HT Enterprises junk...or not

[Iceassin]

Been some talk lately about gloves/mittens and HT Polars have gotten a lot of high praises. And personally, I think they are an excellent mitten. But, they also get a bad rap for having junk products. I disagree. I have owned their Ice Blue rods. A real nice pannie rod for about $15. Worth a look for sure. And I still use their ETU-10 tip ups. All plastic with large spools. Very smooth and bulletproof. Easy drag adjustment too. Anyway, just wanted to put it out there if anyone was looking for a reasonably priced and good quality product. Disclaimer: I received no endorsement fee for this ad. 

[DR.SPECKLER]

Im not a fan of ht polar tip ups but the ht joka mitts and ht mini nero auger are worth every penny.ht ice blue rods are also very good for the money.

[Iceassin]

Im not a fan of ht polar tip ups but the ht joka mitts and ht mini nero auger are worth every penny.ht ice blue rods are also very good for the money.

Agree on the Polar tip ups Doc. The ones I use are the stick style. Might not even make them anymore.

[hawg]

Polar tip ups are my favorite. I’ve lubed a lot of tip ups for friends and Polar are better or equal to any.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

HT is like a lot of companies….some gear is decent/good quality. Some is junk. Just have to look at it. HT ice blues are really good. So are some of the other rods. Reels I’ve had some really good ones.

However with that said I’ve also seen a lot of junk rods and reels from HT.

HT is a see and feel product before you buy IMO.

I will give them credit the schooly type rods they have with the noodle rods are good.

[FreshwaterPhil]

I'm happy enough with their big game tip ups, been using them for a good 5-6 seasons, haven't needed to lube them yet. Only complaint would be the flags and their telescopic poles being a bit on cheap side of things.

[eyeflyer]

HT ice blue rods are great quality, I worked in fishing retail as a store manager and buyer for about 13 years and the ice blues were always our number one selling rod. Usually the anglers who talk about paying 60-70 bucks or more for an ice rod only do so to appear to be in the know............but their comments often reveal they don't have a clue what they are talking about. As I buyer I was sent many samples to try out............ many low to mid priced rods were every bit as good or better than rods twice their price. If you believe you have to pay 70-100 bucks for an ice rod to try and catch fish, many you are going to be disappointed when you find out the rod wasn't your problem.

[mushroom_capd_1]

Has anyone used their Siberian ice boxes? I'm not worried about the cheap baitstation/cooler thing at all as I would probably ditch the styrofoam liner and bubbler and just use it to store small jig boxes, bait pucks, pliers, etc. Basically just use it for tackle storage. I'm just wondering how well they hold up.

[missoulaicebeerdog]

I think its perfectly fine entry level gear.  The rods and tip-ups they catch fish, but I see it as the equivalent of a Saturn or Pinto in the car world.

[slipperybob]

A lot of junky stuff and some useful stuff

[zcm_82]

Agree with most of the crowd here... some good stuff, some crap.

I like their Big Eye spring bobbers a lot. I use them on my deadstick rods because with it being so large it's easy to see them start twitching, even if you're only half paying attention.

[filetandrelease]

 As with most companies there is always some crap , products that I’ve purchased from them have been positive

[DowneastPescador]

I bought 4 HT tip downs many years ago. Wooden base, plastic rod holder. I think I payed 10$ each. When the conditions are right and it’s not too cold they work really well. They take some getting used to but they do catch a lot of fish for me. They allow the fish to take the bait and run with it as opposed to the jacker which sets the hook. Depending on the species I’ll use one or the other. Jaw jacker works great for trout but the HT works great for togue.

[eiderz]

My night walleye setup is six HT Icemaster Gold tipups with flag lights. Had them for around fifteen years and they take some abuse. No adjustment, just dunk the bait and wait for a flashy light. One of them is named Hunchback because a drunk googan ran it over with a jet sled late at night about ten years ago, and bent the tube beyond straightening. It has character, and many walters have succumbed to Hunchback. So my experience is that the HT tipups are pretty durable.

[zcm_82]

My night walleye setup is six HT Icemaster Gold tipups with flag lights. Had them for around fifteen years and they take some abuse. No adjustment, just dunk the bait and wait for a flashy light. One of them is named Hunchback because a drunk googan ran it over with a jet sled late at night about ten years ago, and bent the tube beyond straightening. It has character, and many walters have succumbed to Hunchback. So my experience is that the HT tipups are pretty durable.

Gotta love those drunks  Had one try to walk off with my auger a couple seasons ago.

[DTro]

Has anyone used their Siberian ice boxes? I'm not worried about the cheap baitstation/cooler thing at all as I would probably ditch the styrofoam liner and bubbler and just use it to store small jig boxes, bait pucks, pliers, etc. Basically just use it for tackle storage. I'm just wondering how well they hold up.

I wonder if you could stuff a 7.5qt Engel in that space.  That would be ideal. 

[hardwater diehard]

Like others have said some good and some bad products ..The Polar Magnetic pop up is pretty sensitive and I did use them in my tip up days for perch ..the HT H style tip ups did there job quite well too. I am sure I culled through some of the not so good items through the years ...but their items are plentiful fairly inexpensive . Great to get you up and running .

[greenbulldog]

I have bought a lot of HT stuff over the years.  I bought most of my pole/reel HT combos on clearance a while ago.  They probably get a lot of hate, but they have never once failed to reel in a fish. 

[mushroom_capd_1]

I wonder if you could stuff a 7.5qt Engel in that space.  That would be ideal.

I plan on picking one up tomorrow if they have any left in-stock. I'll post the interior dimensions if I can get my hands on one.

[rdhammah]

I acquired some HT Polars about 20 years ago at a flea market. they're dark blue. they work great. Never had a problem. Haven't had to regrease them. 

[Jack978]

Im not a fan of ht polar tip ups but the ht joka mitts and ht mini nero auger are worth every penny.ht ice blue rods are also very good for the money.

The mini nero is definitely a very good auger and worth the money. I picked one up for $90 and after 2 seasons still love it. Some of their other stuff is good and some not definitely a lot of Chinese made products in their lineup so best to look before you pull the trigger. 

[fish/hunt4ever]

Love my polar tip ups had to retire some a few years ago but had used them for 20 years, still have a couple I bought 30 years ago and still use just take apart and grease each year, not needed most the time but feel better about not getting water in and freezing up while fishing for several days in a row, so if you take care of them they work great for some. Just my personal experience with the polars.

[mushroom_capd_1]

I wonder if you could stuff a 7.5qt Engel in that space.  That would be ideal.

checked the inside dimensions just now and they are 12-1/4" x 7-1/4" at the bottom and 13-1/2" x 8-1/2" at the top and 11-1/4" deep. That Engel cooler is listed at
11-1/2" x 10" × 8" so it might be possible to fit one in there depending on how much the latches stick out on it.

[hardwater diehard]

checked the inside dimensions just now and they are 12-1/4" x 7-1/4" at the bottom and 13-1/2" x 8-1/2" at the top and 11-1/4" deep. That Engel cooler is listed at
11-1/2" x 10" × 8" so it might be possible to fit on in there depending on how much the latches stick out on it.

What did you think of the construction? My buddy looked at one and said it was a hard pass ..plastic construction seemed weak.

[mushroom_capd_1]

What did you think of the construction? My buddy looked at one and said it was a hard pass ..plastic construction seemed weak.

It looks like it would hold up for the most part. The foam jig holder in one of the compartments is kind of crap. The little storage compartment lids might bust in the cold where they lock in IMHO. The latches seem to be "ok". The strap seems like it is just going to get in the way. To me, it is pretty much like an oversized plano tacklebox if we are talking about the plastic. I mean, it isn't the tough roto-molded stuff, but we are talking "HT" here.  It seems about as durable as your average 5 gallon bucket. I think if you really were bent on getting one you might save a few bucks buy going the Nisus route as I think they are pretty much the same thing just with the HT tag on this one. But the last I checked on those, the shipping brought the price to around what you will pay for one of these. All in all I am ok with it. I wanted a hard case to keep my small jig boxes, fishing tools, bait pucks, and stuff like that as I don't want another soft bag for my ice tackle. We will see how it how it holds up to the tough winters here.