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303Brit
02-19-2014, 04:21 PM
So the season is over and you got a couple dekes that rattle. If you water swat or sea duck that odds are high that you have undoubtedly shot at least one deke especially if you shoot from a layout. So what to do with them??? Well if you are handy or cheap or both, this is something that is easy and should prove to be a permanent fix. As it is one thing to have a deke sink on a longline but something completely different to have a single sink. Doesn't cost a lot, about $10 per doz stormfronts. As I am a budget hunter and can't afford nice foamers or carved blocks, I have repainted stormfronts. I use to buy a doz every time they came on sale at CT. As the paint started to rub off or scuff badly I would put them aside, didn't take long for me to have 30 dekes ready to be repainted them as sea ducks.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1506152_10153697561305075_1687418225_o.jpg
Here's a few of them pre-hunting them.
AND...
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1655803_10151881147591610_1047508454_o.jpg
A few post season, I put holes in 10 dekes a couple took more than one pellet. ;)

So what do you do with these??? Well for them to float they need to keep the water out right, so plug the holes and they will float again.
But then I got to thinking, this will happen every year and every year I will have to plug holes. Also plugging the holes only works as for as long as the material holds up or until you rattle the deke again. So I've decided to foam fill the dekes, what's the quickest and easiest way to do that? Well expanding foam, I grabbed the econo can of great stuff the large gap stuff. One can did 10 dekes, with a lil trial and error and some waste. I figure I should be able to do a doz per can. The idea is not to fill it till spills out, but rather provide enough foam inside to float even if rattled. Here' the materials used
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1781828_10151881147636610_1035646073_o.jpg

So I drilled out the plugs in each deke
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t31/1606240_10151881147721610_1667095066_o.jpg


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303Brit
02-19-2014, 04:26 PM
I trialed filling from each end, so the a couple dekes that had holes in the front got them enlarged
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t31/1957910_10151881147676610_1961300459_o.jpg
So you fill away as you draw the fill tube out of the deke when it's about 1" from the end stop filling, and let it sit for about 30-40secs and give it one more quick shot and let it sit again for another 30-40seconds and then pull it out.
I found when I filled from each end your best bet is to tape over the front hole once filled, then any excess will press to the back of the deke and ultimately leak from the plug.
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/l/t31/1015422_10151881147601610_459608589_o.jpg

Let it sit for a while and expand and harden, then cut any excess off with an exacto knife.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1920969_10151881147701610_940189315_o.jpg

So that's done, I wanted to make sure that even with a deke mostly full of foam it would still float if I rattled it, so I haven't plugged any holes yet and here is the water test.
filled with water till the bubbles stop
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t31/1913436_10151881147751610_1624175242_o.jpg

and this is how she floats, a lil heavy but she floats
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t31/1800112_10151881147761610_710656311_o.jpg

Next step will be to clean up the holes and seal them with a product called RTV, Room temperature Vulcanizing Silicone. and then they will be ready for paint touch ups



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SingleShot
02-19-2014, 05:05 PM
Great work. Nice to see a guy so ingenious and passionate about his gear.

d6dan
02-19-2014, 07:50 PM
Great idea Kiel. Cheap is good. :-D

wingmaster
02-19-2014, 08:55 PM
thats how I fix mine up, only suggestion i would make is to fill them up in 3 or 4 stages to let the foam fully expand, it results in the decoys being significantly lighter as there isnt a dense glob of unexpanded foam trapped in the middle, they should sit higher as well,

the repaints look great!

f350ps
02-19-2014, 09:18 PM
Nice job but paint won't stick to silicone, use a paintable caulk. K

303Brit
02-19-2014, 10:27 PM
thats how I fix mine up, only suggestion i would make is to fill them up in 3 or 4 stages to let the foam fully expand, it results in the decoys being significantly lighter as there isnt a dense glob of unexpanded foam trapped in the middle, they should sit higher as well,

the repaints look great!

Thanks man I'll try that next round. It's not suppose to be as big of a problem with the big gap stuff that I got. That decoy sits heavy as it still a 1/4 full of water (guessing based on how long it took to fill)

Thanks, they were a pretty quick paint job overall so I could hunt them. But I will prolly use the compressor ad a spray gun next time.

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303Brit
02-19-2014, 10:33 PM
Nice job but paint won't stick to silicone, use a paintable caulk. K

Thanks Kelly, I would agree but RTV is a special breed of silicone, the stuff we got at work we paint all the time on the outside of airplanes so I think it will hold up on my cheapo dekes.

It also never dries out, adheres to pretty much anything and stays pliable. Plus the stuff we use is black

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f350ps
02-19-2014, 10:41 PM
Cool, as long as it's paintable yer golden! They look good, nice work. K

303Brit
02-19-2014, 11:05 PM
Cool, as long as it's paintable yer golden! They look good, nice work. K

Again thanks Kelly, just trying to grow up to be a real waterfowler ;)

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f350ps
02-19-2014, 11:47 PM
Again thanks Kelly, just trying to grow up to be a real waterfowler ;)

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Stay away from LP1 and you really shouldn't have too many holes to plug! :) K

303Brit
02-20-2014, 12:03 AM
Stay away from LP1 and you really shouldn't have too many holes to plug! :) K

That's funny right there

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nor'wester
02-20-2014, 03:59 PM
Great idea Kiel. Cheap is good. :-D

Cheaper fix: let your cripples swim out of your dekes before you sluice em and then you don't have any holes to fix in the first place! Not saying I haven't dinged the odd decoy now and again but still.....

lorneparker1
02-20-2014, 05:51 PM
Cheaper fix: let your cripples swim out of your dekes before you sluice em and then you don't have any holes to fix in the first place! Not saying I haven't dinged the odd decoy now and again but still.....


Have you ever shot seaducks or divers? if you let every seaduck or diver cripple swim off out of the decoys before shooting you wouldn't have very many in hand. If any of those birds land with there head up you better hurry and put another one in em or you may never see them again.

303Brit
02-20-2014, 06:27 PM
Cheaper fix: let your cripples swim out of your dekes before you sluice em and then you don't have any holes to fix in the first place! Not saying I haven't dinged the odd decoy now and again but still.....


Have you ever shot seaducks or divers? if you let every seaduck or diver cripple swim off out of the decoys before shooting you wouldn't have very many in hand. If any of those birds land with there head up you better hurry and put another one in em or you may never see them again.


Along with I shoot my seaducks and divers from a layout rig on the ocean where these things called waves cause dekes to move about and change height. My muzzle is basically 2' above the water so a bird flying to the front of my spread in the waves can and have resulted in dekes in the back possibly being as tall as the lowflyers.


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heyblast
02-20-2014, 06:48 PM
If your shooting divers your going to be hitting the decoys and a crippled dabbler or diver gets shot again as soon as hits the water. Thought about using foam for my leakers but never tried it. Will now, thanks.

f350ps
02-20-2014, 09:50 PM
Have you ever shot seaducks or divers? if you let every seaduck or diver cripple swim off out of the decoys before shooting you wouldn't have very many in hand. If any of those birds land with there head up you better hurry and put another one in em or you may never see them again.
Ya yer right, you sure wouldn't wanna lose one of them tasty little morsels now would ya, yum, yum!! :) K

303Brit
02-20-2014, 10:04 PM
Ya yer right, you sure wouldn't wanna lose one of them tasty little morsels now would ya, yum, yum!! :) K

more about not wanting to paddle after swimmers especially the diving kind. I only had 3 swimmers this year seaducking as a resultthe dekes took a beating

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kyleklassen
02-20-2014, 10:55 PM
looks good...but..why not just drill a hole to drain the water and then plug that hole and any other shot holes with a little dab of high temp sillie??

nor'wester
02-20-2014, 11:04 PM
Along with I shoot my seaducks and divers from a layout rig on the ocean where these things called waves cause dekes to move about and change height. My muzzle is basically 2' above the water so a bird flying to the front of my spread in the waves can and have resulted in dekes in the back possibly being as tall as the lowflyers.


303

Ha ha sorry for offering my two cents!! I've never shot out of a boat in open water so I don't know what it's like...sure looks like fun though! All my duck hunting experience is out of blinds over ponds shooting dabblers, where if cripples dive they can't go far. You guys sure seem to have it all figured out after hunting out of your "layout" boats in the big "waves" for what? a whopping two or three seasons??!! After all I'm pretty jealous that you have the skill to nail those shitty tasting west coast divers. Have fun blowing holes in your decoys!!

lorneparker1
02-20-2014, 11:15 PM
Ha ha sorry for offering my two cents!! I've never shot out of a boat in open water so I don't know what it's like...sure looks like fun though! All my duck hunting experience is out of blinds over ponds shooting dabblers, where if cripples dive they can't go far. You guys sure seem to have it all figured out after hunting out of your "layout" boats in the big "waves" for what? a whopping two or three seasons??!! After all I'm pretty jealous that you have the skill to nail those shitty tasting west coast divers. Have fun blowing holes in your decoys!!



So what you are saying is you don't really have much duck hunting experience? And since you only shoot dabblers you'd be through a box of shells before you would even make contact with one of those "shitty" tasting west coast divers. Again something else you don't know much about. So lets do everyone a favour, and comment on things we have experience with. You have never hunted divers before, there for your opinion on how to hunt them, how to dispatch a crippled diver and how the they taste means nothing.

Thanks for your tips though.


I've been hunting divers for a TAD longer then 2 or 3 years.

nor'wester
02-20-2014, 11:58 PM
Yup, no experience: only almost 25 years shooting almost exclusively out of layout boats on the "ocean" (where there's "waves"). However, like I said, not for divers. Therefore, obviously none of that experience is applicable to your guy's game and I should not comment, because a forum on the internet is not meant for comments, advice, or other's thoughts. Once again, have fun blowing holes in your decoys, because apparently it's essential to diver success.

303Brit
02-21-2014, 08:45 AM
looks good...but..why not just drill a hole to drain the water and then plug that hole and any other shot holes with a little dab of high temp sillie??

Cause then I'll have to do it every year, and since I'm not a very good shot and hit my dekes all the time I figure I'd make them float even if they get hit. I hit one deke pretty bad this year when I shot the one Buffie, and the thing almost sank before I had collected the birds. The idea is that this should be a permanent fix for my seaducking rig. My puddler rigs I don't care as they are never in ore then 3' of water.

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303Brit
02-21-2014, 08:53 AM
Ha ha sorry for offering my two cents!! I've never shot out of a boat in open water so I don't know what it's like...sure looks like fun though! All my duck hunting experience is out of blinds over ponds shooting dabblers, where if cripples dive they can't go far. You guys sure seem to have it all figured out after hunting out of your "layout" boats in the big "waves" for what? a whopping two or three seasons??!! After all I'm pretty jealous that you have the skill to nail those shitty tasting west coast divers. Have fun blowing holes in your decoys!!

Well you chime in on a thread I started about fixing dekes that have holes in them by basically telling me I should be a better shot than I am and I wouldn't have this problem. I don't have a dog so I paddle after my cripples, and if the bird hits the water and doesn't immediately dive get hits again I would rather mono foam my dekes, than spend an hr paddling and trying to shoot a bird that has had an opportunity to swim. But again what do I know I'm just a rookie that can't shoot.

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303Brit
02-21-2014, 08:59 AM
Yup, no experience: only almost 25 years shooting almost exclusively out of layout boats on the "ocean" (where there's "waves"). However, like I said, not for divers. Therefore, obviously none of that experience is applicable to your guy's game and I should not comment, because a forum on the internet is not meant for comments, advice, or other's thoughts. Once again, have fun blowing holes in your decoys, because apparently it's essential to diver success.

Comments that are constructive to the thread are always welcome. However comments like yours are the exact reason people don't post on this forum or have posted significantly less than in the past. Just take a look at how much wasn't posted in teh waterfowl section this year alone. But keep spouting of with your holier than thou crap. You can say whatever you want on the internets some of it might actually be true.


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nor'wester
02-21-2014, 09:14 AM
My apologies for my original comments coming across the wrong way. I thought that mentioning that I had in fact shot my own decoys before would "neutralize" my comment and not make it seem arrogant. Apparently it did not, and you two jumped all over it like fat kids on smarties. So you're right, I can see why less people don't comment and I won't be bothering anymore.

303Brit
02-21-2014, 11:57 AM
My apologies for my original comments coming across the wrong way. I thought that mentioning that I had in fact shot my own decoys before would "neutralize" my comment and not make it seem arrogant. Apparently it did not, and you two jumped all over it like fat kids on smarties. So you're right, I can see why less people don't comment and I won't be bothering anymore.

Not really, would be different I suppose if I had some kind of rapport with you. Until now I have seen you post more than once consecutively on a thread.

My intent with the OP of the thread was to show what I think will be a permanent fix to my seaduck rig, cuz as you know first hand some people hit the odd deke from time to time. I happen to hit more then the odd deke.

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lorneparker1
02-21-2014, 03:59 PM
Yup, no experience: only almost 25 years shooting almost exclusively out of layout boats on the "ocean" (where there's "waves"). However, like I said, not for divers. Therefore, obviously none of that experience is applicable to your guy's game and I should not comment, because a forum on the internet is not meant for comments, advice, or other's thoughts. Once again, have fun blowing holes in your decoys, because apparently it's essential to diver success.

you are the best!

Lorne

field marshal
02-21-2014, 05:16 PM
You know you Courtenay sissies are becoming just a little bit too thin skinned????? It might come as a shock to you two, but there are other knowledgable waterfowlers around besides yourselves??? I'm starting to wonder about you guys???:mrgreen:---Cheers---Field Marshal.

303Brit
02-21-2014, 05:38 PM
You know you Courtenay sissies are becoming just a little bit too thin skinned????? It might come as a shock to you two, but there are other knowledgable waterfowlers around besides yourselves??? I'm starting to wonder about you guys???:mrgreen:---Cheers---Field Marshal.There he is, I was hoping you would chime in sooner.;) wasn't attempting to profess my incredible level of fowling knowledge. Just rather how water swatting rookies like me who aren't good shots could fix there cheap dekes ;) when I grow up (Haha cuz that'll happen) I hope to be a real waterfowler that kills 2 drakes with every shell 303

mattchu_19
02-21-2014, 07:16 PM
There he is, I was hoping you would chime in sooner.;) wasn't attempting to profess my incredible level of fowling knowledge. Just rather how water swatting rookies like me who aren't good shots could fix there cheap dekes ;) when I grow up (Haha cuz that'll happen) I hope to be a real waterfowler that kills 2 drakes with every shell 303

hey if your talking about Tony it's 2 hens with every shell.

pnbrock
02-21-2014, 07:23 PM
you guys are funny :)

longstonec
03-03-2014, 12:21 PM
I would be careful with that foam. It tends to looove slurping up as much water as possible... Cant say I have a better foam in mind other then marine expanding foam... but its expensive and powerful enough that if you added to much you would end up detonating the decoys into a giant ball of foam.
Or you could stuff a balloon or something into the decoy through a hole strategically placed near the anus and fill THAT with the foam to keep it out of contact with the water thus prolonging the life of the foam as long as you don't poke more holes in it with little steel balls while they are bobbing in these wave things.
I do think that patching the holes with a crappy blowtorch and milkjug plastic and installing a drain plug of some sort would be a good solution as you could drain them and re-patch... and repeat if they keep springing leaks.

Being allergic to fish... I cant eat fish ducks for the same reason I cant eat shitty cheap chicken... alot of its protean comes from....

Fish.

And as such. I don't shoot ducks inside my friends decoys ( anymore ) or fishducks.

SHould find some old black wood commercial net corks. and toss them out of the boat on a rough day and practice timing blasting them. Same idea people shoot clay pigeons etc. Shooting out of a boat is a skill that gets better with practice.

303Brit
03-04-2014, 12:15 AM
hey if your talking about Tony it's 2 hens with every shell.

Awesome Sauce ;)

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Fred H
03-04-2014, 12:40 PM
I foam my sea-duck decoys as well, another reason to foam them instead of just patching the holes is the fact that some holes are very hard to see. The best material I have found to patch holes and repair foamers is urethane windshield glue, it is black, flexible and hold very well.

303Brit
03-05-2014, 04:11 PM
I foam my sea-duck decoys as well, another reason to foam them instead of just patching the holes is the fact that some holes are very hard to see. The best material I have found to patch holes and repair foamers is urethane windshield glue, it is black, flexible and hold very well.


I pondered using that as well, but we don't have it at work ;) but I RTV and PRC are plentiful and usually there is some TX'ing for application.

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