The last two seasons have been a bust for me and my area. This year should have the ice we were hoping for. With that being said, maybe this is the year for a meet n greet camp out. post ideas if anyone has them.
that sounds like a nice rig. Im hoping to pick up one of those new polar bird 4T long models for the extra space for my cot and gear when we over night on the ice.
Im dying over here watching this. hahaha
Polar Bird has 10% their hubs until Nov 27th when you use the code THANKS10 on the website. FYI 
Vanderbilt park area seems to produce a healthy supply of walleye and perch with the occasional lake trout thrown in. A lot of people hit the saginaw river near the USS Edson for walleye and perch. The limits changed this year so dont forget to brush up on the DNR handbook. The bay and the saginaw river have different limits as well. Most guys typically use jigging raps, but many other lures have been known to do well out there. My brother and i just bought property on the bay with the prospect of waterfowl and fish. Its awesome out there!
Really? I got to see them at the Detroit (Novi) show last year and had a blast watching people try to break their poles. The booth seemed nice and was full of people too. 
maybe they will change their minds…
Check out the Expedition Outdoors Sikre suit if your interested in an awesome suit!
BTW everyone, i was on another forum and saw that Polar Bird is offering 10% off all of their ice shelters if you use the code “THANKS10” when you place your order. looked like it was good until November 27th. I used a similar offer last season when i ordered mine.
I put my 4T to hard use last season ranging from fishing in the rain to camping on the ice for a weekend. The lighter fabric acts as a green house allowing light in which then gets trapped by the insulation making it nice and toasty. The floor is by far my favorite part though. No more having to anchor the shelter down unless its super windy. The floor anchors the hub to the ice pretty good when you have some equipment in it. I couldn’t believe how much warmer the the shelter is with the floor installed too. Polar Bird definitely has my vote! A few guys in our group are switching over from various other style shelters and manufacturers. Our group will look like a Polar Bird commercial on the ice this year. lol
I was told the lighter fabric for solar passive heating and better visibility within the shelter. The colors are not too bad when you get used them and they are very sharp out on the ice. I like that they avoided the normal cookie cutter look and focus on practicality. These things are super warm and durable.
Awesome! Thank you for sharing man.
Evan, dont you have another video pulling it across the ice with weight on it?
What model Polar Bird do you guys use?
The floor is my favorite part of mine. I highly recommend the Polar Bird shelters. Most people who are skeptical of the features find themselves falling in love with them once they get their hands on one. I sold all three of my flip over shelters and now own 2 polar birds.
I am going to have to give this award to the 1/8oz Northland Tackle Forage Minnow Jig. When tipped with a small live emerald shiner we were able to catch everything from gills, perch, and crappie to pike and walleye. I have this lure in multiples of every color and it has proven its worth in my line of tackle. Not many other lures/jigs have offered me such versatility. Truly one of my favorites and a stand out for me this year.
Saw these in person at the novi, Michigan fishing show. If you are going pop up I’d say this is the one. I have an Eskimo fatfish and an otter pro cabin, this falls somewhere in between. We use hubs with three guys and the flip for two guys. If it was available when I bought the Eskimo, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
I concur, definitely worth a look if your in the market for a hub.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Andrew Byers wrote:</div>
I did not file the guide foot. I saw how to do that after the fact. Do you use stones or a rat tail file to do that? That is definitely the problem I had. Poor planning on my end.I definitely didn’t use any knots. Lol. I probably should’ve used proper terminology there; however, I did initially think knots were used before watching some tutorial segments on youtube. When I said “knots” I should’ve said, starting and ending the wrap. That appeared to be difficult in terms of looking intricate and complex. In reality, I found it to be not as challenging.
I really enjoyed building that rod and look forward to wrapping my ultra light noodle. I see some guys are very good and create some really beautiful works of art that match function. My first Rod is very basic and simple. I love it though! I look forward to learning more and growing.
a dremel makes quick and easy work of guide prep. If you have one, by all means, give it a try.
You can pack the threads upon approaching the guide foot to help keep things straight and neat. If you aren’t happy with how it looks, just spin the thread back off and try again!
Good idea. Thanks for the help!
BTW, do you guys name your rods at all?
Trumar, i love that rod and would name it the “Loch Ness Monster.” The coloring and action fit. lol
I am a little over 6′ tall and was wondering if I would easily be able to stand up in the house? I’m stuck between the Eskimo quickfish 3i for $199 or the Polar Bird 2T.
You may have to hunch a little in the 2T and 3T, but the 4T shouldn’t be a problem. I am 6’1″ and i can stand up in the middle of the 4T. I own both the 3T and 4T and love them both. I think you would be happy with any of them honestly. They don’t make the shelters too tall because they were going for efficiency for insulation and reduced wind affect from what i understand. I know a lot of the other brands put lots of colors and “features” to lure us in, but i like that Polar Bird sticks to function over all else and doesn’t get caught up in the “look at me” marketing. Seems like they really did their research and cut out all the crap nobody needs or that would eventually fail.
the one issue ive found with the polar bird so far is it doesn’t prevent your drunk cousin from falling down a hole. It happened about 10 minutes after I told him he was cut off and his reply was “no I am not”. LOL well I guess going B**** deep into an ice hole ended that discussion.
On a side note, when he fell he crabbed onto the side of the house and the poles and they held up quite well! strong materials. lol
LMAO, that is awesome! and a true testament to the durability of the poles. I saw video of guys trying to break the poles to win a free shelter. It was cool to watch the disbelief on their faces when they bent the poles to the point where the tips were touching. Drunk friend really know how to find the weak points in any product… …if they have one. Cheers to Polar Bird!
What’s the procedure for drilling the holes with the floor? Looks like you
would have to scoop out all the shavings before re-installing the floor?
I lay the floor out, without the shelter erect, scribe an “X” in the center of each hole area, then i remove the floor from the ice, drill the holes, setup the shelter and install the floor. That way no sliding, folding, or anything. We basically use the floor as a template. we have tried all methods and found this to be the fastest, easiest, and least stinky. 
I’m sure their are better ways, but this works for us.
for those of you that bring your dog fishing with you the floor is a really nice feature for them. my buddy brings a dog bed out for his dog in his clam hub and that thing is a 50 pound pile of wet mess by the end of a day fishing
My three dogs sometimes join me on the ice too, and the floor is a godsend! no more dogs in the lap and wet car. They just sit on their beds by the heater and let me know when they want to go “check tip ups”. My wife likes the floor too. Truly a versatile and durable shelter.
Btw, thank you for the quick response and help guys!
I did not file the guide foot. I saw how to do that after the fact. Do you use stones or a rat tail file to do that? That is definitely the problem I had. Poor planning on my end.
I definitely didn’t use any knots. Lol. I probably should’ve used proper terminology there; however, I did initially think knots were used before watching some tutorial segments on youtube. When I said “knots” I should’ve said, starting and ending the wrap. That appeared to be difficult in terms of looking intricate and complex. In reality, I found it to be not as challenging.
I really enjoyed building that rod and look forward to wrapping my ultra light noodle. I see some guys are very good and create some really beautiful works of art that match function. My first Rod is very basic and simple. I love it though! I look forward to learning more and growing.
WOW, Great work! I hope i can get to that point. I just recently pulled the trigger and jumped into building my first ice rod. I bought an MHX 36″ medium action rod kit for lakers. Its my first go at it, so i thought this would be the easiest way to get going since i didnt know where to start out of the gates. I too had problems finding a custom rod builder who would meet my exact specifications and not break the bank. I now have the utmost respect for custom rod builders as i have faced a few of my own struggles trying to teach myself. My biggest struggle is getting the thread to ride up the beginning of the guide. I thought the knot tying and wrapping would be the hardest part, but for me, it was getting the thread to want to creep up the guide without sliding down or over the other threads. Took me some headache and frustration before i got lucky. Maybe i will post some questions on this forum when i have them. I didn’t realize many of you built your own rods on here.
After using the shelter for a few times now, I would make a couple changes. The d rings for cinching down the cover, while durable are a complete pain in the butt when wearing gloves, I will replace them with an adjustable buckle for much greater speed in opening and closing.
When using ice anchors with a drill driver, the holder grabs the corner loop and winds it up on the holder, I am going to add brass grommets to the loops to prevent this. other than these minor details I really like it.
Those are great mods! I havent had a problem with the D-rings yet, but i guess it depends on the gloves, weather, etc… The buckles would be pretty cool if they can hold the weight and cold. I may do the same. Pose some pics of your mods for us if you dont mind. I like your way of thinking.
Andrew quoted the company saying ” Also, at night a lantern or any lighting will illuminate the shelter and give it an external glow so it can be viewed from a distance to help make it more visible to traffic.
I can vouch for that. I saw one on the ice a couple of weeks ago and it lit up like a 4th of July floating lantern. No way that a snowmobiler or vehicle driver can miss seeing one of those when it’s lit up at night.
Al
Hahaha, if only the could float in the sky too! lol
We were able to make it out on the ice for about two weeks here where i live. I have been traveling north to find ice. Really wish i lived in MN sometimes. What a terrible ice season. Maybe next year we can do something and maybe more of the members will be more involved.
Gotcha. I enjoy the solitary confinement as well. Especially if the lake is empty. You really see and hear some cool things at night. I often have coyotes come close scavenging bait minnows and other things people leave on the ice.
The little port hole on the bottom is for carbon gases and extension cord and hoses i believe. But i agree 100%. These things are amazing! We have not had any issues on slipping on the floor, but we also use non-aggressive chain cleats. The light texturing sure helps. Best hub style shelter on the market IMO.
Also, my friend and i found this coupon code fore 5% off. I may have shared it elsewhere, but here it is: 5MIANDPB
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishwater wrote:</div>
Are these HUBS made in Russia by political prisoners, or made in China by child labor like the others?
the political prisoners are cheaper but the children do better work
OMG, im dying of laughter over here. But yes, i believe they are made in China like the rest of the shelters out there. But these ones certainly stand out from the rest IMO. Not just in innovation, but in quality of the material and execution of the build.
I am really considering getting one of these to add to my fleet. I watched the videos, exchanged emails with company. At this point I am a definite maybe. LOL
I would like more windows, but it does appear bright inside with only 2 anyway
The windows were a concern of mine too. But what set me at ease was a good explanation i read from the company on a seperate forum. I will post it below in quotes. Its a logical and legitimate reason if you ask me…
“As many have posted, the shelters come with (4) ice anchors and (4) tethering straps made of robust strapping material. The shelters do not require staking unless the wind is substantial. With the floor installed, you need minimal anchoring and no snow on the skirts. This helps alleviate the need to chip the shelter out of the ice on those days when your packing up in the dark. We designed these hubs to hold up to sub arctic conditions including wind and snow. They were engineered in Siberia. The shelter should be able to be set up and taken down without removing your gloves. That includes loading it into its bag.
Although the windows are small, they are effective for venting, allowing more light in, and viewing. We wanted to eliminate heat loss. Most anglers find that windows in hub-style shelters are rendered unusable after a while due to the clear poly window material becoming milky and cracking over time. We opted for smaller removable windows and more robust material to aide in the longevity of our shelters. The lighter color fabric allows for solar passive heating into the shelter rather than letting the material just absorb the heat like you will find with darker color fabrics. Also, at night a lantern or any lighting will illuminate the shelter and give it an external glow so it can be viewed from a distance to help make it more visible to traffic. Their are also small reflective strips on each hub end.”
Hope this helps. The company is extremely responsive to the community and more than willing to answer questions. I am very impressed so far. My 4T should be here any day. I was told via email from Polar Bird that if you do an honest review video lasting about 5 mins and post it to youtube and send them the link, they will mail you a $30 rebate. I thought that was pretty cool. I plan on doing that. Good luck!
Just bought property on the bay this fall. Cant wait to use it!!
id say for those interested in buying one of these buy now while the price is low
i couldnt agree more. Just ordered my 4T tonight.
