DIY Wind Checker

Hi All,

I was looking around for what people use for DIY wind checkers vs just buying a premade one at a big box store and I didnt see this really covered anywhere else on here so figured I share what I found. My apologies if this has in fact been covered before. This one idea seems to be the best idea I saw so would like to see what you all think is the best from your experience as mine is limited:

Take a black plastic film roll container with the grey lid or something similar. Cut a X slot in the lid. Stuff the inside full of non-scented cotton balls that you lightly shredded (maybe even add some surveyors colored chalk to make it more visible). Stuff in the container and push a little fuzz though the X slot. Now your set and you just pull a little fuzz and let it float away and this lets you see whats happening with the wind up to 20-30yds or more depending on your eye sight. As you pull fuzz it pulls more up to the slot like a tissue box, refill and repeat.

The other ones I saw that seem to work for most people are small travel squeeze bottles filled with either talc, corn starch or chalk, tying some thread to your barrel so it hangs down and catches the wind, and even sacrificing an old pillow, take some of the down, stuffing it how ever much you can fit into a container of your choice then letting a feather two fly when you want to check the wind.

Im gonna try the cotton canister and the down filling this weekend when I go hiking in Golden and Ill share my findings after.

Cheers!

When I’m whitetail hunting i often is milkweed. I just stuff them in a ziplock and pull out as needed and when it’s empty it is easy to refill. It serves as a wind checker and is good for the prairie potentially. I would never do it in a place I wasn’t certain the kind of milkweed I had was a native.

Gellar said:

When I’m whitetail hunting i often is milkweed. I just stuff them in a ziplock and pull out as needed and when it’s empty it is easy to refill. It serves as a wind checker and is good for the prairie potentially. I would never do it in a place I wasn’t certain the kind of milkweed I had was a native.

Click to expand...

Same here, when I'm whitetail hunting I just use milkweed.

Smallest container of baby powders you can find like travel size.

I have never DIY-ed a $2.69 item. It has to save me at least $3.00 before it’s worth it, IMO.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/pro...MIvsGmn4GF2gIVhVx-Ch0RJAaBEAQYASABEgI7VPD_BwE

In a calm wind a simple bic lighter works pretty well.

I refill my bottles with lifting chalk

Haha sorry I should have clarified better - the DIY part wasnt to save money, it was to find out what was the best one. I was able to try a few out and I really like the home made cotton ball dispenser. I put some orange surveyors chalk in it and it was really easy to see see even far away. The thing I like this vs all the other powder versions is that this method can tell you what the wind is doing more than 10 ft away. All the powders I tried seem to dissipate in 10ft or less. That probably doesn't matter most places but in the mountains we all know the wind that you feel might not be the same wind 20 ft away as some areas tend to swirl more then others and thats where the cotton method shined the best. I was up on a ridge above Golden Sunday and when I let some go I went one way for a bit and then completely change once it go over an open field. This was the same case many times during my hike where if I had been using a powered wind checker, I would have been led to believe one thing that was not necessarily true. So Im in the camp that yes a powder probably works most of the time when the prevailing wind is all the same but Id rather have a wind checker that works for longer distances for times where the wind swirling so I can hopefully make a better judgement on my stalk.

. If I’m in Golden I’m hunting here!

Gellar said:

When I’m whitetail hunting i often is milkweed. I just stuff them in a ziplock and pull out as needed and when it’s empty it is easy to refill. It serves as a wind checker and is good for the prairie potentially. I would never do it in a place I wasn’t certain the kind of milkweed I had was a native.

Click to expand...

The area farmers and ranchers Thank You a bunch!!!!!

Ridge Ghost said:

I refill my bottles with lifting chalk

Click to expand...

I use baby powder Refill old checker bottles that I have bought Can buy a big bottle of powder for about three bucks I know it has a smell. The animals will YOU if you have a scent free powder and the wind is blowing towards them when you are wind checking

LOL Pondera!

Ditto on the milkweed, I have a big bag of them, you can watch it float on the thermals and see where it goes, works awesome. Just make sure you take the seeds off the ends...

Doesn't anyone just fart?