Favorite portable Ice house

Hey guys, I am gonna be in the market for a new portable this year and was looking for some feedback! I currently have a Fish Trap Guide, I like it, it has held up well for the past four years. However, the poles are starting to bend(which is understandable as I use it a lot) the canvas has held up well too. But I am looking to go insulated and preferably something I can stand up in to occasionally stretch my legs out without leaving the house. I fish by myself and have a partner about 50/50. I do pull my house by hand when I can’t get my truck on the ice, so I am considering weight, however it is not a deal breaker as I will get it to where it needs to be one way or another. . I am just looking for opinions on framing, seating, overall durability. I first owned a Eskimo Lodge, which was great, roomy, nice sled, but a minor pain as it was rather bulky for solo trips. The FT Guide has been good, I am just ready to upgrade and would like a bit more room as I said. I have looked at Frabill (don’t know about the seat supports, seems not quite as solid as other models maybe I’m wrong), however I like the sidestep idea. The Eskimo Flip Mo looks solid. The otters look nice, clams do too, they all look nice to me, that’s the problem. Any input from personal experience would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to scrape up about $800 as a budget. Thoughts?

Shopping for a new Portable is like shopping for a new car.
When my friend and I went to go buy his new house we went to Gander, Cabela’s, and Fleet Farm. Most places are all about the same price. The only thing is one place may have a model the others don’t. We literally sat in every model that was up. Grab a few buckets and rods and simulated fishing. The key thing we wanted was to be able to stand in the house. Being able to stand comfortably helps a lot when sitting for long periods. I think Otters allow you to do that.
I suggest waiting about a week and checking them out at the St. Paul show, you’ll probably find a every make and model you can think of. You have to also think about what kind of equipment you have and what you plan on getting. and would you prefer a deep sled or a wider sled. so many choices. Right now Frabill has the models that have side doors, which is really nice compared to the traditional front door.

i have had lots of portable ice houses though my 40 years of ice fishing. some of them were just tents on ice. there is only one ice house i would buy and that is an otter. I have otter cabin it is lite enough for one but you can fish to out of it if you want. I will admit there are a bit heavy. with quality come weight, it seem the heavy something is the longer it last IMHO

This is one of those loaded questions where the answer will rarely be the same for two different fishermen… I’ve owned a few brands and fished out of most of the others with friends and IMO the biggest difference between the brands is not the fishability but rather the quality of the construction. Have some fun and sit in as many different models as you can find but at the end of the day if you take a very close look at each of components that make up a portable (sled, frame, canvase, seats, hitch mechanism) I’m almost positive that the decision will make itself and you’ll be going home with an Otter.

Will

or a CLAM.

Rob92761 wrote:

I will admit there are a bit heavy. with quality come weight, it seem the heavy something is the longer it last IMHO

Totally a myth… Yes, Otter sled itself does weigh more because it is built to last with thicker plastic, but they make up for it in other areas such as not cutting corners on things such as steel seat mounts/brackets versus aluminum/molded plastic seat mounting system.

I just have an old 2 person fish trap! I need to upgrade but it sure works good for 1 person! And its really lite! It works perfectly for fishing just me in it and stays pretty warm! I’ve been looking to upgrade as well but that might be next year.

I have had the Otter Pro xt900 cabin for a couple of years. It is without a doubt the best purchase I have ever made. I have spent a couple of -30 nights in it and the house preformed flawlessly. I was never cold even just using the regular Buddy heater.

Everyone has their own ideas and of course budget. If you can justify a higher end house, Otter is definitely worth a peek.

WS

This is a loaded question like Will said in the end it’s up to you on what fits your needs and budget. I was in a similar situation last winter. Looking for a new house with a budget. Sat in them all and had it narrowed down to the Otter or Eskimo. My budget was a little lower only $500 so it put me into more of a decision. That that being said I found an Eskimo Flipmo 2 inferno for $500 at H&H in Maple Lake. Fully insulated and fits my needs of everything I was looking for. Best part is I’m 6’2″ and can stand up in it. I’ll be honest and say the sled is nothing like the otter but for what money I had to spend it works for me.

big_g wrote:

or a CLAM.

Clams are too heavy

Definitely get an otter totally worth every cent!!

Here is something i posted on a different site (sorry IDO staff I cheated…) when folks were saying Otters are heavy, I tried to be as unbiased as possible in my analysis. For the benefit of anyone looking for a new, fully thermal ice house I created a chart for myself as point of reference and to help in comparing the vast number of options. See below for weights of various products as well a prices. You can see from the data that weights are pretty similar and contrary to what many believe, the Otters are not heavier and in many cases are lighter (Cabin model is 10-20% lighter than comparable Clam or Frabill). I also included Frabill in this as I feel they are solid houses and the one I would look at if I ever strayed from Otter. I hope this can be of benefit to those looking for a new house. It’s hard to draw a totally direct comparison, but I view it this way:

Otter Cottage/X1 Thermal/Frabill Thermal Trekker
Otter Cabin /X2 Thermal and Pro Thermal/Frabill Thermal Guardian Sidestep
Otter Lodge and Resort/Clam – no comparable houses/Frabill Thermal Predator

-Otter (Pro XT 1200 series):
–Cottage ($699): 82lbs, 16.8 sq/ft fishable area
–Cabin ($869): 103lbs, 22 sq/ft fishable area
–Lodge ($969): 124lbs, 30 sq/ft fishable area
–Resort ($1,129): 145lbs, 35 sq/ft fishable area

-Clam: (re-worked the dimensions to compare apples to apples)
–X1 Thermal ($599): 76lbs, 17 sq/ft fishable area
–X2 Thermal ($849): 110lbs, 24 sq/ft fishable area
–X2 Pro Thermal ($1,049): 150lbs, 24 sq/ft fishable area

-Frabill
–Thermal Trekker ($539): 85lbs, 20 sq/ft fishable area
–Thermal Guardian Sidestep ($749): 121lbs, 25sq/ft fishable area
–Thermal Predator (Standard $889/Sidestep-$939): 160lbs, 27 sq/ft fishable area

A thermal is very comfortable if you can deal with the weight. I went with a Nanook thermal which is great by myself. I leave the 2nd seat at home. it would be tight but doable with two though. I have a couple of planks to help get it up into the p/u box.

Tried to have a Otter X2 thermal shipped to Canada last season but no luck poor dealer network, ended up with a Eskimo Inferno FlipMo and have been happy with it. I fish a lot and plenty of -25C days and lower. 110 lbs. well built, paid around $800.00 if I remember right, plenty of dealers. Solid unit. Time to go bite’s on. Fishing out of my popup with thin ice.Pics are yesterday except thermal pic. Fish safe

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Think Otter will ever make a popup? I’m sure everyone who owns a popup has an Otter sled for the towing duties. I personally use an X2 Non thermal and it is a good shack I wish it was the otter lodge with bench though. I am currently looking for another route for fishing with my wife and kids who love to go out. Keep thinking about trying the Eskimo Fatfish 949i. I personally think Otter is top in quality/durability with the flip shacks.