# Ameristep Lightspeed Razor Blind



## antique41 (Nov 25, 2013)

I have used Ameristep blinds for quite a few years now.  At 70+ the idea of falling out of my climber or ladder stand moved me down to the ground.  
I bought an Outhouse first, and still have it although it is somewhat banged up.  I hunt way off the road in thick stuff and backpack everything in.  The Outhouse was light, easy to put up and once you learned the trick, easy to pack up.  I liked it so much I bought a 2nd one a few years ago.
Then I decided I needed more room, so I bought a Brickhouse.  Lots of room, hub system, and heavy as an anvil.  Used it for two years and sold it this week after buying Ameristep's new Lightspeed Razor blind.
The Razor is a clever idea in that it works like an upside down umbrella and only weighs 8 pounds. Take it out of the bag, straighten out the legs and pull on the handle.  Up it pops, sort of.  First, if you are less than 6 feet tall, pulling on the handle to engage the center hub, is quite difficult.  Once you get it up, it is quite roomy, has lots of windows and seems pretty sturdy.  Unfortunately Ameristep is following other blind manufacturers by installing shoot through mesh in all the windows and thhe mesh is not removable. It does have one or two slits(depending on the window)to shoot through.  Some hunting sites say it is OK to fire a rifle/shotgun through the mesh, but Ameristep has this cute little warning label telling you not to put flames near the mesh.  People that have fired through the mesh mentioned the large hole the muzzle blast puts in the mesh. Another thing I noticed about the mesh is how it reflects the sun.  When the sun hits the mesh, it turns opaque,  and almost impossible to see through.  When I bought the blind, I didn't expect me to be the blind one.
The blind had one more flaw, more serious that the others.  I used it in the woods today for the first time and it broke.  The tab that holds the main window to its support popped its stitches, leaving the front end drooping and windowless.  I was able to repair it with some string, but it was still disappointing. 
The retailer is sending me a new one, so we will see how that one works.


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