Banks Stump 2 or Stump Vision 2 reviews?

[Fish whisperer]

I’m thinking of upgrading one of our 1-man stands to one of these. Does anybody have either one and willing to give their thoughts? I’m leaning toward the Stump 2 since the stand overlooks a WRP so chances of a close shot for bow hunting are probably going to be minimal. It’d be nice to have the tall windows in case I decided to move it to a different spot but on the other hand the smaller windows give you a great rest to steady your rifle. One caveat, I haven’t bowhunted in almost 20 yrs but am thinking of getting back into it so the Vision 2 might not even be utilized as a bow stand. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[NDbowman]

I've got one of the Stump 3 vision series. Its not as big as the 2 vision. The 3 is more round and I think more of a one man blind. I love the tall vertical windows for bow hunting and they open nice and quiet. I bought the magnetic window blinds to darken it up inside and everyone that has sat in it loves the windows and the blinds. A friend of mine sat in it with his daughter and did complain though that he couldn't see what deer his daughter was shooting at as his view through the window he was looking at was different than hers and he couldn't look out her window while shooting. None of the windows line up with the a window on the opposite side which is nice as your not skylined in an open window even if the blind isn't on the window behind you.

I do think the Muddy blinds look fancier and more well built but the square windows are to low for a tall person.

 

[Fish whisperer]

My other question is does it actually fit 2 people? Or do you have to be super tiny Pygmy people to get 2 in there?

 

[NDbowman]

The vision 2 would be roomier and better for 2 hunters than my vision 3. I'm a big guy and like my room so I wouldn't think the vision 3 would be very nice to have two big guys in it. My buddy that hunted with his daughter said that there was plenty of room in the vision 3 for them. He is an average size guy and a normal size 17 y/o daughter. I think if you plan to hunt with 2 people quite a bit Id go with the vision 2 for more room.

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I also mounted a vented Nu-way heater in mine so that my windows don't fog up. That heater is screwed to the floor so it can't be moved due to the stovepipe. It takes up a small amount of room but not bad. I did have to remove one window and flip it over to reverse how it opens so it wouldn't open up and touch the stove. All my permanent deer blinds will one day have Nu-way heaters, so nice that the windows don't fog up.

 

[mkdeneve]

ND,

I have a stump 2 and want to install a NuWay propane stove in mine. Can you pass along any hints on how to install the stovepipe? I hate to learn the hard way (mess it up) if you have found a good way to do it. Any hints or pics would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[guywhofishes]

[MENTION=1525]NDbowman[/MENTION]

 

[NDbowman]

its fairly easy if you bought the stove pipe kit also. I kinda set the stove in the blind to figure out where I wanted it. Mine is a little close to the wall but I used some thin sheet metal next to the wall and floor to reflect the heat away, might be better things to use to do this but that is what I did. After I had the heater about where I wanted it I set the stove pipe on it up to the ceiling to figure out where it would go. With a combination of eyeballing and measuring I then used a 3 1/4" or 3 1/2" hole saw on a cordless drill to make my hole for my stove pipe. The stove pipe does get close to the plastic roof but never gets hot enough to melt or burn. You could use a bigger hole saw if you have one, mine was the biggest I had. The stove pipe kit has flashing, a rain cap, and and another piece that goes around the stove pipe outside to keep the rain out. Easy to do if your blind is low and you can get up to the roof with a ladder, If your blind is mounted up high on a tower it might not be so much fun. After the stove pipe is mounted I then screw the heater to the floor to make it solid. Be sure to install the included damper in the stove pipe and install it as high as you can in the stove pipe. Like way up next to the ceiling. This will hold heat in the stove pipe giving you even more surface area to radiate heat. It does make a difference. I still have my propane tank and hose in the blind. One day I plan to run the hose outside so the propane tank is outside as well.
When you set the heater in the blind figuring out where you want to put it, check how your windows open if they'll hit the stove pipe or heater. I have the long vertical bow hunting windows and one of mine would have hit the heater, so as I mentioned earlier I simply unscrewed it and flipped it around so now it opens the other way. Just the way my blind sits in that area, that window isn't used much.

Anther tip once your heater is installed and running, The adjustment knob turns counter clockwise to lower the output. It seems backwards, and the few other people I've let use that blind tend to turn the knob clockwise first and not realize it also lowers it more going counter clockwise.

It might be awhile till I get back to that blind, but I can send pics if you want.

My only complaints on the nuway heater is you need matches to light it and you can't move it around like a buddy heater. The fact that your windows don't fog up more than makes up for that though. I love the thing.

 

[KJS - ND]

I've never been in a Banks blind, but for your original question - I would opt for the bigger windows if there is a chance they would be useful in the future. Just take a shooting stick or better yet a shooting tripod for your solid rifle rest.

Even if you don't end up using for bow hunting - something about being able to see better out of the blind makes them more enjoyable. If you're gun hunting you shouldn't really have to worry about the deer seeing you through the larger windows as they won't be that close.

 

[TFX 186]

NDbowman
I was thinking of buying a Nuway furnace for my hunting shack. I was talking to a guy who has a fish house and I saw he had a Nuway furnace. He said he liked it but thought it would put out more heat then it did. He bought it from his buddy and he thought it was better in his fish house. He said his stove pipe got so dang hot. He did have a damper installed but it was pretty close to the stove top. I'm guessing about 12" My son was also looking to install one in a hunting trailer. I was thinking of getting the bigger stove so if it is needed, a guy has another burner to kick on. I was just looking for info on install of the stove pipe. I wanted to exit out the side wall of my shack towards the top of the wall. My son was also wanting to exit out the side towards the top. I wasn't wanting to punch a hole in the roof thinking it would be less likely to leak having it in the sidewall. Any thoughts from anyone on these heaters and install tactics. I have a big buddy heater in my hunting shack and it fogs up my windows and then I turn it up to unfog windows and then the sensor shuts it down. My shack is pretty tight. They are just a pain in the butt to run in the shack. And I do worry about heaters and oxygen in those closed up shacks and trailers.!! Scary shit. Thanks guys.

Fish On!

 

[mkdeneve]

NDbowman,

Thanks for the tips. I have 2 stump 2's and I love them. Only problem is the condensation using the buddy heater. I spend more time squeegeeing the windows than looking for deer. That said, I purchased a NuWay 2000 but have not installed it yet. I didn't get the stove pipe kit, as I could not decide if I wanted to go out the side or out the roof. I thought that the side exit might be easier, as I could not think of a good way to fasten the roof collar to the plastic roof as well as making it leak proof. Sounds like yours is working find going out the roof, but how did you attach and seal the roof collar to prevent leaks?

One more question, is your stove pipe aluminum or galvanized steel? NuWay does not say what material it uses in their kit, and they haven't answered any of my emails. I would like to use the steel, but not sure if there would be enough heat to cause any outgassing issues with it being galvanized.

 

[NDbowman]

Nuways stove pipe kit is galvanized steel. I didn't really seal up my flashing or roof collar. I installed it in the cold in Nov and figured I'd go back and seal it up better later on. I was going to try and just glue the flashing down with some of that black goop in a caulking gun like you use to glue down shingles and seal up leaks on roofs. Maybe a few screws to hold it down tight also.

I have a different brand of blind that I also put a nuway heater in, the angle of the roof is a little different. I was having trouble getting the flashing to lay down as flat as I'd like it and on that one I ran some polebarn tin screws with the rubber washers right into the roof. I know that isn't the best way but its what I did and what I had with out in the boondocks.

Going out the sidewall isn't a bad idea, but I'd leave as much pipe inside as you can before exiting out the wall. A lot of heat goes up that stove pipe.

I've got two blinds with those heaters in them. The one that sits surrounded by trees in sheltered area the heater keeps plenty warm. If its below zero I just keep the windows closed with only one snap holding them shut. In the Banks blind the windows open very quiet and if you move really slow you can open them when a deer is out front.
My other blind is more for rifle hunting and sits ontop of a hill out in the open. I didn't install the damper right away thinking it didn't do much. I was wrong, first time hunting in it, it was rather chilly. Anytime you'd open a window the wind would suck all the heat right up the stove pipe. Damper really helped hold that heat in. Thinking of making some sort of heat exchanger to put in the stove pipe right above the heater to hold even more heat in.