Obviously they took a LOT of inspiration from Firehouse, but this is different enough it's not a copy. My initial impressions are I'm glad someone else is trying this style tip up. There's nothing wrong with the old H styles, but once you try these folders its really hard to use anything else. Especially when you live somewhere you can use 4+ lines like I can, I like to haul out 6 tip ups. You cut both the weight and the bulk in half verses a standard H tip up, plus no rigging ever gets tangled.
The two key differences I see in the Vexan verses the Firehouse are the flag and the line guide. The Vexan uses an old style wire guide, while the Firehouse uses a plastic one. Normally metal is superior to plastic, but I'm not sure this is the case here. A common problem with wire guides is they rotate on the shaft and a bait will over time unspool line. A simple cure I used to use was to put a wrap of electrical tape on the shaft and screw the metal guide over that, which works fine. I've had zero issues with the Firehouse style guide though, and they work right out of the box. Mostly I think it's a non-issue. The other difference is the flag. I don't recall what the newer Firehouse tip up flags are like, mine are all the older removable style ones. They are solid rods that push into themselves which I think is a cool design idea. The Vexan uses a swing out flag like the newer Firehouses, which is fine. The odd thing to me is they use an extending flag, but they only extend like 3". Why even bother? One of my few critiques of the Firehouse and most tip ups honestly is the short flag, but if you are going to use a telescoping flag, use a telescoping flag. I don't see why 2'+ long flags are so uncommon. That's one of the few reasons I keep my wood Frabill bigfoots around is their 3' long flag can be seen later in the season if we get snow. It definitely came in handy last winter. I ended up using some coathanger rods to attach to some tip ups so they could be used which worked well. It would be great to have a telescoping flag to begin with though.
The only other critique I have is the spool looks kind of small. To be honest the Firehouse could be bigger too. It isn't so much the capacity as it is the ability to use thicker line. I use 50# myself for the thicker line, but still offers some acceptable capacity on most tip ups. I would try 80# if I could get at least 50 yards onto a spool. It's rare, but sometimes fish do go 50 yards. It's only happened once, but thankfully on my biggest spool tip up I had one take about 75 yards once. This is even more of an issue if you are someone who likes the coated lines which are even thicker yet. I'm not a fan of that big handle at all, but that's just me. I am glad to see they are made in USA. I may buy one to try it.
