wind checker

[wapitimike1]

Any of you folks refill those wind checker bottles, if so with what? I have a wind feather but the powder is best for thermals.

[Richie Nell]

The finest ash in my fireplace.

[GingivitisKahn]

I use cheap dental floss that shreds easily but you can refill those bottles with talcum powder I believe.  That stuff is cheap, light and easy to see.

[wollelybugger]

I was standing by a fire yesterday and everytime the wind changes, every two minutes, I think of hunting. Straight up, out of the west, straight down, out of the east, north and south, LOL.

[ckanous]

I used blue chalk from my chalk line box.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I use talcum powder. I also tie  unwaxed dental floss to my bow, and stuff my pockets with with milkweed pods every time I see them.

Heres my thoery:

A) the wind is everything

B) for pointing out the general, predominant wind, the dental floss works great.

C)For watching the wind in a little more detail...thermals, etc., the talcum powder is awesome, but it disapates within about 10 yards. Also very hard to see in mist or snow.

D)The milk weed pods are helpfull in watching long distance patterens. Say your in a tree at a saddle between 2 swammps....I have a spot just like this....often the wind looks to be straight out of the west, but the pods show me that once they drop down to swamp level, the current takes a hard north direction.

Anyways....thats my theory. To answer your question, talcum powder, but the blue chalk idea maeks more sense.

[adeeden]

I gather a couple milk weed pods before season starts. Dry them out on my dashboard for a couple days then put all the fluff in a skoal can. Let some of the fluff hang out as you close the can. Simply pull a little out when you want to check the wind or thermals and let them drift. I can see them much better than powder and they drift forever. Cheap, effective and about as natural as you can get!

[TRAP]

I also use milkweed pods.  Works very well.

Trap

[xtrema312]

I can't find milk weed pods.  I used to see them around, but not for a while now.  I will have to look a little harder for them.  I am thinking maybe dandelion seeds next spring.  I know I don't have to go far to find those pesky things.  I hear bubbles work well.  I just don't like the idea of spreading anything around with a lot of smell to it.  Chalk would probably be ok, but anything unnatural spread around my hunting area sounds like a bad idea.  I wonder if pulling a small amount of cotton from a cotton ball would work?

[jcar315]

I too use the blue chalk. Be careful with other colors as they are more permanent and might not wash out of clothes.

[kasey]

corn starch

[billy shipp]

second the corn starch

[non-typical]

a wisp of a downy turkey feather tied to a thin piece of dental floss which is tied at the top of the bow string.

[wapitimike1]

So corn starch and some talc is oderless I take it. That was my biggest concern. I like the chalk but knowing my luck. I'll be the only guy trying to sell Blue KOM on TradGang! I'll have to make a mission for milk weed next year. I have a small Turkey feather on my limb tip.   The powder or M weed don't leave any questions. Thanks for the help.

[Lefty]

Yep, I used to refill mine with corn starch too.  After reading a thread by Guru on how he makes a wind check.  I followed his instructions and drilled a small hole in the top of a 35MM film canister and filled it with milk weed.  I have made quite a few the last few years, cause ever time a friend see mine they really like it and I end up given it away and making a new one.  They really work great!  I think Guru even put velcro on his and stuck it on his quiver.  I usually just carry mine in my jacket pocket.

[TSP]

A plain ole' cotton ball placed under a rubber band on the upper fadeout of your bow (or in a 35MM cannister, as mentioned for milkweed pods) works well.  Just pull a tiny wisp of it off, let it go and watch it float with the wind yon and hither...it picks up lighter winds than does the floss/feather type, you can see it longer than powder and it shows the variation in wind currents well.  Plus its cheap and available.

[PhilNY]

I used to keep milkweed pods,dry them out and stuff the contents into a 35mm film canister. One day the canister opened up in the back of my SUV and when I flipped open the hatch it was like a snow storm in there, drove home with the window open and even the vacum hardly got it, what a mess. Works great though and now I put it in a ziplock Bag. Floss tied to the bottom limb too.

[thp]

I second or third the milkweed idea.  I cut out the seeds so that I'm not planting milkweed in the fields around me.

[LA Trapper]

Corn starch.  Everyone has it in their kitchen and it is cheap.  Find someone that wears contacts and get a lense re-wetting bottle from them.  Dry it and fill it with corn starch and squeeze.

Billy

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Doesn't corn starch get sticky when damp?