Full Review: OptiVue 360 Blind
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Time to read 7 min
Twenty-five years. Thirty. I’m not exactly sure when I stepped foot into and hunted something – whitetails or spring gobblers – from a ground blind for the first time. But, and while I hate to use a cliché, it certainly was a game-changer for me, along with the tens of thousands of other hunters, wildlife photographers, and eight-year-old fort-builders who currently own and use these effective outdoor tools.
Not one to be left out in the cold, per se, the folks at TideWe offer a variety of innovative hunting blinds, including their newest, the OptiVue 360. Now I’ve hunted out of plenty of ground blinds over the past two decades. Some were well-designed, effective, relatively lightweight, and extremely user-friendly. Others? Not so much, and that for any number of reasons. Recently, I had the opportunity to test-drive TideWe’s OptiVue 360, walking away from the evaluation/photo shoot quite pleased on several levels. Here’s my personal take.
First Things First
The first thing you’ll notice about the OptiVue 360, henceforth shortened to O360, upon setting it up is the sheer size of the blind. On the inside, she’s 88 inches wide hub-to-hub – That’s a footprint of over 53 square feet! – and 77.5 inches tall. I’m 6’3” tall, and I had no trouble at all with overhead clearance, meaning I can get up, fully stand, and stretch without having to exit the blind. I have camping tents that aren’t nearly this big. To be honest and in the off-season, I’m planning to use the blind to store my Craftsman LT1000 riding lawnmower, itself measuring a scant 66 inches front to back. So there’s year-round use out of the O360!
But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Out of the box, the O360 comes in a heavy duty PVC storage/carry bag with a full zipper and two shoulder straps, which – and I experimented with this – can be used to transport the blind backpack style. If I were king, I’d build the straps padded and adjustable, and play up the concept of a backpack blind; however, as is, she carries just fine for short distances, especially given she weighs just 30 pounds. Inside the bag are eight 8-inch metal ‘L’ stakes and four adjustable tie-downs, all in their own small storage pouch.
Setting up the O360 was a cinch, done start to finish in approximately 30 seconds. Top/roof first followed by all four sides. Nylon pull handles attached to heavy duty eyebolts that run through the blind and bolt to metal hubs on the inside make ‘popping’ the roof and walls out quick and easy. Each hub serves as the junction for four 11mm fiberglass poles that radiate out from the center to the corners of each wall, providing a very strong frame for the structure.
The O360 comes in an almost universally-fitting camouflage pattern called NEXT G2. With its mix of greys, whites, blacks, and browns highlighted with a splash of green oak leaves, the NEXT G2 pattern should blend nicely from New England to northern California and south to Texas.
The OptiVue’s Top Three (IMHO)
After setting up the O360, doing a walk-around 360, and spending some inside working through half a dozen hunting ‘scenarios,’ I landed on three innovative characteristics that I feel are prime points.
Full door
Unlike other ground blinds that provide access to the interior via a single vertical zipper on one of the corners, top to bottom – NOTE: Entry I have always found troublesome, especially while wearing a turkey vest or pack, or when hunting solo and trying to put gear in or take gear out of the blind interior – the O360 features a full door. That is, a zipper goes from bottom to top on one corner and then full length along the top allowing one entire panel to be swung 90 degrees, thus opening a 70 square inch doorway. Wearing a turkey vest? No worries. Packing a rifle and a chair? Not a problem. Hunting buddy in a wheelchair? With this ‘full door access,’ the O360 is perfect for those mentoring the physically challenged or those with limited mobility.
Fully adjustable SILENT slide windows
I’ve always cringed whenever I had to adjust the windows on earlier blinds while trying to remain quiet. Zippers are loud. Hook-and-loop fasteners are loud. With the O360, TideWe addresses this issue with an innovative silent sliding adjustment system on both the see-through windows and the black-out panels. Small C-shaped clips attached to the ends of both windows and panels with elastic use friction to securely ‘grab’ yet slide smoothly up and down along corresponding tracks. Both windows and panels are fully adjustable with several inches of independent travel at either end. All up. All down. Left up and right down. The O360 offers an infinite number of viewing variations depending upon the hunter, the season, the weapon of choice, and the situation.
Woven See-Through Mesh and 600D Construction
In the past, I’ve always had trouble with the see-through mesh used on most ground blinds. It seemed to me a fragile sort of material; ripping, tearing, generally not lasting very long, and often in need of replacement. Too, I’ve often found the lightweight mesh used on many blinds to be transparent; that is, seeing to the outside is as easy as your quarry, be it whitetails or turkeys, seeing to the interior of the blind. Here again, TideWe addresses both concerns, thanks to the use of a high-strength see-through woven mesh on the windows, essentially creating a one-way viewing situation in which the hunter can see out, but the target can’t see in. Too, the mesh is somewhat stiff in comparison to the lightweight material, thus aiding in keeping the mesh in position from the hunt’s start to finish.
Tough? While other ground blinds use a lesser weight, e.g. 150 to 300 Denier, polyester in their construction, the O360’s outer shell is made of 600 Denier material, resulting in a blind unmatched in terms of ruggedness and durability. Surprisingly, this strength doesn’t come with a tremendous increase in weight, thus keeping the O360 reasonably portable
The Rest of the Story
While these are, to me, three of the O360’s biggest attributes, the blind isn’t without its additional positives. Going through my notes, I’ve listed the following. Mind you, some of these I see as conveniences; however, many of the elements of the O360 I see as being of excellent design. Rather, there was some real thought put into this by people who actually do hunt and have spent a good deal of time in a ground blind.
Fiberglass rod reinforcements – These are additional strips of heavy polyester material sewn underneath the upper fiberglass support rods. This is a high stress area, one likely to be compromised over a period of time, and this reinforcing helps prevent this. Excellent move!
Camo/stubble straps – Okay, so turkeys might not care, but deer hunting from a ground blind can greatly improve if/when brush is added to the blind, thus blending it into the natural environment. The O360 features two rows of stubble (brush) straps, one above the windows and one below, to facilitate this blending process. AND they’re loose enough so fighting to get vegetation, e.g. cedar boughs, into the straps isn’t necessary.
Three-inch rain fly w/ magnets – A three-inch wide ‘rain fly,’ I’ll call it, overtop the upper portion of the full door zipper, as well as the double stitched seams around the top of the blind held down with strong magnets helps keep moisture out of these vulnerable areas.
Binder strap on the carry bag – True, this may seem insignificant, but to me an adjustable binder strap around the collapsed blind that holds it tight and cinches it down is a nice touch. It’s on the O360.
G-clips on windows/D-ring on the door – In keeping with the ‘silent’ nature of the O360, users will find no-noise G-clips above each of the black-out windows meant to secure them in the raised position, as well as larger G-clips and D-rings used to hold the door closed without having to zip/unzip when entering/exiting the blind. Another great asset.
Namesake 360 degree viewing – Simply put, the O360 offers unparalleled visibility from the interior, while keep you totally concealed from your quarry.
Room to Roam – If you love to mentor new and/or young hunters like I do, then the O360 is the ground blind for you. With over 50 square feet of interior space, there’s plenty of room for three or four hunters or observers, along with hunting implements, folding chairs, backpacks, and, if it’s cold, a small propane heater. Solo hunter? The O360 provides ample room not only for you and your gear, but, if you’re a hungry man like me, a single burner butane stove and all the fixings for breakfast. What’s that? Worried the whitetails will smell your cooking? Well, folks, there’s nothing that doesn’t like the smell of frying bacon!
Author
M.D. Johnson
M.D. Johnson’s full-time outdoor writing career began in 1992. Prior to that, he worked with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife in their Outdoor Skills Unit, helping to coordinate hunter education courses and resources across the state.
