The whole point of a blind is wind and rain protection, plus concealment. If you only need the latter, then there are many options. But day after day, all day long, a blind will keep you in the stand instead of back at the truck. I take a sleeping bag into mine and leave it for the whole hunt. When I get there, in I go up to the shoulders. As for deer, they could care less. There's nothing like being kicked back in a comfortable seat, moving feet around as needed and not worried about moving your hands. If a deer/elk is far away from your treestand, or at a similar elevation, the height of the treestand provides no concealment at all. As for buckets, after an hour I would be ready to get off that thing, padded or not. If you just don't need wind or rain protection, and can manage concealment issues, then a bare lawn or camping chair will do nicely -- if portability won't prevent the use of one. After more than 40 years of hunting, I find that comfort matters ...
