Otter Houses

[MJBaldwin]

I have a Eskimo right now and thinking of venturing into the Otter world. I have heard only good things about these houses from the canvas to the tubing as well as the sleds. My main question is how can you tell between the models? I have seen green, purple, black, blue camo, and black camo now. I am looking for a used one but like the idea of the seats as well. I found a black team wild one on hsolist for a decent price but whats the difference between that one and a blue camo one with the seats. This particular one has a bench are those comofortable for a whole day of fishing or can a guy make a bracket in oder to put their own seats in?

Thanks for the help in advance

[Jeremy airjer W]

Northlander would be the perfect person to answer these questions. I'll see if I can't get his attention.

[otterman91105]

The otter house's are well worth buying. The green and purple canvas is the older model that is not insulated. The black camo is the new version of the non insulsted or maybe just the top is insulated. The blue camo is fully insulated. Hope this helps good luck they are worth the money.

[BartmanMN]

Team Wild houses have a thinner Sled and thinner denier canvas on them.

[Sifty]

I have two of the wild houses.

One of the older Black and Orange and one Black camo.

Thae black camo has the insulated top.

I would recommend them to anyone looking.

Sifty

[MJBaldwin]

Are the Team Wild houses still better than most then?

[Marcus Taplin]

You will not find a better bang for your buck with an Otter house. I bought mine last year and love it. The Otter Pros (Blue Camo) are fully sewn & quilted and not heat welded like most, meaning more insulation in the panels. The Otter Wilds (Black Camo) have thermal tops and have bench seats compared to buckets in the Pro. Best part they are made in Maple Lake, MN!

[MJBaldwin]

So the new black camo replaced the orange and black unit? That was the unit I am looking at on hsolist. I am also wondering how these bench seats are? My eskimo was the one that has individual seats. My brother in-law has an older eskimo that has the bench and he never seemed to have a problem. I am really interested in these since I have done a little more research since the sleds and tubing are so much nicer as well. I am looking for something to last me awhile.

On a side note I have noticed how hard it is to pack all my gear (and I am a newbie out there) into the eskimo sled there very shallow and don’t seem to hold equipment in there very well. Most of the mods I have seen done on this site are done to an otter and I would assume this is due to the great sled they provide you with.

[BartmanMN]

Here is a HSO video on the house. He may comment on the construction and build quality.

http://hsoshow.com/video/227/Team-Wild-Shack-Build-Part-1

http://hsoshow.com/video/228/Team-Wild-Shack-Build-Part-2

[mnmuskie]

I had a orange/black wild and the bench seat did not work for me. Bad news if you have any back problems. The other otters with boat seats are great.

[Northlander]

1st off go to www.otter outdoors.com and many questions will be answered there.

The simplest answer is the Otter Wild series houses have a sled with about 13 percent less plastic and a very agressive front attack angle and this is why there are bench seats because there isnt room for two seats the way the sled is layed out. the canvas is 600 denier with a thermal top. If its grey its thermal. Same poles, windows, zippers. The wild is the black camo model.

The blue ice camo is the full thermal model wich has the pro series sled wich is the best sled on the market bar none. The canvas is 600 denier with the full thermal interior wich comes to a total of 900 denier. The pro model comes with swivel padded seats. Cottage has 1 seat, cabin has 2 seats and is a small 2 man and the lodge has 2 seats and is a very roomy 2 man.

Like I said go to www.otter outdoors.com and you will see all the options and sizes.

If you have any further questions feel free to e-maile at the e-mail below.

[1900_LE]

You will not find a better bang for your buck with an Otter house. I bought mine last year and love it. The Otter Pros (Blue Camo) are fully sewn & quilted and not heat welded like most, meaning more insulation in the panels. The Otter Wilds (Black Camo) have thermal tops and have bench seats compared to buckets in the Pro. Best part they are made in Maple Lake, MN!

You better do some more research. Those shelters are built in China. At least the one I bought a couple years ago was. I doubt they've chained, but maybe they did. I'm not saying that they're not good quality, but there's enough companys out there misleading the public on where their merchandise is built.

[deadduk]

You better do some more research. Those shelters are built in China. At least the one I bought a couple years ago was. I doubt they've chained, but maybe they did. I'm not saying that they're not good quality, but there's enough companys out there misleading the public on where their merchandise is built.

[BartmanMN]

Tubs are roto molded in Maple Lake. Anything Sewen these days is likely sent to China, with the exception of Canvas Craft.

I agree, the are probably boxed in Maple Lake as well.

[t- rexx]

i bought thermal lodge last year very happy with it i had a little trouble with velcrow on it i called there customer service they ask me when i was giong to be done using it for the winter i told them by that date they had sent me a new canvas there customer service was a-1 yes there canvases are made china

[fishersofmen]

You would think the shipping costs of these products from China would would level things out a bit vs having everything done right here. Apparently not......

It seems people are really beginning to have an interest in wanting the products they buy to be made in the US. Not only that but more and more people are willing to pay more for a product that supports job creation here.

[MJBaldwin]

Thanks for the information guys. I will look into their HSOforum and see if I can understand them a little better. I would like the blue camo one due to its heavier sled along with seats instead of bench but when price comes into play its what I want to pay for it I know these will last a lot longer than my Eskimo is the reason why I am looking to upgrade already but who knows might keep it for a couple more seasons.

[ski_otter]

I have the orange and black wild 1 with a bench and haven't had any problems with the bench. I regularly fish 2 people from it as we'll. it's about 3 years old and the padding is starting to thin a bit though. I would agree the individual seats are a bit more comfortable though