The other day I told my roomate we use a Marcum flasher and he gave me a funny look and asked me why we didnt buy a vex. I tried to tell him that they are just as solid as any other flasher but he still didnt believe me. He always thinks you have to spend more to get quality equipment, which I think is silly. I was hoping if I can get enough support from you guys im sure I can make him think twice before questioning what I buy.
Thanks!
Lardy
I will never buy anything but Marcum. The Marcum VS 560 is the best underwater camera that money can buy right now, and the LX-3 and LX-5 are just as effective as the ones those other guys make… You made the right choice 
Good lord, he been living in a cave? 
In all honesty, Marcum not only caught up with Vex but also surpassed vex last season with the LX-3tc and the LX-5. It will be interesting to see where the competition between these two companies takes the ice flasher over the next few years.
what I was told: It was two guys that invented the vexilar line(flashers and cameras). They had an outing as it happens in any business. Their was a period that one of the partners could not bring out a product within so many years(not sure of the agreement). That one partner worked on the marcum line in that period of time and perfected it. Now it is out their for us to use. I believe the marcum line has the best products and knowledge in this area, and that is what I use. I would like to see some documentation or support of what I have heard about the company. Maybe if Scott Steil sees this thread he will enlighten us more on the marcum ways. Just what I have heard, let me know otherwise.
I don’t have any facts or figures. But from personal experiance I can say Vex has OUTSTANDING customer service on repairs. I can’t speak about MarCum’s because I haven’t needed it.
Wait until ice…then go fishing with him. Let him see for himself…that MarCum has the edge. Why should your friend take numbers or my word for it when he can see for himself??
There aren’t too many products on the market today that will go side by side with a competitor and win out by a land slide! Shed some light into his cave.
I agree Brian. Ive used vexilars too and I like them. I think they are very comparable. Ill definitely have to show him this winter what they can do.
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what I was told: It was two guys that invented the vexilar line(flashers and cameras). They had an outing as it happens in any business. Their was a period that one of the partners could not bring out a product within so many years(not sure of the agreement). That one partner worked on the marcum line in that period of time and perfected it. Now it is out their for us to use. I believe the marcum line has the best products and knowledge in this area, and that is what I use. I would like to see some documentation or support of what I have heard about the company. Maybe if Scott Steil sees this thread he will enlighten us more on the marcum ways. Just what I have heard, let me know otherwise.
False, MarCum’s prducts are based from military engineer sonar specialists. They still are today, and continue to offer features setting them ahead of the competition.
For those who are in the market for a new flasher, I would strongly encourage you to see what MarCum’s lineup has to offer in comparison to the others. When the ice gets laid down, I’d be more than happy to show anyone the comparison.
I have been using MarCum flashers for the last 6 years. All flashers work, some just work better. I believe the LX-5 is still hands down the best flasher on the Market. Yes it is $479, but for the features you get it is worth every penny. The built in Dual Beam transuder is a great feature, and the fact that it is switchable on the key bad is great. For those that demand performance the Super Fine Line display is amazing. As with all units you get MarCum’s patented Interference Rejection sysytem (IR) so you can not only tune out competitors units, but other MarCum units around you.
The LX-3 still has many features of the LX-5 including the TC or True Color Technology. You are just missing the Dual Beam Ducer and the SFL display. Both units include an adjustable zoom so you can zoom anywhere in the water column.
This year MarCum has released the VX-1 flasher. This flasher is still a 3-color flasher. It gives you a bottom zoom and MarCum’s patented Interference Rejection. This unit is priced so that everyone can own a flasher.
No matter what unit you are buying, you can feel confident in buying from MarCum. I have put thousands of hours on MarCum units over the years. Their units are reliable and should you ever have a problem their customer service is excellent and will take care of any problem you may have
That about sums it up. I had a vex a few years ago then found a deal on a LX-3 added the TC and LOVE IT… I recently ordered through the VIP Marcum program the best camera (VS560) IMHO there is on the market. I sent in the order form to Anoka on Monday afternoon (from Edina). The camera was here at work (Edina) on Wednesday AM… Now that is customer service. I would have been happy with a week turnaround, they were UNDER 48 hours… I know they have a customer for life here!!!
COME ON ICE!!!!
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I have been using MarCum flashers for the last 6 years. All flashers work, some just work better. I believe the LX-5 is still hands down the best flasher on the Market. Yes it is $479, but for the features you get it is worth every penny. The built in Dual Beam transuder is a great feature, and the fact that it is switchable on the key bad is great. For those that demand performance the Super Fine Line display is amazing. As with all units you get MarCum’s patented Interference Rejection sysytem (IR) so you can not only tune out competitors units, but other MarCum units around you.
The LX-3 still has many features of the LX-5 including the TC or True Color Technology. You are just missing the Dual Beam Ducer and the SFL display. Both units include an adjustable zoom so you can zoom anywhere in the water column.
This year MarCum has released the VX-1 flasher. This flasher is still a 3-color flasher. It gives you a bottom zoom and MarCum’s patented Interference Rejection. This unit is priced so that everyone can own a flasher.
No matter what unit you are buying, you can feel confident in buying from MarCum. I have put thousands of hours on MarCum units over the years. Their units are reliable and should you ever have a problem their customer service is excellent and will take care of any problem you may have
straight from the marcum website:
It’s all about the engineers.
Our engineers are military trained in sonar expertise. These engineers are fishermen too. By combining superior training with 20 years of experience and the love of the game MarCum has the ability to develop serious angling tools. Formed in 1991 our engineers are part of the ownership group.
Based in Anoka, Minnesota MarCum Technologies holds numerous patents in sonar design. We’ve also developed the original Polar Vision in 1995 and have had a hand in Outdoor Viewing Systems, and Mammoth Outdoor Products. MarCum is a growing and evolving company working hard to design and market the best available outdoor products. Our products are customer driven. From battery chargers and monitors to fishing sonar and underwater viewing systems MarCum is always developing products to make your outdoor experiences more successful and fun!
Our entire product line including the LX-5, LX-3tc, LX-2, LX-1 and LX-i sonars and our underwater cameras the VS 560 and VS 460 are designed, manufactured and tested right here in the USA. The new LX-5 brings together our experience, workmanship and design functionality to allow the fisherman to choose a new versatile tool to catch more fish and have more fun. At MarCum, our engineers are avid outdoorsmen and when they’re not fishing they’re in the lab designing new products to make your outdoor experience more enjoyable and more successful.
Ok I am not sponsored by Vex or Marcum and these are my thoughts on the units.
I used to swear by the Vex 18, a great unit that performs well although…one day I was fishing next to a guy that was using the Marcum LX-3 and he was setting the hook on soft biter walleyes by watching the screen, my Vex wouldn’t seperate the targets well enough for a “no feel” hookset.
Straight to Reeds I went and bought a LX-3, and yes it had a bunch of problems as did most of the first round LX-3s; bad transducer, noisy brushes, short battery life etc etc. Well to my surprise I sent the LX-3 to Marcum and a week later it was taken care and sitting on my porch when I got home. I now swear by it and I am also very impressed with the LX-5. I have several fishing buddies that use the LX-5 proudly. Granted the Vex was the standard for many years but the times have changed and I think Marcum has cleary taken the lead in both the flasher and camera markets.
Only thing I do not like about the LX-3 is when next to other makes it does appear to pick up noise that won’t filter out, now the LX-5 appears to be free of this problem.
Lardy, you are in Vex country. That’s what Tony Dean promotes and most anyone has ever used. I’ve never used the Marcum product, but I know from experience, competition in business is good. Everyone becomes better and we the consumer are the biggest winners of the game.
Both are quality products. Marcum happens to be a sponsor here so they have the edge. I’d try one except my Fl-18 Vex is only 6 months old and will probably last forever.
I have used both over the years. What I would do is head out to a Gander Mtn or Cabelas store that will allow you to see them side by side. Push some buttons and see which brand fit’s your needs………”kick the tires b4 you buy!!!
My ice fishing partner Barret has FL-18, I have a LX-3. He likes mine better because it is quieter than his. His FL-18 has the dual beam, that feature is great if you fish around cribs and other structure, but he had to buy that transducer seperate. I just bought an LX-5 from Scott Steil, if Barret was to upgrade his unit that is what he would buy. That’s my testimonial….not a real good one- just a couple of guys who use two different units side by side, he is fine with his unit though. Even if you look at them side by side in a store the only way to really check them out is side by side on the ice. For my money Marcum makes the best flasher with the most features…
Ok.. The
Marcum….is simply a better product. It’s a tool designed to perform and it sure does! I own the lx3, w/out the upgrade and love it! Vexilar does not offer most of the features that marcum does. To me, the case doesn’t really matter, but i sure do like the marcum soft cases that they come in. The pockets on the side are handy for pliers, bait tins, terminal tackle and pretty much anything you can imagine besides the auger and the ice shanty Another thing that everyone talks about is noise. Vexilars are extremely noisy! When i first used a vex, i didn’t think it was that bad, as far as noise. But After a ton of research here on the site and elsewhere, i decided to buy a marcum and now, when I go fishing with my friend, the owner of the vex, i feel the need to tell him to shut it off! because i can hear it from 20 feet away!
Another thing to talk about…When you mark a fish on your marcum, it is very clear and distinguished. It is more crisp then what you will see on a vexilar and easier to read. I could go on and on. The interference rejection is great. I watch my friend with the vex constantly reaching down and toying with his unit to try and get it to stop recieving the interference from my unit. I simply shut his out with the IR button and catch slab after slab while he barely has time to get his line in the water!
One last thing i really dislike about the vexilars is simply the transducer. I hate the float thing which always gets in the way and can be hard to adjust or stow. Marcums have an arm with a stopper which makes it really simple to adjust the depth of the transducer and there is a little slot which fits the transducer perfectly inside the case.
But I agree with BrianK, take him out and prove to him that they are the better unit. And don’t forget to sit right next to him so you can show off your IR!
Cade, have you seen the FL-20 yet?
Where do they sell Marcum underwater cameras now? I know Cabelas stopped carrying them and Gander does not have a consistent stock.
Here’s a recent post about what they’re carrying from Marcum >>> Marcum Products In-Stock
I have never used a Marcum, probably never will. I’m just a Vexilar man I guess. I have nothing against Marcums… infact there are a few things I like about them. The soft cases being one! The one thing I DON’T LIKE is the transducer and how it is held with the swing arm? I love my float. I would hate always putting my unit right next to the hole to run the transducer down. I like having my Vex at eye level on a bucket in the corner of my house. This is one thing I definetly like about the Vex over the Marcum. (JMO)
I demo’d an LX-5 for a couple of vex guys yesterday and they were thoroughly impressed with the Super Fine Line feature and the super sharp display… They couldn’t believe how quiet it was compared to there vexes. Another feature they liked was the zoom hole hopping lock in on the MarCum and they mentioned they were tired of recalibrating there vexes to stay in zoom mode each time they changed holes. They thought the softpack was the best softpack design they had seen and they loved the DCS Charging system. When I told them they were made in the U.S.A. they couldn’t believe it.
On my FL-8 and FL-18 I didn’t like the float and took it off because when I hole hop the wind can play havoc with the float outside the shelter. I was introduced to the swing arm by the colorpoint flasher and stuck with it. I think having the flasher screen in sight line of your rod tip is the way I go. Instantaneous transfer from flasher to rod tip is achieved quickly with that set-up.
CatManLee, try going without that float for a week, you will never go back to using it again. MarCum units have enough power you don’t need your transudcer floating in the middle of your hole. People lose a lot of fish because of that float. If your transducer is touching the ice in your hole, just inside the bottom of the hole, your line rarely, if ever gets snagged on it and you don’t have to pull your transudcer out of the hole each time you get a nice fish.
Give it a try, you may be suprised
Scott I have not used a marcum very often I have a FL-18 and my brother has a LX-3 and I have a spare LX-1 for my wife. Do the new Marcums still have a shorter cord then the FL-18? I too have sometimes put my vex on a bucket and still could get the transducer down in 2 1/2 feet of ice but my brother had a hard time just getting it down the hole with just the ice and snow.
Does that affect the performance of the Marcum or does it just matter that the transducer is level in the hole?
All MarCum’s now come with a longer cord for use in a hard house or lakes like LOTW’s when they have 2 feet of snow and 4 feet of ice
You get two more feet with the new units, I believe that changed in 2005.
An LX-5 might be on the wish list now. 
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An LX-5 might be on the wish list now.
That would be a great investment Once you get used to having all the features the LX-5 offers it is hard to fish without them. Kind of like the first time you used a flasher, hard to fish without one.
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An LX-5 might be on the wish list now.
That would be a great investment
That’s the truth! I fished “blind” for years without a flasher. Then I got an LX-5 and it changed my ‘view’ of icefishing incredibly.
More times than not, without the flasher I’d fish a hole for way too long. Now, with the flasher, if there isn’t a fish down there within 5min. I’m moving on. They really make a person a more efficient angler through the ice.
Now combine that with a camera, and it is just simply not fair! 
When you combine the two, you really learn a lot. Similar to sight fishing. I learned a lot about how fish react when I used to sight fish all the time. I use what I learned sight fishing and now using a camera, to help me understand what is going on my flasher. Today’s technology is great. If it could just make them bite all the time 
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