Click here to order with free shipping.Team Iceshanty Patches! Most iceshanty boards are represented
Good morning all, It was easy to fish with a couple kids, or on really great days, with my wife and I. That shanty had four holes in the floor and room to fish them all at once. It is regrettably no more, and my sons are grown. My wife and I, however are expecting another in February.
I sold my clam 2000 to my bud with a extra cover.i should of kept it but got many years out of it.in my younger days it was known as the clam baker 2000.lol.
I guess I have to ask, why a suitcase shanty. They make some real nice flip overs that have lots of room for two. And, benches big enough to put seats with backs on them, on the side and a baby seat in the middle. Then you would have the tub for all of your gear. Personally, I wouldn't even consider a suitcase, it would be a flip over for me. But to each his own, if you heart is stuck on a suitcase, you should get it. Anyone who raised two kids who are grown and has one on the way, YOU DESERVE IT! That in itself would have most of us on suicide watch!!!
That's why your location is nice to have in your avatar...
Well, here's why my fishing buddy and I both own 'em: Enough room to stand straight up, move around a bit, (Which I need to do after 3 spinal surgeries) plenty of room for gear, nice floor with the carpet on it allows you to wear a light boot or whatever, my feet never got cold in there. Big enough for two holes for each of ya. Pulls We both used full size high-back padded lawn chairs witgh plenty of room for 'em. Great on ice, drop down skiis made it slick in the snow, with bottom molded to fit 5 gal buckets of yer gear when flipped and towing......this was the Shappell DX 4000, remember. I still don't like the cramped flip overs or hub style. When you go by yourself, it was like a little friggin' cabin! That's my reason.
I had a Viking brand, had a little velcro fish door on the back side ... Sold it years ago to a good friend after I pulled the trigger on an one man flip. After reading through this post though I'm kinda nostalgic bout all the good times had early on in my addiction, and now with the knowledge of the Smitty sled perhaps I'll re-invest,
I guess its all what you want. But, apparently you haven't seen the newer flip overs. They "are" big enough to stand up in, have way more room then "any" suitcase shanty, have tubs big enough for your lawn chairs, heaters, rods, reels, buckets, auger, etc.etc.etc.. I have been on fishing trips with everything bungeed to the top of a suitcase, what a joke! And, are you ready for it, flip overs have tubs to keep your gear from getting wet and nasty when going through slush or when pulling them behind a sled. Even more so if you put a cover over them. They also have add-ons like; shelves, floor mats, lights, counsels, and many other great conveniences. I was in one yesterday, Otter Pro XT1200 resort 3 man, that had a tub that was 8ft long and three foot wide. More then enough room for two people to sit next to each other, both fishing out of two holes. Heck, this things has three seats in it. That are removeable, I might add! I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, If you like the suitcase type, buy one and use it. "Personally" I would go with the tub!
And yet for more than twice the price and more than twice the weight and far more complexity you feet and gear are still in the slop unless they are in the huge “tub” which unlike the shappell suitcases are almost impossible to pull by hand, cool story that you love your flip overs but there are still people that appreciate a suitcase, isn’t that crazy?
Crazy is spending $100 more for a shack that weighs 3x as much as a hub with half the fishable space with limited hole configuration just to have a floor. The hubs have the same head room as well. I was comparing the Shappell DX4000 vs Eskimo fat fish 949i. My last memory of the suitcase style shack was I think a frabill of some sort that seemed to weigh a ton and pulled like a nightmare and could still only first 2 people. Glad we got rid of that thing and I'll never own another one. To each their own I guess. I mean, it could be worse, you could be hauling them to the ice with a Ford!
To each his own, but here's where I see the difference lies: The suitcase style was originally one of the first portable shacks on the market, when the run'n gun style with the all the electronics and lithium powered drill augers wasn't even thought of yet. Heck, the basic Jiffy white lightning was the standard auger around, and the early Vexie's and LXi's handhelds was the going thing. They stayed around, because they found a niche...the guys like me, who are now 25 yrs older, and aren't interested in running and gunning. They were never made to be towed behind a snowmobile of for long distances in the first place; just basically the short hops or as we did, the drop'n pop........right out of the back of a truck on the ice. We drug mine short distances around to the reservoirs here, which worked great, and our other spots were 125 miles away, where we drive on the lake to our spot and drop it out of the back of the pickup. Slid and fit right in perfect on a full size box PU, with gear underneath, because it sat on top of the wheel wells. Buddy drilled while I set it up, ready to fish in 10 minutes. We weren't in a huge, rush around hurry. We knew our spots/best areas, as we usually fished those in the boat all Summer and Fall. We would scan thru the ice before we drilled our spots of course, but then it was down and fish away for the day. Cook up some grub over the modified rack on the Buddy heater. (I think Bart has some good pics of that) In the rare case of no action, it wasn't a big deal to pull it to another spot on the ice. That's how I see the differences; everyone has their own way of fishing and enjoying it most. Ya, I used to tourney fish on opne water, flying from here to there in my boat, now it's feet up, cold drink, and enjoy the day on the water...and we always come home with a nice catch. Like the old 70's Yamaha slogan, "Different strokes for different folks". That's my .02
