Wind indicator

Nohljo

FNG
Joined
May 9, 2017
Messages
11
What's everyone's favorite wind indicator( checked) never used one in the Midwest.. Looking for one that will work great in the mountains and last ten days
 

Ross

Super Moderator
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Feb 24, 2012
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4,674
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Liberty Lake, WA
I buy th cheapest I can find and used to make it with baking soda. How long it will last will simply depend on how often you want or feel the need to check the wind. When getting in close on elk I am using these little bottles a lot and if need be will take off running if the evil wind switches. I tend to go through a bottle every 5 days I would say and have many backups.
 

muddydogs

WKR
Joined
May 3, 2017
Messages
1,099
Location
Utah
I purchased the cheapest squeeze bottle of the stuff I could find then refilled it with baby powder which works great. Ran out of baby powder last time I needed a refill so I threw in some red chalk string stuff in the bottle. The red works great in the snow but can sometimes plug up the little hole in the cap, I've been meaning to drill out the hole a tad bigger. Any fine powder will work, I wasn't going to spend the money on the first one but I couldn't seem to find a small squeezable bottle so last minute I ran to the sports store and throw away something like $6 on there half full bottle of what was probably baby powder or baking soda.
 

Jimss

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Mar 6, 2015
Messages
2,074
My preference is fiber material that floats in the air. The problem with powder is the limited distance before it disappears. It's possible to watch fiber drift a pretty long distance...even through binos. Also, sometimes wind may blow one direction close to your location and 10' away may drift a different direction. This can often be picked up with the fibers and not powder.
 
Joined
Jun 7, 2017
Messages
44
Location
Michigan
Fill an empty saline nasal spray bottle with corn starch. Open the spray orifice a little bit - trial and error - until you get the right puff.

Most baby powder sold now is just corn starch with perfume added.


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young7.3

WKR
Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
444
My preference is fiber material that floats in the air. The problem with powder is the limited distance before it disappears. It's possible to watch fiber drift a pretty long distance...even through binos. Also, sometimes wind may blow one direction close to your location and 10' away may drift a different direction. This can often be picked up with the fibers and not powder.

I am the same. What do you use in the form of synthetic fiber? While whitetail hunting I'll use milkweed, but don't want to introduce a nonnative species out west.
 

FlyGuy

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Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
2,087
Location
The Woodlands, TX
Feathers. I like to tie flies, so I always have marabou feathers around, but just about anything you find laying on the ground will work. I discovered this while deer hunting. Saw an interesting feather on the ground on the way in so I grabbed it to bring home for tying. A little while later I realized that I had not brought my windicator bottle. I tore off a few fibers/strands from the feather in my pocket (especially the really fuzzy ones closer to base) and let 'em go. I could see them drift for 80 yards and knew I was on to something. You can even see them zig zag or drift up and down. In open country in the mountains, you can see follow them through your binoculars for much further! Personally, I like hot pink marabou


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Joined
Jun 30, 2015
Messages
355
Location
Ohio
I am the same. What do you use in the form of synthetic fiber? While whitetail hunting I'll use milkweed, but don't want to introduce a nonnative species out west.

I use milkweed and pull the seeds off. Ill spend 10 min pulling them off and then stuff it all in pill containers. I wouldn't go back to a powder for wind checking.

In Idaho last year we were sitting on a mostly timbered mountain side mid morning and i tossed a milkweed piece out. We were in the shade and i watched the milkweed float down hill 30 yards, only to hit a sunny patch and go straight up into the trees. You aren't gonna see that with a bottle of powder.
 

ATX762

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
115
Location
Austin, TX
You can actually just use your nose, as long as it's not too warm out. Rotate your head slowly and take short puffs of air through the nose. The direction the wind is coming from will feel slightly cooler in your nostrils than all the other directions. Needs to be below about 50-60 degrees for this to work, but once I figured it out, I stopped carrying powders, etc. The fibers might still be better but the nose trick is very accurate and works even in very light winds. Try it... it works very well. Or maybe I just have a very sensitive nose. But you can def feel the temp difference. It's not subtle, even in a light wind.
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
1,324
Location
Tulsa Ok
I use milkweed and pull the seeds off. Ill spend 10 min pulling them off and then stuff it all in pill containers. I wouldn't go back to a powder for wind checking.

In Idaho last year we were sitting on a mostly timbered mountain side mid morning and i tossed a milkweed piece out. We were in the shade and i watched the milkweed float down hill 30 yards, only to hit a sunny patch and go straight up into the trees. You aren't gonna see that with a bottle of powder.

Actually not true, have seen this with powder(if the wind is light enough of course) I like the milkweed idea, but hard to find around here!!

I just use whatever is cheapest but refill with talc. I like the snap line chalk idea. I have plenty of that around.
 

young7.3

WKR
Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
444
Actually not true, have seen this with powder(if the wind is light enough of course) I like the milkweed idea, but hard to find around here!!

I just use whatever is cheapest but refill with talc. I like the snap line chalk idea. I have plenty of that around.

I think he's referring to not being able to see the wind effects 30 yards downwind, due to the powders dissipating too quickly.


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Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
2,228
Location
New Orleans, La.
I use Moccasin Joe Low Light wind indicator. It is some type of microscopic glass bubbles (I know it sounds crazy), but they float out really well and are highly visible (light blue color). They are available at Cabelas for $4.99, unscented # 229 946, or Elk scent # 419 540. The glass bubbles don't clog up like powder, and being only $4.99, even I can afford several. I carry one in my jacket pocket, and one in my pack (for backup).
 

Bronc

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Jun 16, 2017
Messages
112
The glass bubbles are microballoons. You can buy bigger containers of it hobby shops that sell model airplanes and the like. It used to mix with epoxy and is super light.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
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Location
New Orleans, La.
The glass bubbles are microballoons. You can buy bigger containers of it hobby shops that sell model airplanes and the like. It used to mix with epoxy and is super light.

Thanks, when I was typing it, I didn't think it looked correct but I couldn't remember what they really were. They seem to work well.
 

yazoomark

FNG
Joined
Jan 19, 2017
Messages
13
Location
virginia
My father in law grows cotton. He turned me on to using it as a wind indicator. Whenever I'm visiting him in alabama I stuff a couple pill bottles full of what's leftover in his fields. It works great!!! I imagine pulling apart cotton balls from the store and using that would work well too.
 

Dobermann

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Sep 17, 2016
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EnZed
The glass bubbles are microballoons. You can buy bigger containers of it hobby shops that sell model airplanes and the like. It used to mix with epoxy and is super light.

What are microballoons made of? Some kind of plastic, or something else? Are they biodegradable?
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
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Location
New Orleans, La.
What are microballoons made of? Some kind of plastic, or something else? Are they biodegradable?

Some type of glass or similar material, but it is microscopic, and float really well. Not sure about the biodegradable, but so little of it is sprayed, I can't imagine it causing any environmental problems.
 
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