Ground Blind fire hazard?

[ryoung14]

Got a couple of those newfangled pop-up ground blinds they sell at Wally World and Bass Pro. Seemed like a good idea with the wet weather we've been having. They let you hunt when it's raining and keep the wind off you.

Was sitting inside one today and read the warning sign about not using a heater in one due to the fire hazard. Got home and read the instructions saying a firearm should not be discharged in one due to the possibility of sparks causing a fire.

Guess these things are made for bow hunters. Would've been nice if they'd said so on the box. If they're worried about a centerfire setting one off, a ML, especially a flintlock, would give them fits.

The one that makes the biggest issue of this advertises 'Total Scent Containment'. The thing seems to work. Had some does pass within a few feet of me today without them paying me any mind. The inside is coated with some kind of rubber or plastic.

Not too worried about getting out of it, but don't want to burn the woods down. Anyone else using these, or have I touched the non-traditional third rail again?
Bob

 

[leadball]

I have used them. I have fired inside of them. No problems

 

[rabjr]

I use my flintlock in an Ameristep penthouse blind with no problems. Shot four deer from it and saw no sign at all of a possible fire hazard.

:rotf: Have done a lot of coughing from the smoke though. :haha:

 

[jethro224]

I'm guessin' it's more of a legal thing to cover their butts during these days of dumba** lawsuits.

If you notice that the blind is on fire after you shoot, PUT IT OUT! Then everything should be fine.

If you're really worried, get a hose ready and test it out. Check and see how easy it lights. If it don't burn up you're good to go. If it goes up like it was soaked in gasoline then it wasn't good for flintlock hunting anyway.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Short start: The reason those deer did not pay you any attention is BECAUSE that bottom is covered on the inside with rubber or plastic! Your scent is carried beyond you on the wind and air that blows over and around your body carrying dried skins cells, as in DEAD skins cells, or ' rafts". Think of dandruff. Every hour of every day, your body is flaking off dead skin cells. Your clothes restrict their travel. MOst of our body heat is lost off the back of the head and nape of the neck. The rest rolls down your shirt sleeve, and your pants legs. Tuck those pants into rubber boots, and wear gloves with cuffs to seal those sleeves, and a hooded sweatshirt, and face mask, and you eliminate 99 % of all the skin rafts that will carry your scent from your body anywhere! Now, dead skin can't get through rubber, or plastic. So, if you can sit very still, a deer can walk right past you and not notice you at all. It has been done many times. I know a man who laid down behind a dead fall tree of some size, on a game trail, and extended his shirt sleeve covered arm up along a dead tree limb. When a buck jumped the log and stopped, he reached over and pulled some hairs from its side as a momento of the occasion. The deer did not notice, or react to his presence. His body was below the deer, and any rafts had fallen down. The log created an vacuum so air current did not stir up his scent either. For all practical purposes, he was invisble to the deer, just part of that deadfall tree across the path.

Paul

 

[No Deer]

I have both the "outhouse" and "doghouse" blinds from Ameristep. I have fired my flintlock several times from inside both of them with no problems. I do have a flash guard on my flintlock, so that may help some as it directs the flash up, not straight out at the side of the blind. It does fill it with smoke though :grin: .
As far as a heater, I have not tried that, but I expect I will sometime before the late season is over.

 

[ryoung14]

I shoulda known; it's Ameristep CYA. Thanks, guys, for taking time to respond.

Paul V., thanks for the tips and the writeup on scent transfer mechanism. Never realized it was akin to dandruff. Always thought it had something to do with the pepper & onion omelets I have for breakfast.
Bob

 

I have an Ameristep Stackhouse, and while I haven't shot from it yet, I remember the instructions saying not to shoot guns through the shoot-through screens due to fire hazard, I think the shoot-through screens are more for bows. I can stand up in mine and shoot out of non-screened windows in the top of it, so I just use the screened windows for looking out of, and will probably stand up and shoot from the top windows when the time comes.

However, like the rest of the guys, if push came to shove, I'd shoot through the screen no problem, and if the screen catches fire from the shot, then I'll put it out! :thumbsup:

 

[No Deer]

My doghouse blind has the shoot thru windows, and the instructions say not to shoot a firearm through them due to fire hazard. I cut slits in them that I can poke the muzzle through, seems to work ok this way. I did find that the screens severly limited vision though, at least for me.