This is a big issue, mainly for waterfowlers, but still applies to any other hunting pursuit. Factory camouflage, especially when printed on durable canvas-like nylon fabrics, produces an incredible amount of glare when hit by direct sunlight. To eliminate this, it's common practice for waterfowlers to "mud their blinds," referring to the process of smearing wet mud all over their layout blinds. This does work well, but there are some disadvantages. For one, it's very messy... both during the process, and then any time after when your blind is exposed to moisture. Secondly, it's temporary. That moisture that makes a mess of things also slowly washes away the mud, meaning you'll eventually need to reapply...and start the messy process all over again.
There IS a better way. It's cheap and it's easy. Flat spray paint.
What you want to do is just mist the fabric with the paint. Not so much that you turn your camo blind to a brown blind, but just enough to remove that glare the fabric creates. Spray it with the material in direct sunlight so you can see which spots you missed or need additional paint. After misting, I also like to go back and spray in heavy lines across the fabric to create more contrast in the pattern, as the misting process somewhat removes contrast.
This method is virtually mess-free and best of all, it's basically permanent. Once it's done, it's done.
Remember, the fabric of your blind is simply a "base coat" of camouflage. Before each hunt you should always add local vegetation or brush to your blind in order to match your surroundings. By spraying the blind, you effectively remove the glare that may potentially shine through that added brush.
In the pics below you'll see two items: a dog stand/blind and a decoy bag. Both made out of the exact same material and the exact same camo pattern. Can you guess which one has been sprayed? Notice is the farther picture how bright that decoy bag appears.
There IS a better way. It's cheap and it's easy. Flat spray paint.
What you want to do is just mist the fabric with the paint. Not so much that you turn your camo blind to a brown blind, but just enough to remove that glare the fabric creates. Spray it with the material in direct sunlight so you can see which spots you missed or need additional paint. After misting, I also like to go back and spray in heavy lines across the fabric to create more contrast in the pattern, as the misting process somewhat removes contrast.
This method is virtually mess-free and best of all, it's basically permanent. Once it's done, it's done.
Remember, the fabric of your blind is simply a "base coat" of camouflage. Before each hunt you should always add local vegetation or brush to your blind in order to match your surroundings. By spraying the blind, you effectively remove the glare that may potentially shine through that added brush.
In the pics below you'll see two items: a dog stand/blind and a decoy bag. Both made out of the exact same material and the exact same camo pattern. Can you guess which one has been sprayed? Notice is the farther picture how bright that decoy bag appears.
