barefoot

Gamblinman's comment on the "First Call" thread got me to thinking. A lot of calls are very susceptible to wet weather. Other than mouth calls and the paint-on stuff for boxes, what other treatments have y'all found to overcome bad calling conditions?

mfd1027

I'm a mouth call nut so I usually leave my friction calls at camp on wet days. With that being said you can use a plastic bag, put em under your foul weather gear, etc. etc.Another condition besides rain you'll have to contend with that willruin your morning is fog and it usually happens on one of those morning when your driving to your spot and the stars are shining and then as you get closer to the ol swampyour metwith a wall of the crap.Fog sucks!!

Dan

Gamblinman

Box calls

Use a plastic bread sack to keep them as dry as possible, however,in humid climates, the humidity will eventually begin to affect the call.To dry them out, just leave them on the mantle of the fireplace, or in an upstairs room. Carefully clean and re-apply chalk. This works with any wood call.

Slate calls

Slate surfaces are also affected by humidity. The old saying about the surface is...if its black, put it back. If its gray, let it play. You can dry out a slate call with a lighter, but be very careful not to crack the slate.

Humidity affects the tone and quality of all striken calls. Some may sound better with a little humiity. Try your calls in different operating conditions, so you'll know which to use in what environment. This is one area of being able to operate multiple types of calls becomes very important.

RIStrutStopper

carbon or acrylic striker on glass or crystal. Also, if your slate gets wet you can pass a flame from a bic lighter over the surface to dry it when it quits raining.

barefoot

Well, I brought up this topic to see what all kinds of products or "little known" secrets may be floating around out there. I've been hunting these birds for a little over 25 years and I'm not easily duped. I'll try a new product out, sometimes, just to test convenience or some other aspect, but I usually expect to give up some quality -- if it works at all.

I have even been known to collect my own pine rosin from wounds in trees and melt, strain, and crush the rosin to put on boxes when chalk just doesn't measure up -- with pretty good success. But, I recently came across a product called RainChalk that has absolutely astounded me in what it can do for a weak boxcall -- one that doesn't bite well and wants to squeak. It goes on as easily as chalk and the guy who makes it swears that you can treat your slate pots with it and run them under water. (I told him that I didn't think that the guy who made my custom holly/slate pot would appreciate that[&:].) But he also demonstrated how to treat a striker with it and have it last about half a season without sanding the tip. I can attest to the fact that the stuff does give you a lot more bite on a box, but I haven't fully tested the striker and pot applications.


Any other secret weapons out there?