Need to cut weight of gear if I want to keep ice

As I age and adjust to cancer I need to cut weight of my sled / pop up / chair / rod holders etc.
To start with, what “1 man” pop ups or pull over houses should I be considering? I don’t need heavy “thermal” sides. If I do with a pull over Clam type, I must be able to remove some parts e.g. chair, so I can reduce weight enough to get in and out of car. I am hoping someone “out there” has dealt with this type of downsizing where downsize weight but not quality.

I have an older Frabill two person flip over. The chairs came with it are comfortable, molded plastic, but very heavy. I leave those at home and just sit on a bucket. I do however comma miss the backrest. I also bought a 4 wheeler. That will make my world bigger and easier.

I have issues myself….bought a Shappell X100…@ 37lbs I can load it easy…It has a bench seat that I just put a stadium seat on….

Dump the fish house. Get some better gear to wear. All those non portable so call portables do is slow a person down. 5 gallon bucket and sling a auger over your shoulder.

Mudshark wrote:

I have issues myself….bought a Shappell X100…@ 37lbs I can load it easy.

I’d agree the Shappell is the one for you. It will cut the wind on a cold day and its super light. I like my Otters for warmth and comfort but they are not light. I have a snowmobike to pull it and wouldn’t consider a different house. But if you’re pulling it by hand and need easy loading I think you’ll be happy with the Shappell.

What clothing do you wear? I bought a striker ice suit. Other than my hands, a shanty is not needed. I keep the shake up hand warmers, and some heavy mitts for when they get cold. I have a polar fleece ski mask and a bomber hat that takes care of the ears and face. I put together a military Alice pack frame with a 60Liter blue barrel like they use in the boundary waters. My Lx7 fits in the bottom with some tackle, I stuff my coat on top when I walk out so I don’t get too hot. Two hands are open for spud and auger or lantern and auger after ice gets “safe”… My seat is on my back. If I run tip ups, I have the smallest jet sled that carries the bait and the traps. High speed low drag, no shanty.

I fish with a couple guys that have heart conditions. It is really a life changing situation that needs to be taken very serious. In both cases these guys have “re-structured” their methods.
I’ve always been prepared like the boyscout, having anything with that I might need. These guys have total different mind sets. They go prepared for 1 thing. If they are panfishing, two rods, very minimal tackle, down sized to a 4amp/h battery in their flasher, hand warmers ILO of a heater, and a gator to help keep their breathing warm. If we change species and they need other equipment, they do without.

As mentioned above, the most significant change was their clothing. They invested in ice suits. I don’t recall which brands, but they lightened up their load a lot by how they dress. By getting the best clothing they could, they are much lighter in their travels walking to/from locations. It also eliminated the need for insulated flip overs. Most of the time, its just a matter of having something to block the wind and not needing to be completely enclosed.

Another thing they did was go to a battery drill auger. Eliminated the weight of a gas engine and have 2 batteries in their pocket and a drill in their sled.

Best of luck in your journey, and hope things turn for the best

Google “Smitty sled”, and then make one. Find one that can be taken apart for your vehicle if need be. Wax the bottom, makes a world of difference for weight. Can pull my one man setup with my pinky.

$15 in used skis and 2x4s alot cheaper than $300-500 ice suits.

Smitty sleds are great, but until you’ve worn a striker suit you will never understand. They cost $300 for a reason. I didn’t want to spend the $$$$ either but I will never go back. These suits are the best innovation that ice fishing has seen in 10 years. I literally went from a few hours here and there without a shanty to all day. Put your back to the wind and like others suggested wear a gator, scarf to dust mask to preheat the air if you have respiratory issues. Final option is to make friends with some younger guys and fish in a group. I take some older guys when ever possible. There is a lot to learn and I never mind pulling some extra weight for them.

Fleece neckwarmer-even if your suit zips up.

As I age (just turned 61), I decided to lighten my load by taking the canvas and poles off my Otter sled (sold em) and got an Eskimo 3 man pop-up that I can haul around in the sled. I usually travel by snowmobile until the ice is good for my pick-up. I opted for the thermal version pop-up which indeed adds weight. But the otter sled by itself is much easier for me to handle and the pop-up by itself is pretty managable, too.

I also dropped about 25 lbs of excess weight by selling the old 10″ Eskimo gas auger and replacing with an 8″ k-drill combo.

On some lakes in our neck of the woods, you have to walk out (no motorized vehicles), and for those I use a kid’s sled.

I really need to get out of my 30-year old Columbia Quad jacket as it weighs a ton, particularly when I load up the pockets. I should look into a Striker or similar …

Guy will have to have a sled either way for flasher, auger, poles, bait, etc. In comes the Smitty to solve that problem.

Assuming the OP isn’t gonna be running and gunning all day, ice suits are nice, but expensive and still leaves the hands/fingers exposed which when dealing with high/low blood pressure(usually medications) can be bothersome.

I would think clothing/outerwear sufficient enough to get you out and setup is the way to go. Since the most taxing part on an ice trip it seems to me is the long walk out. Once you’re all setup then it’s relax time that we all go out for, and those can have their fancy suits all they want and sit outside, enjoy yourselves, I’d rather be in a nice warm shack if in OPs position. I rest my case….

FWIW, I also have a nice fancy suit

I use an old clam suitcase house. Built a smitty to fit it. Auger and other equipment sits on top. Pulls very easy. To keep warm, I use a 2 mantel propane lantern. Gives me 2 holes and blocks the wind.

Have a clam 2000 from about 13 years ago very light has two holes. Suit case style put the stuff on top and have a longer rope to put equipment in a sled and pull both ropes with one hand

One other thing would be finding spots that don’t involve walking far bait shops should have reccomendations. Have fished spots in the past that were very short walks

Even a lightly loaded Otter Cottage can be a heavy pull.I used to use a long rope,and a short rope tied on for a harness.I have always ditched the seats that came with flipovers,and used my milk crate box to store stuff and sit on.Just need a boat cushion.

But as others said,make a Smitty sled.Even a loaded Otter lodge becomes an easy pull.Lots of plans/examples online.

The guy that came up with this idea needs many

A lot of good suggestions to select from for what will work best for you.

Something else to maybe look at is the vehicle you haul your gear in. A small crossover, etc. with wide doors/hatch and a lower lift height could make things easier to load.

One other thing. Don’t hesitate to ask someone to load your gear. You’ve probably helped other sportsmen over the years so if someone is nearby just ask.

nhamm wrote:

Guy will have to have a sled either way for flasher, auger, poles, bait, etc. In comes the Smitty to solve that problem.

Assuming the OP isn’t gonna be running and gunning all day, ice suits are nice, but expensive and still leaves the hands/fingers exposed which when dealing with high/low blood pressure(usually medications) can be bothersome.

I would think clothing/outerwear sufficient enough to get you out and setup is the way to go. Since the most taxing part on an ice trip it seems to me is the long walk out. Once you’re all setup then it’s relax time that we all go out for, and those can have their fancy suits all they want and sit outside, enjoy yourselves, I’d rather be in a nice warm shack if in OPs position. I rest my case….

FWIW, I also have a nice fancy suit

Nick, Is this it?

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That’s way too eccentric for my taste. Like to keep it on the more modest side of things.

For those that have built or pulled smitty sleds, would narrower cross country skis work better or a wider ski? I’m so building one after this year!

consider water skis they will get up on top of any snow.

Warm clothing is one thing but when it’s severely cold like now the problem with fishing outside is gear freezing and your hands if the fish are actually biting good.

Many guys including myself find downhill skis, a bit wider than cross country. Have worked well thus far, but last couple years hasn’t been much snow early ice.

suzuki wrote:

Warm clothing is one thing but when it’s severely cold like now the problem with fishing outside is gear freezing and your hands if the fish are actually biting good.

Exactly. It’s -9° out right now with -27° wind chill. You guys saying just get a good suit and pass on the shack are crazy. You won’t even be able to reel in a fish if you get a bite because of the giant blob of ice on your line.

The biggest difference I’ve found was not in actual weight reduction, but sled dragging. I bought actual crampons and used a sled dragging harness, well used to be my deer dragging harness. I used to use the screw in cleats by HT. With the Grivel G10 I basically improved my efficiency by 2 times. I am trying out a new set, Hillsound Trail Crampons Pro and they worked really well too.
M
I still bring out the big buddy heater with my 11# pancake tank. I suppose the regular buddy heater would have gotten the job done but years ago that was $10 difference.

eyeguy507 wrote:

For those that have built or pulled smitty sleds, would narrower cross country skis work better or a wider ski? I’m so building one after this year!

Use the downhill skis like nhamm and the guy who patented them recommends……Wider is better but using waterskis is not only heavy but overkill IMO

I don’t have a striker suit, but have been using a Frabill icesuit that’s probably 5-6 years old. I have a one man Frabill Commando that I like to use basically for the sled. I fished in -8 air temps (-25 wind chill) Tuesday for 8 hrs without going into the shelter once. The ice on my line is the biggest issue, but it really doesn’t collect all that bad on pline fluoroice. But I’m very mobile when I fish. Give each hole 5 minutes tops. No fish, I’m moving on. So by constantly moving, I’m staying a little warmer and generally, catching a few more fish.

I went to my local thrift store and bought 4 skies for 8.50. Just take stuff off them and cut and build as needed. With 4 skies to spread weight, downhill or xcountry makes no diff.

Not to hijack the thread but how long of skis do you get for building a Smitty sled?

mxskeeter wrote:

Not to hijack the thread but how long of skis do you get for building a Smitty sled?

I’d say as long as you have room for. Mine got cut down to around 48″ to fit in suv and works well.