Portable shack opinions?

I had a Clam 5600, sold it for a sled style shack and ended up buying a cheap shotgun “I need it and I need it now” sled style shack. Its fairly old and called a “The Voyager” . It has a nice big sled that I can fit all of my gear and then some in and plenty of room when set-up but this shack is so unconventional and extremely heavy and is an absolute bear to pull through any little bit of snow or up the smallest of hills to parking areas.

I am looking for opinions on a lightweight sled style shack. I’d like to buy the new clam that is sort of like the 5600 but is the quick flip style with a floor but it’s like playing jenga trying to get all your gear to stay atop one of these as you pull it onto or off from the ice. I need a smaller shack that will fit in the back of my S-10 style Blazer and still be able to hold my gear.

All opinions are appreciated.

Check these out…

http://www.frabill.com/store/index.php/portable-ice-shelters.htm

Last years model of the solo clam was/is a nice shack, nice wide foot print for a one man, I like this option because you can fish two holes and a Marcum with ease, with a decent size tub for gear. I am kicking myself in the behind for not picking one of these up at Scheels when they were closing them out at $179 last month

How about a team wild one man? Only 58 lbs?

Team Wild One Man

How much of a difference do the hyfax runners make in snow?

In my opinion, no difference in the snow, the hyfax is designed to protect the bottom of your sled when going over gravel, blacktop, etc…it also protects it on glare ice if there is cracks etc…

Krooked, I am in the same boat as you. I need to carry a train load of gear for tending to the ice roads and rental shacks yet I also want to have my portable with so I can scout for a couple hours every day, so a small shack was a must in the plow truck.

This year I went to the Otter Cottage, the smaller Otter one man unit and I love it. It not only fits in my truck with all the gear but I found out I can put in the back of a 1979 Cj5 Jeep! Now that’s portable as the old jeeps are barely big enough for anything let alone a portable. This thing pulls likes a dream, is light enough I can load it by myself with ease and I had it out in high winds during a balmy -12 below and was very comfortable. I also like how roomy it is inside once set up. My old blue one man I would rub the walls with my elbows and this one I can practice kung fu inside without running out of space. jjkrooked you are good sized dude and I can say you will have plenty of room to move in the Otter Cottage.

As far as towing out and hauling gear my shack has these items inside under the travel cover when I hit the ice and it pulls almost effortlessly:

Marcum Flasher

Marcum Camera

Rod bag holding five rods

Tip up tote holding three tips ups and all the pike gear

Tackle box

20lb Propane tank

MR Heater

Battery for rope lights

Camera tripod

Camera

lunch box

five gallon bucket for fish

two gallon bait container

spare gloves/pack

Coffee can full of goodies

Big skimmer

rod holders

Thermos

…and it all packs in nicely under the travel cover without having to stack items other then the rod bags and I simply set the auger carefully on top of the cover in the notch made behind the seat on top of the seat bar. It all works out great and remember I am on Red lake, some very long walks/sled pulls to fishable water and I Jonny P have no complaints. That’s Huge

Geez thats alot of stuff Johnny, sounds to me it’s like putting a puzzle together to get all that stuff to fit. but hey you gotta have it.

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Geez thats alot of stuff Johnny, sounds to me it’s like putting a puzzle together to get all that stuff to fit. but hey you gotta have it.

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Actually Jonny has a slick organizer built into the sled for his house. Everything has a home.

Myself, went with Clam Nanook. Did some mods to it. Put in Boat seats so I can use it a large one man or still as a 2 Man. Hardware for Hitches to the front and back. LED lites aross the top beam. Final touches was it install Reflectix to eliminate the condensation from the roof. Tested it out yesterday and happy to report that top of roof was bone dry!
Ran the Buddy Heater all day long and it was toasty. Would suggest for anyone with Flipovers that are not Thermal, to try out Reflectix. Bought a roll so now I can do the same to my Eskimo 1 man and 2 Man.
To all members, have a very Merry X-Mas and a safe and prosperous Hardwater Season!

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Actually Jonny has a slick organizer built into the sled for his house. Everything has a home.

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Thats pretty sweet I try to get meticulous but it never seems to be that way when I get out on the ice, the ‘ol toss and go method

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Actually Jonny has a slick organizer built into the sled for his house. Everything has a home.

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If it is that well organized and light weight, I would love for Jonny to post a pic
Good luck
cheers

Trouble I had with “toss and go” is after eighteen miles I had a bunch of “toss and buy new” equipment. I made it so everything is cradled in its own litle spot with foam padding…except my thermos, that thing is an escape artist.

When I hit the ice tommorow I will take a pic of my jigsaw puzzle.

I made the switch to an Otter this year and couldn’t be happier with it. It’s lightweight enough for one guy to carry, and it fits well into my Ford Explorer.

It’s also able to haul a ton of gear, and appears to be very durable.

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Trouble I had with “toss and go” is after eighteen miles I had a bunch of “toss and buy new” equipment. I made it so everything is cradled in its own litle spot with foam padding…except my thermos, that thing is an escape artist.

When I hit the ice tommorow I will take a pic of my jigsaw puzzle.

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Cool I’d like to see it.

Jonny P,

I would like to see a pic of your organized shack. I need some ideas for my shack.

I also second getting an otter portable shack. I have had mine for 3 years and I bet it will last another 20……if i take better care of it.

I bought the Frabill Excursion 2 years ago. It is nice and easy to set up but I should have done a little more homework. The 300 Denier is far to thin and can’t take the abuse of normal wear. There are small holes appearing everywhere. Other than that it works out fine. Hiked out on the lake with it loaded up and fished all day. My next portable will be 900 Denier (or an Ice Castle with a lazy boy)

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Trouble I had with “toss and go” is after eighteen miles I had a bunch of “toss and buy new” equipment. I made it so everything is cradled in its own litle spot with foam padding…except my thermos, that thing is an escape artist.

When I hit the ice tommorow I will take a pic of my jigsaw puzzle.

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I’d like to see this too as I’m in a similar situation. I just bought a new to me used portable and I’m thinking about building some type of dividers inside the tub to keep everything organized. Pics please!