NEW ICE GEAR 2021/2022

[Junkie4Ice]

Is amped outdoors still trying to sell knockoff milwaukee and dewalt drill batteries, and claim that they are "better cells" made at "better facilities" in China? Their credibility really took a hit last season. They didn't even try to sell me a replacement when I got the dreaded red blinking light, just a refund. I haven't used Dakota batteries but haven't heard anyone complain and the Marcum lithium batteries held their own for me last season and I haven't heard anyone with any issues with marcums lithium batteries thus far.

[zcm_82]

You might want to consider a Dakota battery, they are assembled in the USA by Americans and have a better warranty, unlike Amped batteries that are Chinese.  Also you probably want to go with a 10 or 12 amp battery, the 6 amp will not go as long.

Having spent pretty much my entire career in manufacturing, I've come to firmly understand that a lot of times that just makes it expensive domestic garbage, as opposed to cheap foreign garbage. Everywhere I've worked the philosophy has been numbers first, quality second, if someone complains enough we might deal with QC issues.

I don't care if something is made on Mars, as long as the quality is good, that's where my money goes.

[Junkie4Ice]

Having spent pretty much my entire career in manufacturing, I've come to firmly understand that a lot of times that just makes it expensive domestic garbage, as opposed to cheap foreign garbage. I don't care if something is made on Mars, as long as the quality is good, that's where my money goes.

Thanks for your input. I'll pay extra for garbage from America rather than get a discount for garbage from tibuktu.

[zcm_82]

I'm sure the makers of your red, white, and blue undies appreciate that 

[DTro]

Amped (Energized) sure gave the members here some nice deals over the years.  I'm still rocking my 2 10Ah'ers from 2017.

So are you trying to tell me Dakota isn't sourcing their components from China?   I mean it's all just word games at this point. 

[Junkie4Ice]

I'm sure the makers of your red, white, and blue undies appreciate that 

Is there any clothing even made in the US anymore? The maker of my $120 custom rod that is no better than the $20 Chinese rod sure appreciates my money! I wish I could say I come from a generation that still appreciates small business, but now you see the generations above and below me discrediting our great country. So I guess it's just a personal trait at this point. But hey it is what it is.

Any other new gear out there? 

[HWeber]

Amped (Energized) sure gave the members here some nice deals over the years.  I'm still rocking my 2 10Ah'ers from 2017.

So are you trying to tell me Dakota isn't sourcing their components from China?   I mean it's all just word games at this point.

Dakota's are coming with made in china stickers the last year or more from what I could find. Initially they were made/assembled here. They also use to be good about their warranty. Now looking at recent opinions it seems they're made in china with a warranty that'd make a used car salesman blush.

[zcm_82]

Is there any clothing even made in the US anymore? The maker of my $120 custom rod that is no better than the $20 Chinese rod sure appreciates my money! I wish I could say I come from a generation that still appreciates small business, but now you see the generations above and below me discrediting our great country. So I guess it's just a personal trait at this point. But hey it is what it is.

Any other new gear out there? 

Comparing a custom made item to one that is mass produced is apples and oranges.

[hawg]

right on.i have both brands and had troubles with both but my dakota holds 100% voltage all year without charging and my amped outdoors looses charge after a month and needs charging all the time.more often than my sla batteries and one time i was left without fishing with my vexilar.amped was full charged,i loaded  in the truck and it sat in the cold for a few hours and when i got to the lake it was dead.waiting for ice and if that happens  i will contact them again.

if you get all year out of one charge why do you want to spend that amount of money on a lithium?

[DR.SPECKLER]

if you get all year out of one charge why do you want to spend that amount of money on a lithium?

who gets all year on a charge?im talking maintaining the batteries throughout the year.my Dakota can set idle for 8 months basically without losing volts while my sla takes about 5 minutes to top up,yet my amped lithium takes up to 2 hrs after setting.why go lithium?way longer run times,way lighter and has a longer lifespan over sla batteries...but im not too sure on reliability yet.i had 2 dakotas corrode in 2 years and my amped is dropping volts not hooked to anything.lithium batteries are not very expensive anymore.

[mushroom_capd_1]

Any other new gear out there? 

I hear the the new Eskimo stuff will be hitting their website tomorrow (9/2). They do have a few new things on their facebook page, mostly outerwear and stuff like that. The did have a rod case kind of similar to the Striker Ice rod case on there the other day, but it is no longer listed in their facebook shop.

[hawg]

Sorry Dr. S, I misunderstood your post.

[Junkie4Ice]

Comparing a custom made item to one that is mass produced is apples and oranges.

Haha - I figured someone would get a little butthurt over that comparison. Thanks.

[zcm_82]

Yeah, pointing out egregiously flawed logic is butthurt. Congrats buddy, you got me with that big brain play 

[Junkie4Ice]

Sorry Dr. S, I misunderstood your post.

I think weight is the biggest argument for lithium. Your average ice fisherman won't run down a fully charged sla battery in a whole day, or even a weekend of intermittent use. With the exception of the bigger units like panoptix/livescope of course. But the weight you save is worth the added price alone, IMO.

[hardwater diehard]

New Offerings

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021

[Buckshots]

I think weight is the biggest argument for lithium. Your average ice fisherman won't run down a fully charged sla battery in a whole day, or even a weekend of intermittent use. With the exception of the bigger units like panoptix/livescope of course. But the weight you save is worth the added price alone, IMO.

My marcum lx6 sure could kill the SLA battery in a day. My Bird35 sure couldn’t make a weekend of intermittent use. No complaints here with my energized outdoors battery. And thanks to this site, I got a very good deal on it.

[Junkie4Ice]

My marcum lx6 sure could kill the SLA battery in a day. My Bird35 sure couldn’t make a weekend of intermittent use. No complaints here with my energized outdoors battery. And thanks to this site, I got a very good deal on it.

Sounds like your bird has an electrical flaw then. I used my 35 on a 4 day trip and didn't charge it once, I'd say it averaged 6 hours of use per day. I bought it speficially for this trip and was very happy with the unit, for anyone looking for a cheap but quality unit.

Errbody is so defensive of amped/energized outdoors on this site, it's almost comical! For the record, I have nothing against amped besides their false claims of having better generic MKE/Dewalt drill batteries, which it looks like they stopped selling, thus justifying my complaint.

This is the downfall of sponsorships/pro-staffers/brand ambassadors. People become too committed to one brand they can't acknowledge flaws.

[Junkie4Ice]

New Offerings

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021/products/42-rod-locker
 
I like the rod locker, would be nice to fit more than 4 rods, but that middle compartment looks to be good sized. Might be a nice place to store extra batteries.

[hardwater diehard]

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021/products/42-rod-locker
 
I like the rod locker, would be nice to fit more than 4 rods, but that middle compartment looks to be good sized. Might be a nice place to store extra batteries.

I have the SI Transporter locker ..the middle compartment on that is huge ..and I just keep putting thing in it it season doubles as a knap sack ..tackle bag ..5 rod holder ..carry straps ..IF need be I could carry a Vexilar Ultra case in there as well.

[Junkie4Ice]

I have the SI Transporter locker ..the middle compartment on that is huge ..and I just keep putting thing in it it season doubles as a knap sack ..tackle bag ..5 rod holder ..carry straps ..IF need be I could carry a Vexilar Ultra case in there as well.

Can you comfortably carry a vexilar ultra case in it? My dad had an old rod bag years back that had a compartment on the end that could hold his vexilar. The thing was big and didn't provide a ton of protection for his rods, but he could literally put everything he needed in it for a day (besides an auger) which was actually pretty nice to just throw on a sled and take off. I really like all the hard sided cases that scheels, otter and ice fishing innovations came out with, but they're just too big for me to not have a compartment where I can toss things into (i'm not organized or patient enough to put all my things into small plastic storage containers and then slide them in like they are designed for lol).

[HWeber]

Sounds like your bird has an electrical flaw then. I used my 35 on a 4 day trip and didn't charge it once, I'd say it averaged 6 hours of use per day. I bought it speficially for this trip and was very happy with the unit, for anyone looking for a cheap but quality unit.

Errbody is so defensive of amped/energized outdoors on this site, it's almost comical! For the record, I have nothing against amped besides their false claims of having better generic MKE/Dewalt drill batteries, which it looks like they stopped selling, thus justifying my complaint.

This is the downfall of sponsorships/pro-staffers/brand ambassadors. People become too committed to one brand they can't acknowledge flaws.

I could care less about amped. Just pointing out that Dakota has become junk. You seem quite committed to Dakota 

[Junkie4Ice]

I could care less about amped. Just pointing out that Dakota has become junk. You seem quite committed to Dakota 

I don't own a single thing from dakota 

[jrjach75]

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021/products/42-rod-locker
 
I like the rod locker, would be nice to fit more than 4 rods, but that middle compartment looks to be good sized. Might be a nice place to store extra batteries.

That rod locker caught my eye too. I have a Flambau box now, same as the Eagle claw. I love it but there are times I don't use it because it's too big, inside my one man flipover for instance.
Would love to see the dimensions on that 32" Eskimo rod locker, I think it might be what I need.

[vinella]

https://geteskimo.com/collections/new-for-2021/products/42-rod-locker
 
I like the rod locker, would be nice to fit more than 4 rods, but that middle compartment looks to be good sized. Might be a nice place to store extra batteries.

Looks to be very similar to the 2B Fishing ice rod case, which I've been extremely happy with. I have both sizes. They're awesome

[TKfishing]

Besides the rod bags, it looks like Eskimo came out with a new smaller Eskape Flip shelter size (2400). There's two new Outbreak sizes too, along with a plaid "limited" edition 450. I'm most interested in the Outbreak 850, as i was thinking of trying the poor mans Ice Castle experince and camp on the ice a couple weekends this season!

[tm37]

Looks to be very similar to the 2B Fishing ice rod case, which I've been extremely happy with. I have both sizes. They're awesome

I picked up the smaller 2B bag and the only complaint I have is the tackle compartments could be larger.

Love it otherwise though.

[Krazykaiser]

I’m somewhat disappointed that Eskimo did not come out with an electric auger with their quantum blades. I’m not a fan of the laser shaver blades from Strikemaster which can dull easy in dirty ice ,

[mushroom_capd_1]

I’m somewhat disappointed that Eskimo did not come out with an electric auger with their quantum blades. I’m not a fan of the laser shaver blades from Strikemaster which can dull easy in dirty ice ,

I'm a little disappointed they haven't added a centering point on their 6in. Pistol bit yet. I have a 6in. Fin-bore hand auger   I plan on using for "scouting" holes this year that I haven't used with the hammer drill yet. I have the  E-Z auger quick connect on that and the 8in. Pistol bit I have. I'm going to use the 6in. auger to map with my Helix 7 and for dropping the ducer in between the 2 -8in. holes I fish out of and switch to the pistol for the fishing holes. I like the looks of the new 850XD hubs Eskimo has come out with this year and I might just try and get my hands on one whenever I can save up a little extra cash.

[hardwater diehard]

I'm a little disappointed they haven't added a centering point on their 6in. Pistol bit yet. I have a 6in. Fin-bore hand auger   I plan on using for "scouting" holes this year that I haven't used with the hammer drill yet that . I have the  E-Z auger quick connect on that and the 8in. Pistol bit I have. I'm going to use the 6in. auger to map with my Helix 7 and for dropping the ducer in between the 2 -8in. holes I fish out of and switch to the pistol for the fishing holes. I like the looks of the new 850XD hubs Eskimo has come out with this year and I might just try and get my hands on one whenever I can save up a little extra cash.

https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Diameter-Adapter-Fishing-Burrowing/dp/B09B9DJ1YR/ref=sr_1_14_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=ice+auger&qid=1630628690&sr=8-14-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFaMVpRTEFPWDVYTUgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAzMzk2NTMyR1pZS09DN0tCUjRXJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3MTIzMDcxMFhNSks5VExIVU1XJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==