Author Topic: Camping on the ice.  (Read 72845 times)

Offline lowaccord66

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Camping on the ice.
« on: Jan 18, 2016, 05:02 AM »
Who's lived in their shanty for a weekend?  What did you do right?  What could you have done better?   How cold was it?

Im going to stay on the ice all weekend.  Bringing a cot and cold weather bag.  Just curious whos done it and how it went!

Thanks guys.

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #1 on: Jan 18, 2016, 06:08 AM »
Good thread here. I would be concerned about proper ventilation and heating if it's very cold.

Offline bigstorm

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #2 on: Jan 18, 2016, 07:37 AM »
I've stayed in a sleeper house on LOTW before, that was good time. Stayed plenty warm and didn't really work about ventilation much since those are super air tight

Offline fish/hunt4ever

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #3 on: Jan 18, 2016, 07:44 AM »
Some stay in their shanties all the time but the time I and the wife tried to stay in the shanty one night we did not have enough ventilation and the heating buddy would turn off with the low oxygen sensor.  Then we moved the shanty over on dry land and got a little ventilation going and it kept the heater going and then could sleep for a time.  Had my flip over to fish in this was the hub style we were sleeping in.  Just have a good floor or tarp below your bed to keep the warmth under you as well, I think this would have helped instead of the cold ice cooling everything off when the heater went out. Good luck I will stick to the camper on shore to stay warm and sleep in and the shanty to fish out of.

Offline RedShantyMi

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #4 on: Jan 18, 2016, 07:47 AM »
Camped on the ice many times. We used a tent. Put down straw and covered it with a plastic tarp. We used comforted on the floor. Add a propane heater and u are all set. We found sleeping on the floor was warmer than cots

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #5 on: Jan 18, 2016, 08:09 AM »
I will be going this weekend to Champlain to do this.  Will be on the ice Saturday-Sunday.  Low of 9 is forecasted.  Bringing a cot and 0 degree mummy bag.  I have half inch thick interlocking foam mat for the floor.  Also bringing the otter to fish with.

Was wondering about the heat and ventilation.  I have a buddy heater but my friends have said sleep in the bag no heat.  I see some merit to doing that.

Offline vtbuckrulrss

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #6 on: Jan 18, 2016, 08:30 AM »
Last I knew, there was a guy that rented shanty's equipped for spending the night on the ice in the Alburgh/Swanton area.
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Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #7 on: Jan 18, 2016, 08:42 AM »
Last I knew, there was a guy that rented shanty's equipped for spending the night on the ice in the Alburgh/Swanton area.

Yes I know, however for funs sake we are not going that route.

Offline northernnyice

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #8 on: Jan 18, 2016, 08:44 AM »
Who's lived in their shanty for a weekend?  What did you do right?  What could you have done better?   How cold was it?

Im going to stay on the ice all weekend.  Bringing a cot and cold weather bag.  Just curious whos done it and how it went!

Thanks guys.


We do it every year. We just did it this last weekend in fact, Jan 15-17... 8x8 insulated hub shelter. Cot would be great for 1 guy. Not so much for more, unless you had a bigger shelter. We use comfortable camp style fold out chairs to relax/catch some z's in... I never get good rest when we stay on the ice anyway.. 4 hrs on and off.. We keep the heat rolling on low with the vents cracked. Still alive after doing this a bunch of times. Bring extra socks, extra gloves, extra hat, anything that could get wet easily. The socks are big for me. Feet sweat, switch socks, nice and dry. The interlock mats arnt a bad idea, you will prob still end up with a wet sloppy mess if you run heat, it is almost inevitable..

Offline SnoHam13

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #9 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:11 AM »
vented heater is the only way Id go
might not wake up in the Am. other wise.
kinda like playing roulette [only have to be wrong once]

the old pop up was designed for over nighting
bunk on each side with a spearing hole in the middle
up off the ice with a insert to seal the spearing hole to the pop up
vented heater kept us warm all night/day,it was salvaged out of a apachie trailer

SnoHam13

Offline Yooperhoy

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #10 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:24 AM »
A buddy and I did this a few years back. The heater did turn off due to ventilation. You could see it by using a lighter, the lighter would stay lit until you brought it down to about 10 inches above the ice and then the flame would die.  As much as I didn't want the big side of the shanty against the wind it probably would have beneficial to have that much more air moving through.  We were using the clam 10 man shanty. I ended up using the fan on my hanging light on the back door of the shanty to see if I could pull some air through.  If you can put a small wood stove you would be better off. Also a piece of carpet under your cot will help keep the cold from coming in the bottom of the sleeping bag. Also keep hydrated we both got bad leg cramps, we had too much beer not enough water lol. Another quick trick we did was buy some space blankets and hung them up in our sleeping area to help hold the heat in and cold out. It seemed to help.
Hope this helped. Have fun, stay warm

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #11 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:31 AM »
Great responses guys I appreciate it.  I am pretty sure I am going to sleep in the bag without heat.  If I sleep at all! The area we are fishing has eyes so I may jig all night.

Offline kevinmaine3

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #12 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:36 AM »
I think I would sleep alot better with just a good bag than having the propane heater going.. I've slept in my shack alot, but it also has a woodstove.
Have fun!!

Offline staggerin

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #13 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:42 AM »
I've slept in my otter lodge. I used my big buddy on low setting, with the bottom of the door open and both vents. Plenty of o2 for me and the fire.
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Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #14 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:43 AM »
maybe not this year but I plan on trying camping on ice now that I got a polarbird hub shanty that's fully insulated and has a floor.i don't sleep good anyway might as well be out on the ice for a full day  and night.im thinking cot, buddy heater with 20 lb tank with ventilation of course and a good sleeping bag.

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #15 on: Jan 18, 2016, 09:49 AM »
Im bringing my xt650 but sadly its too small to sleep in!  I am going to rely on a cabelas 6x8 to sleep in.  Only time I had trouble keeping it warm in there was in -10 degrees.

Offline lynng

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Offline Whopper Stopper

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #17 on: Jan 18, 2016, 11:08 AM »
Excellent post lynng :thumbsup:

Thanks for sharing your findings. I hope everyone takes the time to read the links. Even if not for this trip, for anyone contemplating another outing utilizing a heater.

               WS

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #18 on: Jan 18, 2016, 12:08 PM »
You should read these two threads and buy a good CO detector.

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=286299.msg2978608#msg2978608

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=301624.msg3166862#msg3166862

Good reads but I am aware and decided that I wont be using heat while I sleep just a good ole cold weather bag for the reasons listed in those threads.

Offline Nightbird

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #19 on: Jan 18, 2016, 01:20 PM »
A piece of Reflectix, or even a space blanket, under your bag makes a huge difference in warmth.

Offline jethro

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #20 on: Jan 18, 2016, 01:57 PM »
Yep, no heat. I'm an old mounteering guy and have bivouacked at -17F on top of a mountain. We carried everything in a backpack and no heat. Easy things to help you and this is from a NOLS course I took (National Outdoor Leadership School):

1: A closed cell air mattress like a Thermorest is lifesaving. Way better than a cot. We just slept on the snow using a quality closed cell foam air matress. Not a Coleman mattress- closed cell foam core.

2. Have a complete separate set of long underwear to sleep in. In my NOLS course they taught me to sleep in nothing more than long underwear, no matter how cold it is, and they are right. People make the mistake of putting on a bunch of clothes inside the bag and they either wake up drenched in sweat or the clothes take up all the air space in the bag and you can't heat it up. Insulation is all based on the same principle- trapped air. If you pack your sleeping bag with too much clothes you reduce the effectiveness of the insulation in your bag.

3. Change into EVERYTHING new right before bed. No matter how dry you think your clothes are, they aren't. Do everything strenuous you need to do for the night then change everything including socks. Again, sleep in nothing more than good, ploy/synthetic long underwear (I know, people don't understand this until you do it). Wear a warm hat to bed.

4. If you need to pee while in your sleeping bag, just get up and do it. Do not sit there resisting the need to get up. Having a bladder full of liquid reduces your core temp drastically and can actually make you sweat due to physical stress. Get it over with and get back to sleep.

5. Don't let anyone tell you to sleep with a big jug of hot water in your sleeping bag. I'm not even going to tear this one apart, JUST DON'T DO THAT. EVER.

I could go on, but I won't, those are the basics! Have fun!
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Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #21 on: Jan 18, 2016, 02:03 PM »
Thanks Doctor Gee, one of my fishing buddys Ctown has done the NOLS course...your post is most appreciated!  (I will updaye this thread with the good bad and ugly from our trip)

Offline Nosaj

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #22 on: Jan 18, 2016, 02:08 PM »
Looking forward to the good the bad and the ugly!  I want to do an overnight later in the season.

Offline adkRoy

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #23 on: Jan 18, 2016, 02:12 PM »
One thing you are definitely going to want to do that I have not seen mentioned is set up a bunch of reflectors or some lanterns outside the shanty so you don't get run over by snowmobilers.
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Offline jethro

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #24 on: Jan 18, 2016, 02:20 PM »
Does anyone know the legality of sleeping in a portable shanty overnight? It's legal in NH, right?
Quote- fishslap: I use a variety:  whistlin' bungholes, spleen splitters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker don'ts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or one single whistlin' kitty chaser

Ice safety link: http://lakeice.squarespace.com/

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #25 on: Jan 18, 2016, 02:37 PM »
One thing you are definitely going to want to do that I have not seen mentioned is set up a bunch of reflectors or some lanterns outside the shanty so you don't get run over by snowmobilers.

The spot we are fishing if they hit us they are going to die either going though the alburg channel (ice may still be thin) and or hit the bridge!  However thats a good point and I will mark our site effectively.

As far as the legality goes I do not care...if it were illegal I would still do it...don't need the big man holding me down in that regard.

Offline Drifter_016

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #26 on: Jan 18, 2016, 04:08 PM »
I say if'n yer gonna camp on the ice................... .................go big or go home!!!!  ;D
Our camp on this trip was 100 miles from town by snowmobile on the East arm of Great Slave Lake.



The pop up was the washroom. :)





All the comforts of home including the wood stove.





Fishin' was OK too!!!  @)




Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #27 on: Jan 18, 2016, 04:26 PM »
Man!  I need to camp with you guys!  Well done!

Offline jammer icecube

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #28 on: Jan 18, 2016, 04:29 PM »
Drifter you win!!!! Jon have fun and be safe......get on fish.

Offline lowaccord66

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Re: Camping on the ice.
« Reply #29 on: Jan 18, 2016, 05:40 PM »
Drifter you win!!!! Jon have fun and be safe......get on fish.

Thanks man, I am going to try on both fronts.  I look forward to sharing both the mistakes and successes!

 



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