipties
PVC cement
Flat-finish spray paint suitable for plastic (brown, tan)