Best brand of ice fishing tent?
This year I have a bunch of time off and a daughter that isn't in school yet and likes fishing. In order to maximise her fun, and make the most this rare opportunity to spend a winter fishing with my daughter, I bought a HT brand 6 man tent at xmas. We love the tent, but in 4 trips we've broken 2 zippers, it is obviously not going to last many seasons so I've decided to return it.
So what to get instead? It doesn't need to be that big of a tent, we could surely use a 4 man... but I want something that is more durable. Any suggestions? Thanks. |
I really like my Otter pro. They're worth a look anyway.
https://www.otteroutdoors.com/produc...-ice-shelters/ |
Eskimo. Had mine for 6 years and not even a rip in it.
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My Eskimo seams good. No broken zippers or rods. But the black stuff that keeps it dark seams to be wearing off.
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One of the more interesting options when I was shopping around was a "Woods" brand tent. Anyone used one of these? I've never seen them before but the tent seemed pretty well built. In the end I figured that I'd never bought anything from HT that completely sucked... well, now I have!
I'll check out the Eskimo tents, my wife in particular was disappointed that I hadn't got one in the first place. |
Woods tents
Woods makes ice tents for one of the leading brands out there but forget which one:thinking-006:
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We have the 6-man version of this one from Costco, very durable so far, great customer service when it shipped with a cracked pole, replacement couriered out immediately.
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3rd season on our Eskimo 949i insulated. First year the poles were too long and bowed, called support and they sent me a new set that were about 1/2 inch shorter. Been perfect...nice thing with the insulated is the black doesn't peel off on the inside.
If I was buying another one, it would probably be the 6120 insulated...a little more room but a little pricey. http://www.cabelas.ca/product/69756/...-fatfish-6120i https://www.thefishinhole.com/index....P-UP/&se=28689 https://www.thefishinhole.com/index....TENT/&se=27212 Just a few links for you...good luck with your choices! |
Only complaint I have with Eskimo is the bag on my Quickfish 6i is too tight when the tent is cold. Insulated is great, but you should know that it gets stiff in really cold weather.
I have one from Costco also. An Outdoor Works Kingfisher 3. Good tent for a couple people. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
I have an Eskimo. My buddy has a Costco. I'd say both are a huge gap in quality. But I'd say Clam or Otter have the best products.
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I have a Woods Arctic 2 hub tent and it is very well made and easy to open/close. The poles are all exactly right length and zippers are good too. I am happy with it. Got it on clearance at Canadian Tire for $165, regular $299. I imagine the 4 man is even better.
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My recommendation is Eskimo, as good a quality if not better then others and if you have any problems they have great customer service and warranty. I had troubles with my first 6i(poles too long maybe and had ripped through a couple of the retaining pockets), after seeing pics they sent me a whole new tent. They even threw in a free fuel tank grommet for my auger since I needed one of them too. Good luck getting service like that from some of these other companies.
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Haha. I usually end up giving it a bear hug and having the boy work the bag down. Was going to make a couple straps with a loop on one end and Velcro on the other to cinch it down. I can get it in, just need four hands.
SS Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
I've had eskimo and otter. otter definitely has my vote hands down better quality
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[QUOTE=SamSteele;3435187]Haha. I usually end up giving it a bear hug and having the boy work the bag down. Was going to make a couple straps with a loop on one end and Velcro on the other to cinch it down. I can get it in, just need four hands.
SS This is really funny to read because I bought an Eskimo 949i this year and I look like a complete clown trying to bear hug it and wrestle into the bag when I'm alone. That's been my only issue though. Great quality tent, great layout and don't regret going insulated - would definitely recommend it. Also recently used a buddy's Clam - bigfoot 2000 or something? Hard to compare because it's a few years older and not insulated, but I felt it wasn't quite the same quality level. Seemed like a good tent though. I really liked that the anchors were just hex head bolts instead of the ones with the hand loop so you can fire them in with a drill. |
I have the Eskimo Lodge a four man, tent with 8 x 8 ft plastic floor... folds to a 8 x 4 ft sled. I have had it about 10 years, no problems at all, and has been used in some ugly southern Alberta winds. I made screw in tie downs out of 9 inch lag bolts... work good. Tent is in as good a shape as when I bought it with medium use.
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I've had a Otter 2-man flip over for the last 7 years and haven't had ANY major issues! I've had a large Eskimo FatFish for the last 4 years and have been disappointed . The Eskimo failed/ripped in 2 spots - where a top wall corner meets a roof corner. Eskimo customer service is second to none as they simply asked for a dated reciept, pictures of the rip and my address. Sent me a new one with zero hassle, i paid the shipping. I received the new one in 2014 and the exact same thing has happened again, waiting to here from them as i just sent pictures to them on Tuesday. I haven't had any dealings with Otter so i can't comment, No news is good news right?
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I have Clam and Eskimo, but dont think you could go wrong with these or an otter.
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They're expensive for sure. http://riversideoutdoors.ca/index.ph...&path=60_63_65 |
I recently bought an Eskimo 949i and the third time I had it out 2 of the hubs broke. I read a lot about how great the customer service is but I've been disappointed. I've called twice now and have left two messages and have yet to get a call back. Tomorrow I will be calling cabelas to see if they can help me out. It's too bad because my initial opinion of the tent was really good, great zippers, replaceable windows, heavy duty bag are all positives. It's a good thing I didn't sell my old Otter yet.
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I own a Woods Arctic Ice III 2-3 man
I love it, had it 3 seasons and no problems and I'm brutal on my gear, today I drug that poor thing all over the lake. All total I probably spent 200 hours in it so far just this season (unemployed...lots of time to fish). Zippers are still in good shape, poles are mint, anchors not bent. My only beef and it's a minor one is that the black coating on the inside is starting to wear. Easy fix with some spray rubber when it warms up...this spring. They are manufactured in the same plant as the eskimos'. I paid 199 for mine on sale at Cambodian Tire. I've owned clam(garbage, tore 1st day) frabill (good but overpriced, weak zippers) and an eskimo( stolen after 2 uses but it was nice those 2 times) but I will probably buy another woods when this one packs it in. |
Clam and cabelas teamed up and made a great looking tent comparable to the Eskimo 949i and its currently sold south of the border, I'm really hoping it makes it way up here cause I'm holding out for it.
http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/...BEC5037108.png http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/...11A82D2310.png |
Clam for me. I have two, a bigfoot and a tamarack. Zippers hold up. No problems with windows breaking in the cold yet. Easy to pack up too.
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Only one I've had is a frabill 3 man. THis is my 8th season with it. No complaints. Only thing wrong is I broke a rod....which was 100% my fault. Learning how to collapse the thing properly I got a little too rammy. Beyond that it looks virtually brand new.
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Otter by far are the best ice fishing tents, I have a Otter flip style tent, it is a 650 XT lodge insulated, I also have a clam flip style, the Otter comes with square poles, clam have round poles, the square poles are much stronger, the flip over shelters are much easier to set up and take down in Alberta wind, I also have run hub shelters, that's why I run flip style now
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This winter i bought my first ever shelter. I purchased the Eskimo 949i due to all the positive feedback that i've read on here about them. So far, i haven't been disappointed. After talking with the sales person @ Cabelas's in Calgary, she also told me that for customer service, you can't beat Eskimo. I had asked her about the Cabelas's brand of shelters, and she stated that even though they are a descend tent the customer service isn't as good compared to the Eskimo company. After reading a ton of comments about alot of different tents, i'd have to say imo that otter/ jason mitchell seems to be the best, eskimo/cabelas/frabill/clam followed by cheaper brands. It's like the old saying goes "You get what you pay for". I've read about some guys having issues with their eskimo tents, and all i could suggest is keep in contact with the company and make sure that your satisfied. If you do get crappy service on something, the best thing to do is spread the word.
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id say clam , used a clam twin hub (tee-pee style) for 5-6 years no rips , pole or zipper problems then recently upgraded to a clam bigfoot xl4000t been out 10 or so times with it and its great comes with oversize bag for easy packing .
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So far the only complaint i have about my Eskimo 949i is the carrying bag. Being as i go out by myself quite a bit, it sometimes sucks trying to get the tent back into the bag doing the old bear hug routine lol. It'd be nice if they changed the bag from a draw string end loading into a duffle bag style with a zipper along the side.
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I just got a pop up tent and have never had one before. once you pack it up and go home, do you take it out and let it dry, like you would with a backpacking tent to prevent mold etc. Or do most of you just leave it in its bag until next time?
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