Fly the Team Iceshanty Flag! Iceshanty Proshop
I never trust reviews period. Most the responses to a product is from someone involved with building it or has a tie to it somewhere. I normally wait a year or two and go from there and buy it normally by then the "want it" wears off and you see you really didn't need it so bad in the first place. Fishing has become a world of gimmicks trying to seduce someone into thinking they really really wont catch a fish unless they use product X that guarantees to put fish in your freezer. The only really proven gimmick like that is TNT and a 10 second fuse.
I wrote a review for a product that I purchased at Cabela's ONCE. The product was good if you were lucky enough to get the right size. I measured and ordered per direction and there was no way the product would fit! My review was negative in this aspect but by no means scathing and wouldn't you know they didn't put it in their reviews. A few years later I ran into someone who purchased the same product and had the same problem! When looking at reviews (which I do) I always look for independent reviews not from the manufacturer or retailer.
Hey bud! I am totally new to this forum and ice fishing BUT..... what I can say with internet savvy is that ice fishing forums have been the most one-way/sponsored answers I have ever seen! BY FAR. I have browsed the web a LOT for reviews of ANYTHING I purchase, cars etc. and I have never seen such biased/sponsored reviews as when it comes to ice fishing. (Particularly ice flashers) I really am going with a grain of salt attitude on fishing products because of this. I am treating all fishing forums as such. I have just never seen an internet community so biased towards their sponsors like this and it almost seems as the answers are "cut and pasted" from their sponsors.... really. Just my take on it from one internet info surfer. Good Luck Deciphering!