Portable Shelters

Have an old Eskimo Quick flip 2, the green one. Had it for years and put it through alot. The corners in the sled are worn bad but is still functional. No complaints here! I recently bought a Chevrolet Avalanche and im not sure if I'll be able to close the tailgate. If not I'll be buying a new portable that fits

I had both of those Minuteman versions, the blue with wood base and the newer one with plastic base.  I just sold the black one a few years ago as my wife and kids go along so it wasn't big enough and I wasn't using it anymore.  At one point I had quite a few shacks but since I don't really fish by myself anymore I sold most of them. 

I now have an Otter Resort pop up.  Its pretty big because we tend to bring the whole house.  Fits a folding table with chairs around it, heater, cooler, bags of crap, and still room for a few people to jig.  I do like how it doesn't sweat since its insulated.  I feel like Otter is better in quality than the previous Eskimo one I had, but I also have not had a new Eskimo so that may not be the case anymore.

Crobar, I had the 2 man Minuteman. I believe my dad paid 60 bucks for it on clearance at Prange Way...a good deal even back then!  My uncle had the 3 person which was the same as the later S3000 and DX3000 models.  I bought the DX3000 (Deluxe) when I was a senior in college, in 2002. It had a better made tent material and bigger windows.  I lost the pole that holds the two sides up the first week I owned it, luckily one of my friends had an old tent pole that fit it perfectly!

Fish...I still have my Minute man i bought in '90 from The Fish Shop in West Allis,,,long gone... I paid $127...an even used it last year...the big drawback was the weight....kept my warm thou...dragged it out on Mendota..walking a few times..tired puppy after that    

HAVE AN OLD ONE MAN FRABILL I BOUGHT 20 YEARS AGO.  WORKS GREAT STILL OTHER THAN A FEW AREAS ON THE TOP THAT I PUT DUCT TAPE ON TO KEEP OUT THE RAIN/SNOW.  PUT ON THE HEATER IF ITS COLD OUT AND I START SWEATING.  GETS A BIT HEAVY WHEN WALKING/DRAGGING  OUT IN THE SNOW.  WISH I BOUGHT THE MODEL WITH THE CHAIR AS THE OLDER I GET SITTING IN THERE ON A BUCKET DOESN'T DO MY BACK ANY GOOD.

That’s funny MJ
I actually still have my fold up (Ontario Style) shanty from the late 70’s early 80’s leaning in the garage. The plywood base and collapsing ends made the thing a chore to drag around with any snow cover. I covered it with a brown poly tarp and when we would night fish with the Coleman lantern,  it would look like one of those luminaires that people put out at Xmas time. I don’t think I could ever get that thing out to some of the areas I fish anymore without dragging it behind a machine. I sure caught a lot of fish out of it back in the day though. The old Humminbird Super 30 flasher was my go to for electronics back then 

Yes, the first blue pic looks alot like my Pop-N-Fish small suitcase shack for two.  Low ceiling, you couldn't stand but a Coleman lantern on the area between the hole cutouts worked well.  I bought it from one of the original owner D (Debbie) of D&S before Gene and Sandy.  Funny memory, the cash register couldn't register $150 so she had to ring up $75 twice.

Shappell redid this shelter years ago (first pic), but it used to be blue and had that cheap plyboard stuff for the floor.  It was called the Minute Man It folded up but weighed a ton, especially when it got wet snow on it!  Still, I had a lot of memories in one of these when I was younger.  My dad bought it at Prange Way in Green Bay back in about 1990 or 91.  I owned it until 2001, I think, when I bought a newer one, the DX 3000 which was no longer called the Minute Man and the floor was now plastic and had two bucket molds in it for putting on top when towing.  The DX 3000 was black inside and outside, had large windows facing both ways and a nicer flip up area for holes.  I had this until two years ago when the mice got to it in my garage and chewed big holes in it and the thing smelled really bad so I put it to the curb!  I kinda liked these suitcase style shanties though.  Easy to setup and comfortably sat two people.  Now Eagle Claw owns the Shappell brand and they've redone it again.

Oh yeah!  Back from three days at the Oshkosh Ice Show helping at the Vexilar booth.  Whew.  Saturday was just overload, overwhelm but everyone who finally made it in were happy with another show here since the four years at Milwaukee.  I forgot that Arctic Cat had that one, I was confusing it with something else.  They had an excellent modular rack system to work from but like lots of good stuff, gets changed?  I have seen many out in their bubbles back in the day when the limit was 50 and most everybody walked.  My first shack was a plywood base small suitcase style that was tough dragging when the snow was deep.  I must have been in a little better condition or just lazy now.

Mendota Jim you got it right!  I'm sure you've seen plenty of them on the ice over the years, but they're becoming more rare the last several years!  I first saw one about 20 years ago on Lake Monona when fishing Squaw Bay.  I thought they were a neat idea back then.  I wouldn't use it on a super windy day, but for a 10 mph breeze on a cold, sunny day it's perfect!

MJ…The shanty enclosure on my quads was made by Arctic Cat back around 2007. They made 2 designs for an ATV mount system that their quads had back then. One was called the “Rapid Shack” which I have on both my quads. The other was a camo version “Rapid Blind”  made specifically for hunting in the woods. I don’t have a picture of the Rapid Blind attached to my Pursuit Camo Polaris, but it is pretty cool. 

Wow!  Looks like the old Kabinette or Bubble with padding for shoulder carry.  And the old Clam ATV enclosure design.  Very cool!

I too spend the majority of my time on the ice without any shanty. Conditions dictate whether I bring a shanty out or fish out in the open. I do have 3 different setups that I can use depending on a number of things. I have a Fish Trap Pro for fishing alone and walking out early and late in the season. I have an Eskimo 949 that I won in a tournament that I use when fishing with a group. My favorite setup is part of my four wheelers. I have 2 wheelers with the same setup. They attach to the rack system of both quads and have enough room for 2-3 people to fish. 

I have an Eskimo 949i for when I take my kids with me.  I can heat it with a pretty small heater, heck most of the time don't even need a heater at all with it.  I have a Clam Fish Trap 1 man that I haul around sometimes.  I also prefer to just sit outside and enjoy the nice weather, but if it's windy I love the clam flip over.  I'll use this new shack I got on those days when there's some wind and I want to travel light.  I also own a Pak Shak that I have only used once.  I got that with the purpose of having it along when someone else is fishing with me. It can sit right on top of just about any sled or I can even carry it over my shoulder. So that's the four shacks I own.  I still fish outside most of the time though. My clam bibs and jacket have kept me warm even when it's 10 below zero outside.

I agree that when someone asks me about shacks, I often tell them to buy a good ice suit that is designed for ice fishing and then pick up a used shack for days that is is SUPER cold, windy or if you have a child with you. Most days I don my ice suit, toss a bucket and a couple rods in my Jet Sled along with my flasher and I'm set. My jig box and plastics can go in the 15 pockets on my jacket and bibs and the sled is much lighter than even my one man shack. I do have a Fish Trap Pro, Eskimo QuickFlip II and a Fish Trap Guide though. Picked up both Fish Traps used and got the Eskimo on end of the season clearance for dirt cheap (and it was assembled!). I have a wife and two boys that come with me from time to time, so we need to keep them warm. I keep my shacks pretty simple though. LED lights and a heater are about all they have. My Fish Trap Pro has the molded console, which is nice for when I go night fishing as it keeps my UV light and other tools handy so I don't have to search for them in the dark. The cup holder is also an often-utilized item! Tight lines!