DIY Milkweed Dyneemacator

[John pettimore]

Just take the seeds off. The little white stuff that floats isn’t the seed and is perfectly safe.

 

[orionsbrother]

What John said. All you need is the floss. It floats farther and longer without the seeds. Plant some seeds near your house and have future supply.

 

[22Jdub]

Yeah but there are a ton of different types of milkweed. Thats like saying there is grass in all 50 states.

According to the article none of those various species are invasive. Regardless you want to remove the seeds first so it's a non issue.

 

[PAhntr91]

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Windfloaters. Look similar to milkweed never used them. Have used milk weed I think I’ll plant it in my yard this spring

 

[Jburr]

monarchwatch.org
So here is a website with a lot of info about milkweed varieties and distribution throughout the us.
As hunters it would be pretty easy to help out even in a small way. A sort of Johnny Appleseed effect

 

[J3DOYLE]

Great idea! Just wish we had milkweed here. And if we do....I haven't seen any yet

 

[DuaneZ]

Here is my second favorite piece of DIY gear for the 2020 season: An ultralight Dyneema windicator. I've always used puffers but heard how great milkweed is. Wow is milkweed a game changer. I could not believe how much better it performs and how long it tracked in my fickle and shifty Colorado Mtn winds. So when I collected local milkweed seed earlier in the fall and quickly realized the off the shelf holders and repurposed solutions were not that great. This design was not intended to look like an alien milkweed, just a tube with a cinched end that is tapered towards the tip, but hilariously it does look like some kind of futuristic seed pod. The closure elastic I use to run through my bio harness which is where I like to keep windicators for the easiest and quickest access. The capacity of this one was enough to last through 3 hunts without refilling despite using it constantly to track wind. The weight is an incredible 16.1 grams (0.57 oz). So likely 6 hunts worth of indicator for 1/2 oz!

Here are the details:

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Where did you get the sack? Or did you make it?

 

[TomJoad]

Where did you get the sack? Or did you make it?

I made it, kind of like a mini-pastry bag for piping icing, but constructed from dyneema laminate with a drawcord closure.

 

[atHomeintheWoods]

Great idea, thanks for posting. Have some milkweed stored away and planing on using it this year

 

[Fireman5569]

This is brilliant. do you have plans for it or did you do it on the fly?

 

[TomJoad]

This is brilliant. do you have plans for it or did you do it on the fly?

Thanks man. Just did it on the fly. It was honestly a very last minute add to my kit, 2 nights before lift-off. I had a hard container with me as a back-up.

 

[Fireman5569]

Well if you can send me any info on making it I would really appreciate it I've started to make my own gear and this is awesome.

 

[TomJoad]

You don't need to use dyneema laminate, but certainly can, a light weight sil-nylon would be fine. If you have an old stuff sack from a sleeping bag or puffy thats ideal since it will also have cordage and a cord lock.

Start with a square of material roughly 6x7"


Fold the top edge about 3/4" down and topstitch 1/4" from the fabric edge: this is your cinch cord channel

** EASIEST TO INSERT CORDAGE AT THIS POINT
(coat hanger and tape works as a snake)

Fold the entire piece in half top to bottom (fold should bi-sect your cord channel)


Stitch along the open edge with around 1/4" seam allowance from the since tube opening down.
- half way to the bottom taper to the center seam of the fabric leaving about a 1/4" opening.
**backtack at both openings: when you start sewing this seam reverse over your stitches once and likewise when you finish this seam reverse over your stitch line and proceed forward back over this line (3 layers of stitches for all backtack areas).

Trim the excess off leaving at least 1/4" seam allowance:

Finally turn it inside out and you're ready for some milkweed!

Depending on material you can get fancy with details... if using laminated dyneema you can leave the edges raw for the cordage exit an milkweed tip. If you use silnylon I'd take the time to hem these edges to prevent fraying (raveling out) and create more strength.

You can also clip the top corners if you are using dyneema to make the cord lock behave better, just make sure you do this before you sew the tube and back-tack those tube ends:

 

[Fireman5569]

Awesome thank you tons for posting this!

 

[txflatlander]

Cool!

 

[Grassymike]

Down clusters work the same way.

 

[hilts]

Milk weed is definitely a game changer and teaches you alot about how wind moves through different terrain and vegetation.

 

[baeloth]

Thanks TomJoad, definite process improvement over the rubber coin purses I've been using. I may sew one today.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Here is my second favorite piece of DIY gear for the 2020 season: An ultralight Dyneema windicator. I've always used puffers but heard how great milkweed is. Wow is milkweed a game changer. I could not believe how much better it performs and how long it tracked in my fickle and shifty Colorado Mtn winds. So when I collected local milkweed seed earlier in the fall and quickly realized the off the shelf holders and repurposed solutions were not that great. This design was not intended to look like an alien milkweed, just a tube with a cinched end that is tapered towards the tip, but hilariously it does look like some kind of futuristic seed pod. The closure elastic I use to run through my bio harness which is where I like to keep windicators for the easiest and quickest access. The capacity of this one was enough to last through 3 hunts without refilling despite using it constantly to track wind. The weight is an incredible 16.1 grams (0.57 oz). So likely 6 hunts worth of indicator for 1/2 oz!

Here are the details:

View attachment 243063View attachment 243064View attachment 243065View attachment 243066View attachment 243067

Now that is cool. I bet you could sell those if you were so inclined. If they weren’t too terribly expensive I’d buy one.

 

[SonnyDay]

Finally got around to making mine today. Thanks for the inspiration!

I had to go camo because I'm just sure that the fashionistas will declare solids to be out this season... (also, that was the fabric I had)