I "Invented" this, I think

[crg0813]

A simple ground level wind direction indicator:
I don't have a good picture so here goes:

a round Rx bottle cap as a base
a "squirt nozzle cap"( pointy one like ketchup or mustard) cut off and glued to the underside of the bottle cap
pipe thread tape (mylar tape) attached to the top of the cap
put it on the top of launch rod, you have ground level wind

 

[smstachwick]

Basically a wind sock. Very creative, sounds like a fun quickie project.

Me personally, I’d be partial to having an easily transportable flagpole at the range, especially if flying with a club. I bet it wouldn’t be hard to engineer one that tips over at 20 mph.

 

[crg0813]

A simple ground level wind direction indicator:
I don't have a good picture so here goes:

a round Rx bottle cap as a base
a "squirt nozzle cap"( pointy one like ketchup or mustard) cut off and glued to the underside of the bottle cap
pipe thread tape (mylar tape) attached to the top of the cap
put it on the top of launch rod, you have ground level wind

I'm a disabled hobby flyer. Flagpole, "command central" I flew rockets when I was in my early teens. I'm just getting back into it for the fun of it. I don't take it "so" seriously and never will.
My best wishes to all on here, have fun. I know I will enjoy the simple pleasure of seein one go up....and finding it when it comes down

 

[smstachwick]

That’s a good way to go about it. I invest a bit more time into it, but that’s more in the interest of pursuing the social and community engagement opportunities of the hobby than any desire to take it “seriously.” My rockets often fly naked and crudely built, I figure it’s more important that they be finished and flown than perfect and pretty.

About the only thing I do take seriously is safety, as we all should.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[lakeroadster]

This works too..

 

[K'Tesh]

I've just spent 3 days staring at computers for more that 12 hours each... My brain fuzzy... (more than that dog fuzzy)... I can understand dog windsock.. no can do with OP's description. Read: A picture is worth a thousand words. On the plus side, my music folder is organized again, and has been pruned from over 120GB to a more manageable 70GB(ish)

 

[cerving]

I have seen people tape streamers to the Estes launch rod protective cap.

 

[dhbarr]

I've just spent 3 days staring at computers for more that 12 hours each... My brain fuzzy... (more than that dog fuzzy)... I can understand dog windsock.. no can do with OP's description. Read: A picture is worth a thousand words. On the plus side, my music folder is organized again, and has been pruned from over 120GB to a more manageable 70GB(ish)

It's like the eye protector key thing from an Estes kit, but long enough streamer to see wind.

 

[Rob Campbell]

This works too..

View attachment 516388

In Florida, we use these.

 

[Lee]

I use the old field goal kickers method - toss a few grass blades into the air and see what direction they go

 

[SecondRow]

In Florida, we use these.

View attachment 516410

Lol. I can’t tell where Cat 3’s head is.

 

[Grog6]

I've been building a rocket for the last bit; I hit the bathroom last night, and Kaatu was very carefully knocking all my tools off the table, lol.
His full name is Kaatu Barada Nikto, of course.

 

[samb]

Always good to know wind speed at ground level. Also really good to know wind speed at 500, 1000, 1500 ...

 

[DES]

I like to launch a couple of cheap, brightly painted cardboard rockets on A motors. Let them land, and leave them laying on the ground. Gives you some idea of low level wind speed and marks direction. Winds aloft are a lot trickery. Tablet computer with Windy.com on it, or a D rocket that ejects a few crepe paper streamers. The Stine handbook has a diagram for altitude marker streamers.

We frequently fly off a field were the shifts direction markedly in about three layers between the ground and 5000 feet. It can be ripping in the middle layer, in the wrong direction... Or occasionally there will be thermal, which is annoying as heck. The darn rocket never comes down.