My maiden voyage with my new pop up hub style ice shelter..... "I LOVE IT"!!! Ummm sorry, I thought I was doing one of those HGTV "House Hunter" reality shows. BUT WAIT, how about BTDT's "Ice Shanty Hunter" reality show???
Well perhaps I should get back to reality and just say, I do like the hub style pop up. Mine is the 3 man and there is plenty of room inside for gear and two people to fish comfortably. Not sure that would hold up with three people fishing even without the gear. As for setting up/tearing down and storing the unit back in the bag, I had no problem. Even the ice anchors were screwed into the ice with little difficulty, without the use of a drill motor and adapter. I'm sure most all brands of ice shanty's could be set-up ect, using the same trick I learned, including transporting the equip. to and from the sight. It's a very simple process known as "take a buddy fishing"..... priceless.
OK back to the review but if you think I get bad on the forum, ya oughta try a day in a ice hut with me!!!
I found having two doors to be a plus, letting either angler enter/exit without stepping on each others fishing rods or being run over as one angler sees the flag on his tip-up. Doors are sizable for ease of entrance/exit and have 'hook & loop' (Velcro is a patented name) tabs to keep the door flaps open. Exxxxcept, my brand of shack installed the tabs midway on the doors which, in wind, allows half of the door to "flap in the breeze" and believe it not, is more annoying than me.
My model is not insulated but that did not seem to be a major factor in keeping toasty. However it was a beautiful brite and sunny day and you could feel the heat radiating through the wall, keeping it warm enough to allow the door flaps to remain full open (and flapping) in a fairly brisk and cold wind.
Even with the door flaps closed there is plenty of light coming through the 4 sizable windows or if one prefers, the windows can be closed using the flaps fitted with 'hook & loop' straps. Keeping it dark inside, will come in handy when I'll need to catch a nap after dragging all this stuff, then setting it up on the ice by myself, because my friends quit going ice fishing with me.
Plenty of head room to stand up and stretch, don/doff additional clothing and even for some to do 'running in place' while trying to get a hook out of their finger.
Weight wise I found transporting the shack (when folded in the carrying bag) using the shoulder straps to be relatively easy as the unit weighs less than 18 pounds. Keeping in mind that my shelter is non-insulated and I am parked within 10 feet of the ice over fish-able water or, have a buddy along for his first time.
Moving the unit to another location on the same ice is no problem as long as you keep hold of a leash attached to your hut and you plan to move with the direction of the wind. While that works, exercise caution on the distance you travel, it does suck waiting for the wind direction to change so ya can get back to the car.
Finally, I would recommend the purchase of this shelter to anyone that would be interested in going this route. However, that being said ect, ect. it's not necessarily the mfg but, the style and operation of the shanty's I am impressed with. Personally, my next shanty will be by any mfg that makes the stupid bag, big enough to repack the thing.
With that, I would also echo the recommendations by others on this subject.... practice, practice, practice 'BEFORE' hitting the ice and, it might not hurt to read the instructions, first!
Stayed tuned, I gotta a duzy of a review on my home made stupid Lag screw anchors and how not to buy a drill adapter for ice anchors.
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