Ground Blind Tornado Test

[Rocketman7]

I am currently in the middle of an experiment to see how well my new ground blind will withstand a tornado.
I recently found a good deal on a new ground blind and it arrived late Sunday. Monday evening I tore into the package like Ralphie in A Christmas Story and popped up the blind in the back yard to check it out. Fortunately, I staked it down tightly since I wanted it to stretch a bit.
Now, it is still staked in the backyard and I am under a Tornado watch/warning/advisory (I honestly can't remember the difference between them, but its whichever is the most serious one, according to my wife) and there are 60-80 mph gusts. I went out to try to take it down when I got home, but it honestly still felt rock solid in the wind and I was worried if I got it half down a gust would catch it causing damage. Added additional stakes to the re-enforced points on the interior and now I play the waiting game.
Really hoping I still have a blind in the morning. If not I'll have to find a way to turn this into a terrible product review and try to blame it on poor quality (instead of my own stupidity).

 

[Billy Goat]

If it made it through 70 mph winds, it's already the best one I know of.

 

[Voyageur]

Update???

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I've had them uprooted and cartwheeled for half a mile with far less wind than we had in Iowa last night. That is with high wind stakes on all four sides and trapping stakes around the perimeter.

Fabric ground blinds will not withstand significant winds for a sustained period of time. Either the anchors are torn from the blind itself or the lines will break. Sure you could replace with paracord, but the next weakest point will fail and that is normally anywhere they are sown to the blind.

Bottom line: if a significant wind event is headed your way, go retrieve your blinds. Tree limbs and other debris caught in the wind will also pierce and destroy the blind.

 

[Spoonman]

Why?

 

[NickKreutz]

Haha very intriguing, is it still there? What blind is it?

 

[DCT1983]

Well now I just want to know if the blind lived or not.

 

[Rocketman7]

UPDATE:
So the blind is still standing! No tornado, but wind gusts for last night got up to 68 mph in my corner of IL (according to some weather site I looked on). By comparison, the only thing that wasn't blown completely off my porch last night was my grill and smoker. Table, chairs, kids toys, etc. are strewn about my/neighbors yards.
Checked the exterior/interior stakes, all solid as a rock. No evidence of stress/tearing on the blind material, frame, or tie-out points. Everything looks like it did when I unpacked it.
I am pretty impressed, I was honestly expecting it to buckle on the windward side but it held super steady. I think the see through mess material allowed just enough wind from the gusts to pass through so that there wasn't too much force on any one side. Also, the wind was still blowing pretty hard when I went in to check the interior for any damage or stress and I could barely feel any gusts when inside it which makes me hopeful that it will provide decent wind protection when in use.
For those wondering, it is a Primos Double Bull Surround View 360. Wanted to hold off mentioning the brand til I saw how it held up. Pretty psyched I don't have to replace a brand new blind, but I am going to keep a better eye on the weather even when I'm at the house so I don't press my luck.

Happy hunting!

 

[pjh360]

I wouldn’t have even considered leaving up a $500 ground blind in those conditions!

 

[coloyooper]

I once bought a ground blind from Scheels to use pronghorn hunting in CO. I hunted a total of one day out of it before heavy winds picked up and blew it a half mile away as I was driving my pickup to collect my gear. When I finally got to the blind it was absolutely destroyed. Very funny sight looking back at it, watching it tumble across the open plains. I called Scheels with a hope and a prayer that they could help me out. The woman I spoke with decided it was DEFINITELY a manufacturer’s defect that the stakes didn’t hold it in place with 40mph gusts snd told me to come in to grab a replacement free of charge. She was an absolute saint. I spend all my money at scheels now.

 

[Rocketman7]

I wouldn’t have even considered leaving up a $500 ground blind in those conditions!

I didn't consider it either, until it was too late.

 

[D S 319]

I once bought a ground blind from Scheels to use pronghorn hunting in CO. I hunted a total of one day out of it before heavy winds picked up and blew it a half mile away as I was driving my pickup to collect my gear. When I finally got to the blind it was absolutely destroyed. Very funny sight looking back at it, watching it tumble across the open plains. I called Scheels with a hope and a prayer that they could help me out. The woman I spoke with decided it was DEFINITELY a manufacturer’s defect that the stakes didn’t hold it in place with 40mph gusts snd told me to come in to grab a replacement free of charge. She was an absolute saint. I spend all my money at scheels now.

Scheels is typically great when it comes to that. Always worth asking lol.

 

[Titan_Bow]

I remember about ten years ago, I was coming back to an evening spot for turkeys, I had left my Double bull there all day. This was in Nebraska, in an area where prairie met river bottom, and high winds are pretty common. Being the dummy that I can sometimes be, I didn’t really stake it down all that well.
As I finally crest over the rise in the prairie to peer down into the bottom where my blind was, I see it parachuting in the air like a kite. Somehow one of the guy lines never came loose and that one line was the only thing holding it. It was held up in the air by the constant wind, LOL. Surprisingly, there was no damage to the blind but in hindsight I always stake the hell out of my blind if I am planning on leaving it up for any length of time!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dieselchessy]

I didn't consider it either, until it was too late.

LOL! Love the response.

 

[SoILSlocker]

Pretty cool it didn't blow away or rip anywhere, good show of quality for Primos.

 

[Scoot]

Scheels is awesome!

I once drove my son and me to our turkey blind after a night of big wind. On the drive in we passed a little clump of trees and someone's torn up blind was splatter across several of the trees. I thought "poor slob didn't stake that down very well". After I drove another 50 yards the lightbulb went off and I backed up so we could collect the remains of our blind! It had blown about 3/4 of a mile and over a very large, tall patch of trees that are about 300 yards across.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I'm glad it stood up for you in the yard. I HIGHLY recommend from experience that you don't leave it out in the field all season unless you want to flush your investment down the drain. Like I said previously, eventually the lines and stitching will wear out after too many wind events. Either that or it will get punctured by debris, sticks, etc...

Until they make blinds out of kevlar they will never be close to invulnerable.

 

[jmez]

Learned my lesson the hard way with blinds and wind. I wouldn't leave it out again.

 

[dtrkyman]

I left my double bull out on a field ridge years ago over night, it was staked down with the four cords attached to the outside of the hubs only, and the stakes were made from broke off tree branches.

A tornado came through within 20 miles or so and one heck of an insane storm half the night, basically headed out in the morning with plans to find what was left of my blind if I could even find it?

That thing was exactly as I left it! Was completely shocked to see it's silhouette when I entered the field, had 2 nice long beards skirt me shortly after day light.