suitcase portable

[art321]

Love my wife dearly but hate it when she tries to buy outdoor gear for me. She just bought a Clam 2000 for me. Sure it is nice but not the style for me. I'd prefer the flip style but they are more expensive so I may give this one a go although I made one myself that is pretty darned slick for about 1/4 of the price of the Clam. My question is, How do you get them onto the ice? Do you have to build a sled? I want to be able to tow it behind the ATV and all my gear will have to sit on top of the thing. Do those that have them have any pros or cons ? Thanks

[TyGuy02]

pros or cons......cons. good luck on that but they are pretty hard to fish out of unless they sit in a truck bed with your gear. I spent 2 winters in a suitcase portable and will never go back. But as a warning, my wife bought me a slick 4way camera a few years ago. It was really nice but I needed a generator much more than a camera and traded it for a Honda generator and she has never let me forget it!

[cavalierowner]

I have a CanvasCraft suitcase and love it because I like having a floor under my feet. Anyway, I got a pair of downhill skis (they're wider than cross country skis) for free on Freecycle, took off the bindings and built a frame for the house and a plywood box behind the frame for gear. That frame, with the box, is attached to the skis with countersunk screws. The frame and skis can't weigh over 50#. If there's not a lot of snow, I can easily pull my house and all my gear by myself.

BTW, it took a few years, but my wife is finally trained to buy gift certificates for fishing and hunting gear and tools.

[Wanderer]

This a sled I have for pulling my wood suitcase porty. Pretty self explanatory.

I was going to get rid of both last year since I haven't been using either but suddenly it might be nice to have for the upcoming weekend.

[PurpleFloyd]

Love my wife dearly but hate it when she tries to buy outdoor gear for me. She just bought a Clam 2000 for me. Sure it is nice but not the style for me. I'd prefer the flip style but they are more expensive so I may give this one a go although I made one myself that is pretty darned slick for about 1/4 of the price of the Clam. My question is, How do you get them onto the ice? Do you have to build a sled? I want to be able to tow it behind the ATV and all my gear will have to sit on top of the thing. Do those that have them have any pros or cons ? Thanks

Personally I like the suitcase style. You have a floor to keep your feet off the ice and you don't have your flasher, heater etc sitting on the ice(or slush/water) once the heater starts to melt things. Just build a smitty type sled

And you will have everything you need on the ice and it will pull better than a flip.

[cavalierowner]

What I built to pull my suitcase style is almost exactly what PurpleFloyd has. Like he said, pulls like a charm.

[outkast7222]

I strap my Clam 2000 to the top of a Medium Otter sled. It's just the right size to cover it up and two long bungee cords end to end hold it on very securely.

[Ice Wolf]

I have an old Frabill suitcase style shack 20+ years old. It has a polyvinyl floor on it. And when it's open it's 6' x 6' x 6' high. Pros- with having a floor it stays nice and warm in it on the coldest days. I can drag it on snow and ice by hand or by 4x4 or snow machine. It sets up quick. When it comes to storing it in the off season it takes up a lot less room 3' wide 6' tall and about 10" thick compared to my Clam X2. Cons - I have to use a huge duffle bag to put all of my gear in and strap it to the top of the shelter along with auger and bait bucket, shovel, chair when transporting from spot to spot and everything gets snow and slush on it. But if you drive a truck on the ice relocation would be much easier. I don't use it anymore I use a clam X2 it's more user friendly.

[ice_medic]

I had a suitcase style house for years and loved it. It was an old Mankato tent one and it was the house I started ice fishing in with my grandpa. It lasted a very long time. I did have to replace a section of the flooring and a couple of holes in it. The wind got a hold of it one day and bent the poles. I got new poles for it and it is still around. They are nice and easy to set up.

[Rikkus]

My fishing Buddy of 41 Years and I have the Pull-Over Types and 3-Suit Case types. The suit case types are our favorite. We have Clam 6800's and a 5600. With the Trap-Link, we attach all 3 together, making a 20' x 8'. With the attached floor, and a wood insert with carpet, we are so, off the ice. We can easily load these up into the trucks and one person can unload. With the pull-over, they are just too heavy to deal with. We used to pull a trailer to transport these on & off the ice.

The pull-overs are nice for scouting, no doubt. But the suitcase style are much easier for us Old Timers,...

[Chad Holst]

I have a few houses, but my first clam is still my favorite, not because its the best, just my first.

I'm the guy that brings half the house and all of the garage with, when ice fishing, so i love the extra room. Infact the only reason i dont still fish out of this house is because of the extra room in the Clam hub i picked up 2 years ago.

I dont remember the model (edit: 1060), but I originally got it because it fit in the back of my blazer and cherokee and still allowed me to stack a sled house on top of it. It was billed as the thinest true 4 man suitcase Clam made. It folds out to a 5x6 floor area and then the 2 end walls extend out past the floor a couple feet. So its 10x6 total size. I can put 3 holes on each side and still fit the 20lb tank/heater. Its perfect for 2 guys that bring a tub to haul gear in and then use the Empty tub as a table for playing cards, etc. As a bonus, im 6'3 and i can stand up and strtch in the house and not hit my head.

But, im now a Hub style guy. I can set my suitcase up in a few minutes, but you cant beat the easy set up of the Hub style, unless your having to use ice anchores, then its a bit slower actually. I miss the floor, but its not needed if you use a fan to keep the air moving around.

I am thinking about selling the suitcase, so PM me if your suitcase guy with a buddy and need room. I also made a sled for it that pulls like a dream with all your gear and the house on it.