Any tricks to folding up a hub shelter

[markjsolomon]

Hi All

I am looking for any tips and tricks to folding up a hub shelter ....

It get it set up and down but man getting back into teh bag what a nightmare

OHH it is a rapala sherpa M3 I am using

[hot tuna]

I'm also open to any set up take down tips. I look like I'm wrestling a bear each time .
When I get it together then it's all good.

Tip from me is to ditch the bag they come with. I went to a military surplus store ( or on line) and got their large gear bag. Heavy duty canvas with real zippers. Plenty of room for extra gear.
 Measure your length of your hub folded and get appropriate size bag.
I paid $20.00 in a surplus store for mine

[osiris]

I put the legs in first and pull the bag all the way down

[IceCrafty]

If it is my week off and I know I will be out a lot, I do not put the hub in the bag. I just throw it is the sleed and forget it. I always put it in the bag at the end of the season after I set it up in the yard and let it dry out.

[smitty]

No tricks read and follow the instructions. My buddy has an Eskimo 3 quick fish we went to unfold it and got some of the material twisted up well one thing led to another and next thing we know the 3 of the poles snapped. They are made of fiberglass got some of that caught in our hands and spent most of the afternoon with a razor blade trying to pick fiberglass shaving from our hands NOT FUN but funny now!
Be patient follow instructions and it folds up and assembles fairly easy and fit into the bag .
Oh we did call Eskimo and they sent us out a new quick fish 3 free. Got to keep the old one ordered new set of new poles for it works great!!!!

smitty

[SoDakdick]

I don't use the bag it ripped first time i put it back in. I use tie-down straps to hold it together. I have been thinking of making one that folds over it though.

[wyoutdoors]

I think I'd buy a larger storage transport bag for it. My hub went right back into the bag it came in, but it is an oversized bag with room for additional stuff if really needed. Only had it out once so far by myself, but I bought the Clam for when a few guys and their kids want to go perching!

- wyoutdoors 

[spudsaway]

I have the same sherpa 3 love it . great price and so far no issues.  First remember it goes up Pop roof first then any side then work your way around Pop pop pop pop pop .. Going down make sure all the windows are closed and the door zippered closed  I pull all the pegs but one corner pop down all the sides then the top.  Remember that the hut folds away inside out with the Roof hub as the center pivot for all the rods.  When The hut is flat. take the bottom   corner opposite the  still  Pegged corner  and flip it over to the pegged  corner ( Flip it Over the top ) as you do that the whole thing will try to close like an umbrella. get all the corners together the next two will move horizontally .  When you flipped the first corner the Main pole Hub is tipped on to a vertical so the other poles will be easy to  get in place  Now roll it and all the rods will be in the correct spot. Wrap the Velcro strap that come in the bag around the bottom  the open end.  I slide the thing into the bag roof first and work your way down to the feet.   A great trick when getting it up is to Peg one corner pop the whole thing up and spin it so the door is away from the wind then peg her down the rest of the way. Never push anything hard it means something is not in the correct spot and you will pop out poles or break them.   this may be Clear as mud but I tried. If you were on the ice with me It  would be a snap. Love My Sherpa . i have A one man Pak Shack too but only when I have real deep snow to contend with.

[boss j]

i use a duffel bag to pack it in. it allows for any ice buildup and has a strap that if i dont have a sled i can just shoulder it.

i also have a 1 man "pac shack". this year i remade the feet on the chair and drilled holes in each. now i put carriage bolts through a set of cut down skis and bolt them on so it will slide where ever i want to go. to keep the flip over off the ice when moving i have been putting a bungiecord from the seat to the last of the supports for the flip over. i drilled holes in the tips of the skis and put my drag rope there so it helps lift the front a little so its easier to slide. if its windy i will need to put a anchor in the ice so it cant blow away if i get up but 1 anchor is not hard to set in the ice fast and should keep me moving on the ice with ease.

[Justcuz]

Practice, practice, practice.

[Wyo Outdoorsman]

I use 2 compression strap's around my Eskimo Quick Fish 6 shelter to get it back in the bag by myself, 1 at top 1/4, and another at the bottom 1/4, fits right back into the bag easy.  Learned it from getting sleeping bag's back into there bag's.

[Icetester]

I have the double hub, I pop all sides, than the top in, flip it a 1/4 turn so it's on it side, gather all the brackets that hold the poles and hoist the unit so it's now standing with the brackets up, I then grab the bag and bear hug the whole hub, lay the bag over top of the brackets and let it fall back on the ice, grab the exposed end and shove the rest in the bag and zip. At first I just stared at the thing not wanting to break it, but now it's mastered. Like one post said, practice.

[BaieClement44]

Practice, practice, practice.

better than getting all flustered out on a windy cold day trying to put it away

[tench]

When its windy I leave the upwind anchor in the ice and then tackle it downwind. Then I slide the bag over it and take the last anchor out. Works pretty good but if anyone sees a red beard flying across a lake holding a hub shanty it's not Santa making one last run to your house, reach up and pull me down! 

[Fridgie]

what pop up do you have?

i have a rapala m3 and man its a pain in the but to out back in the bag. the bag ripped down the seam when i carried it like a back pack. it was a stuff sack style and i foud it best to fold it all up wrap the mateial around itself and strap it all together then go tent first legs at top.
 i have since then moved to the eskimo fatfish 949 and man what a great set up. really well built and stiched and its actually a zipper instead of stuff sack. i just lay the bag down and place the tent inside and zip it up. the straps even have clips so the arm straps dont pull apart while u walk unlike my rapala.

[Devilwood]

On my hubs, when folding them up, the rule of thumb that I go by is if it feels like I have to force something, I'm doing it wrong and I stop and start over.  I have Clam and Cabelas hubs and like them both.  They both fit nicely into their carrying bags also.

[NYSporty]

Have someone put a zipper on the bag.

[TrackerG]

I have a Quickfish 4 and have found the best way to set it up by yourself (first replace all the tie-down string with 1/4 inch or 3/8 rope) is spread it out on ice...be careful and not force anything... put at least two corner anchors in (on up wind side, all four if needed). pull the sides out (try to pull opposing sides or they will keep collapsing as you go around). Some times it helps to pull a side out and tie rope off before moving to other side. when all sides are out unzip door and go inside and pop the roof up. (I know the directions say to do this first but Ive set mine up many times and it almost always falls in before your done). Seems to not be an issue on the smaller popups. Make sure to zip door closed before tying ropes down tight.   

to tear down same thing basically but leave the roof popped up and collapse sides but give it time too deflate the trapped air inside....when its collapsed and here's the reason for leaving top up...the top will turn a 1/4 of a turn. that's where it needs to be to fold up. again don't force things. if it doesn't go easily then something is wrong. tip....get some straps to lash it up before trying to put it back in the bag.

[32footsteps]

The brilliance of engineers can be seen clearly in the way the carrying bags were designed.  They sure fit great when it's 70 degrees and indoors not taking into consideration that they will be frozen up, covered in ice, snow, and slush....  The bags simply need to be slightly bigger and maybe they are.  I got mine very soon after they hit the market.  My bag tore and I picked up one of those large army surplus backpacks from Fleet Farm thinking it would do the trick.  It didn't.  It fits nice but it throws your center of gravity all out of whack.  I simply strap mine to my sled and use the back pack to carry other gear. 

If it's not windy I won't use the anchors.  If it is anchoring a corner into the wind is a must.  I pull out two sides first and then walk inside of it and pop the others out from the inside.  When taking it down I'll simply collapse it from the outside.  Pick it up so the hubs themselves are by my face and give it a few good shakes to get rid of any snow/ice build up that exists.  When I get home I'll hang it the same way so that when it thaws out the water can run off of it and not get trapped inside. 

[RapShack]

I'd put that more on the bean counters than the engineers.  My hub came with an oversized duffel that's made out of the same 600d material as the shack.  When everything is dried out and packed nice I can get a bunch of stuff in there with it, and after a day of crappy weather when the shack is carrying an additional 15lbs of ice I can still get the shack and my chair in the bag just fine.  I'm sure it's quite a bit more expensive manufacturing wise than the flimsy little sacks some shelters I've seen come with.

[TrackerG]

I throw a couple anchors in no matter what...in this country (Wyoming), the wind can come up very sudden and very strong. I talked to a guy recently that was sitting in a flipover a few years ago, fishing at nite when wind came up. started blowing him across the ice. said he had a hard time getting out of the shelter. scared the crap out of him. well his buddy came running after him with a light and all of a sudden he fell in through a hole in the ice...pretty scary....well he got his buddy pulled out... and he fell into another hole a few feet away...apparently left over from an atv retrieval. The guy said he doesn't remember how he got out but he pretty much lost his desire to ice fish.......I'll just use a few anchors.....