If you’ve ever considered an elevated box blind but can’t spend thousands of dollars to build or buy one, O’l Man has the answer: The Base Camp blind ships to your door in one compact cardboard box. Watch and see how easily this blind goes up. In a few minutes, we dug out dirt on the high side and had the blind leveled up and ready to hunt.
Science Fair Project
I first climbed into an O’l Man Base Camp blind at the ATA Show back in January. In an instant, I knew exactly where it would be a great hunting blind and was impressed with the stability of the 12-foot-high tower and amazed that it came in a cardboard box. It arrived a month ago when my torn rotator cuff was still quite painful, so I needed help. A member of our hunt club has nine children, and I asked him if he and his family would like to assemble the blind and earn a little back-to-school funds. The answer was “Yes,” and the project moved ahead.
Here’s the Crew
The whole family pitched in for the original assembly, boys and girls. The initial assembly is ideal for a garage, shed, or other location with good light and a solid foundation because it has lots of small bolts, nuts, and washers. Putting it together in leaf litter will likely cause you to lose some parts.
ATV Transport
Most of the assembly happens on the base. Once done, you can transport the rest to the stand site in the bed of a pickup, the back of a larger UTV, or, best, as we did, in a small trailer. The box with all the parts weighs 200 pounds, so carrying it long distances isn’t an option.
Engineered for Silence
At first glance, an all-metal stand may seem vulnerable to noise, yet the Base Camp is well engineered. Foam insulation and Velcro-covered braces surround the blind to keep it in place.
Heritage Site
Ironically, both my grandfather and the boy’s grandfather used this spot for hunting. The tree that held the man-made structure is long gone, but an old ladder used to access it still remains. Although life has changed for hunters, deer still use the same crossings 60 years later.
More Engineering
Notice the flat finish on all metal parts that eliminates reflection. Also, the orange washers act as a sound buffer to eliminate creaks and other noises. Making the washers orange makes it easy to tell if one is forgotten or dropped in the leaves. Details matter.
Cover in Place
The cloaking device for the blind is a heavy-duty fabric blind in Realtree camo. It slides over domed support rods and ties to the platform, securing it to the bottom of the stand and ensuring wind doesn’t blow it out from under it. I plan on putting down a 5’x5′ padded carpet for insulation and quietness once completed.
Scissors for Support
One of the last steps was to attach the cross-members that support the seven-foot legs. At first, we were puzzled about how this worked, but once we rechecked the directions, we saw that these supports form a scissor-like connection that adds extra tension to the legs for stability.
Done
This spot was selected so a hunter can shoot out to 50 yards on the tops of the mountain, where acorns currently litter the ground, and down the steep slope where a good deer trail winds through dense brush. I’m excited for the first hunt in a few days. For more information on this blind and other O’l Man stands, click here.
