Ice Shanty- Flip vs. Collapsible

[druthrbfishn]

OK, I want to buy a shanty. Any suggestions about ease of towing etc.? I have an ATV but most of the stock dams I fish are small so it might not be worthwhile to haul the ATV unless I go to Oahe.
It appears the collapsible would be warmer with the floor and also more air tight.
What about sturdiness in the wind ?
I know the flip with the sled is easier than loading the coll. in a separate sled with all the equipment but is it worth it? Speed, it takes 30 sec. in a flip vs. 1-2 min. in a collapsible ?
Give me some info, please.

[Hman]

There are some positives and negatives to both.  Something like an Otter is nice because You don't have to worry about all of your equiptment spilling out, but to me they are kind of big, bulky and heavy.  Where as the frabil hideout 6010 or the old sno boats, all you have to do is flip it open and your fishin.  There isn't as much of a lip, but your stuff stays in place and they are pretty easy to haul around.  If your going to be pulling it around with an ATV most of the time, I would go with the otter just because your equiptment will stay in the sled.  You also might consider buying a cover right away tho if you do that.

[druthrbfishn]

The two shelters I was considering was a Frabill Speed Shack and the Frabill Ranger XLTwin.

Any ideas ? I have ice-fished some for thirty years but haven't had a power auger until this year and now I think I need shack. I guess I am getting old and lazy !!

[twodoggs]

If you want a sturdy shack that is designed to be pulled behind a sled or 4wheeler I would recomend a Otter  lodge quick set up sturdy and can carry all the gear.  Just my preference though.  I think in the long run you will like any flip over the suite case style.  I have both and the otter is the one I use.  with the suite case once you set up you need to take it down to move and with a flip, well just flip and your moving.

[Oldfart]

And with the small otters, you can flip 1/2 way and stick the back wind pole in for a quick shelter. You can leave it in to pull to another hole. But dont forget, with any of them, if your needing it to break the wind, you need to anchor to the ice or the first time you stand up youll be chasing it. Break the wind. Ha ha.  

[water_wolf]

If you do alot of moving during the day I would recommend a flip over type.  Simply because everything fits in the sled base and sets up and tears down fast.
If you don't move around as much a lodge type shelter would be fine.  1 or 2 minute set-up is no big deal if you plan on fishing 1 general aea all day.
I bought an Eskimo Grand Caravan 3 man flip over last year and I am real happy with it.  All equipment fits in it and fast set-up/tear-down.  Alittle on the heavy side but we usually tow it behind a 4 wheeler so not a real big issue.

[The Iceman]

After about 2 years of shopping around for a shanty I settled on the 2man Eskimo traveller. I do not have a ATV so weight was a big factor. The shanty has ample room for 2, comes with 3 windows, 2 vents, large flaps to keep the wind out as well as light weight at about 36lbs. The sled base is 58" x 31" x 4" and is large enough to store your gear. The set-up time in windy conditions is about 2-3 minutes. Taking it down is about the same time. Very mobile.

[yota1991]

i have a ranger and love it. my dads has a shapell siute case style and it is also very nice. if you are talking about more room then i would go with the ranger,but it is alot heavier than most. the sled is real deep and thick so you should have plenty of room to haul your stuff around. you are limited with the suite case styles because you need to pack it on top.

[fishmann]

I have a suitcase style, 4 X 8, only problem I had with it is nowhere to store equipment when moving. Solved that by adding a tow bar its' sled, hook that to my Otter seld, pull it with the snowmobile. Sure I look like a small train going across the ice, but I get everything easily and safely where I want to go. BTY, I made a second sled to sit the house on out of a piece of metal siding from a pole building, same basic bottom contours as the Otter sled with a support out of 2 X 6's to set the house on. I can set it on it either collapsed or erected, but it gets a little dicey moving it erected if it's too windy. One of these days I'll make up some sort of attachment so it can't blow off the sled. I like the flat bottom sled instead of runners, distributes the load more and rides up and over drifts easily instead of the two runners trying to slice through em.

[bushbunny]

I have a Frabill Ranger Triplex, with only two seats installed.  Makes for lots of elbow room if the two of you using it are of any size.  Sled is plenty big for all of the gear.  If you are buying any flipover, make sure that you get the cover for it.  Towing the package through the snow with a snowmobile or atv, will fill it with snow, and there is nothing more frustrating than cleaning snow out of your gear when you could be fishing!!!!

[icefishnfool]

I have a Fish Trap Guide ......flip set in 6 seconds ......I have never had a problem with it , and have 2 other styles ......Shappel DX-3000 and a Trap Scout ....the guide is big and spacy and has a cover ......you will not be disapointed ......Mark Sirko

[quickflip]

I have an Eskimo Quickflip and pull it with an ATV.  I put my Vexilar, Mr. Buddy and a bucket with my jigging rods and misc. gear (lunch, etc.) in the sled of the quickflip.  I move around a lot so I really like this setup.  I store my power auger in a "Otter" tube on the back rack and simply slip it out and drill and put it back in the tube when done drilling...real quick.  

[timmo]

the flip types are a good deal like the frabill ultralight however watch out the molded floor has to many pockets for seating etc. and acts like the brakes are on but with a 4 wheeler you will never know just how hard it is pulling try it by hand sometime my right arm is now 3 inches longer than the left arm from pulling my frabill boat anchor across the ice

[druthrbfishn]

I ordered an Otter Magnum Lodge 2003 model ( Only available in Vikings purple) with a sled for $360. I guess I can live with the color if the quality is there. The Otter isn't the cheapest house available but it appears to be good quality. It is heavier but I can pull it with my ATV if necessary.