DIY Milkweed Dyneemacator

[TomJoad]

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:

 

[CB4]

I have been using the old rubber coin purse and I think I just found my next project!

 

[Dos Perros]

Would milkweed be considered invasive to the areas you're spreading it? Completely naïve question, I don't know, and have been interested in using it but wouldn't if it were the case.

 

[TomJoad]

Would milkweed be considered invasive to the areas you're spreading it? Completely naïve question, I don't know, and have been interested in using it but wouldn't if it were the case.

Not Naive at all. I did some research on this before embarking on this because I didn’t know either. There are 19 species of Milkweed native to Colorado. It’s a very beneficial plant that is essential for monarch butterfly migration and the species is having a hard time. Despite the qty of seeds germination is difficult to manage and requires the right combination of environmental circumstances. Some people remove the seed portion of the milkweed and just use the thread. At the elevation I’m hunting in milkweed has no shot at germination so it’s not a concern. Additionally I harvested this milkweed in Colorado near where I hunt (way down elevation) so it’s not a new (or invasive) species I’m introducing to the area.

 

[John pettimore]

I too use one of the rubber coin purses They work but I don’t like the fact that it often takes two hands and this seems like a great solution.

 

[mws-pa]

Looks awesome might have to try this.

 

[FLAK]

That "pod-loaf" does look highly suspect though.

 

[HighUintas]

I thought this was a joke at first. What's the benefit? Is it that much lighter than a small puffer bottle? Do the seeds indicate wind that much better?
Very interesting.

 

[TomJoad]

I thought this was a joke at first. What's the benefit? Is it that much lighter than a small puffer bottle? Do the seeds indicate wind that much better?
Very interesting.

It's lighter, actually weighs nothing but that's not why I did it as I never saw puffers as a place to look for weight reduction

I did this just to try out a new indicator material and WOW it is totally next level. I mean like a factor of 10. My puffers usually dissipate in a few feet sometimes upwards of 6. The milkweed just keeps floating. and floating. and floating. Super cool to watch the wind so well, you should give it a shot!

So once I decided to move to milkweed I just wasn't happy with the options for holding it. So I had an idea for a micro stuffsack and the material choice was just a result of what I had laying around (My wife and I both make a lot of stuff out of fabric). You could do something similar from Sil-nylon if you have an old gear stuff sack from a sleeping bag or tent.

 

[HighUintas]

I see! That is a great idea. I guess I never thought I needed to see my indicator farther than a few feet. I'll try it out

 

[John pettimore]

I see! That is a great idea. I guess I never thought I needed to see my indicator farther than a few feet. I'll try it out

You absolutely do! You will be surprised how many times your wind is (for example) blowing left to right where you’re standing only to see with milkweed that it goes a few feet and blows right back in the direction it came from and end up on your left.

 

[TomJoad]

You absolutely do! You will be surprised how many times your wind is (for example) blowing left to right where you’re standing only to see with milkweed that it goes a few feet and blows right back in the direction it came from and end up on your left.

During my elk hunt this year the milkweed left my hand in one direction and proceeded to execute a full 360 circle around me and leave in a completely different direction. Talk about swirling winds! Hunting Colorado drainages can be brutal!

 

[1stGenOutdoorsman]

Nice idea! My wife planted some native milkweed in a garden bed this year and I saved some of the pods for wind indicator as well as future plantings. I hadn’t yet figured how I would carry it but I have a good idea now. It is amazing how many more butterflies and caterpillars we had around because of the small milkweed patch.

 

[.308]

Great idea.

 

[5 shot group]

Thats an idea I am going to copy for sure.

Thanks for the post op

 

[eaglemountainman]

My dad taught me to use milkweed seeds back in the '70s. Never found anything better. You can watch them for quite a ways as they dance on the breeze.

Nice project TomJoad. I'm not that elaborate. I just stuff a bunch into a 3x3 ziplock bag and keep that in the side pocket of my bino harness.

 

[22Jdub]

I thought this was a joke at first. What's the benefit? Is it that much lighter than a small puffer bottle? Do the seeds indicate wind that much better?
Very interesting.

So much if the time the wind is doing something completely different 20+ yards away from you. The puffer only let's you see where you scent is going directly where you are standing. I like to use both.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[HighUintas]

Someone needs to create a biodegradable synthetic milkweed puffer! That way no one would have to worry/do research about whether they'd be spreading it to places it doesn't grow

 

[22Jdub]

Someone needs to create a biodegradable synthetic milkweed puffer! That way no one would have to worry/do research about whether they'd be spreading it to places it doesn't grow

Milkweed is not an invasive specifies in any state in the US. https://www.pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Pheasants-Forever/Milkweed-Magic.aspx

 

[JohnB]

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