Fatfish vs Otter XTH

[JSK76]

Just sold a portable and have never owned a pop up before so thought this year I might give it a try.  Still have my otter cabin and 2 wheel houses so idk why I feel like I need one but it you know how it is! I was eyeing up the Fatfish last winter but didn't like the black interior in the insulated house. Now that Otter is making one with the bright interior it's I'm wanting a hub house even more. I'm trying to compare the fatfish size to the XTH otter as far as size. With all the dimensions, floor vs hub to hub it gets confusing and I want to make sure I'm comparing apples to apples as far as size. It would be nice to see them set up side by side but I haven't got that chance yet. I really liked the size of the Fatfish 949i and I'm thinking the XTH Lodge is going to be the closest in size. Can anyone confirm what house is bigger? Or are they the same? I do like the Fatfish window placement better and they advertise using YKK zippers not sure what otter is using it doesn't say so I would assume it's not YKK. Just looking for some more info and opinions on the 2 houses but I know the otter is new so I'm not going to find any on the ice reviews.

[GillAssasin13]

JSK76 - I'll try my best to help (hopefully)! I did some quick research, Otters page was very hard to navigate so I ended up on Cabela's. Eskimo clearly had everything published about the Fatfish models which helped a ton. They are basically identically in size, so good call there based on your research. The Otter appears to be 2 sq ft bigger of fishable area, so essentially a wash there. Price also appears to be identical from what I can find? 

I previously had a Clam shelter this size, and upgraded to the Fatfish 6120I last winter after a ton of research. I went with the 6120 for the much bigger size (about 20 square foot more) without much of a price increase. We fish with 4 people when we use the hub, and this size was just a tad small. For 2 - 3 guys it was awesome. The 6120 is perfect for 4 and it would probably even be comfortable with 5 or 6 guys because of the shape (6 sided vs. 4). Not sure how big you want, but I would very highly recommend the 6120I after a season of heavy use last year.

When looking, I couldn't find anyone else with a shape like the 6120I (maybe I missed one or someone has one now?) so my decision was very easy. The YKK zippers were also a must after struggling with the zippers on the old one. It just didn't zip great when the shelter was up and fabric pulled tight. The YKK's are the best out there, IMO (not just for shelters either).

As for the black interior, this really is a preference thing. I actually wanted the black interior. We set the hub up over cribs we fish in 8-10 foot of water for crappies. The dark blocks the sunlight very well and helps the crappies act less spooked - another tip is to actually fill your hole with ice chips to block sunlight when in shallow water - but this is a whole other discussion =) - so I preferred this. When the windows are opened, it has more than enough light if we want to fish that way. We run a single LED lantern on the roof when it gets dark and it works great. Again, this is just a preference thing though and may not at all fit your needs! I know a lot of guys who actually 'black-out' the inside of their hub shelters, so this is a welcome feature.

Hopefully others can chime in on the Otters because I do not have on ice experience with them. However, I would very highly recommend the 6120I, and the 949I is basically the same shack but smaller.

[JSK76]

Thanks Gill, that's some good info! I usually fish 17' or deeper and mostly from 3pm to whenever the bite stops at night. Looks like I've got a hard decision to make and just might need to look at each one setup side X side. Now I'm thinking of going bigger too!

Edited October 25, 2015 by JSK76

[Mike Stark]

Hey Gill...how is it getting back into the bag they provide?  When they first came out with the insulated shelters they were a bear trying to get back into the bag.

Also how easy is it to heat?

 

Thanks.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Mike Stark

[GillAssasin13]

Hey Gill...how is it getting back into the bag they provide?  When they first came out with the insulated shelters they were a bear trying to get back into the bag.

Also how easy is it to heat?

 

Thanks.

Hey Mike - Both great questions and concerns I had about a new hub. My old one was difficult to get in the bag. Once you've done it a few times, this one isn't bad and I honestly mean that. Set-up is extremely easy. Take it out and pop it out, it really is that simple...

With any hub, I think, putting it away is the hard part. I can't take credit for why it's easy though, I have to give that to Eskimo because I found this video on YouTube and it changed my "hub life" lol. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=907NoXSIUSo

The part that changed my life for take down is at like the 3:20 mark in the video. Rolling the lose fabric into the poles makes putting the hub away 100 times easier and I literally have it down to a minute process with another guy, honestly. I used to try and put the main part in the bag and shove in the loose fabric and it was a pain. Rolling it like the video show makes it very compact (just roll it tight), and it slides right into the bag.

Insulation for heating is awesome. Coming from a non-insulated, smaller hub, when we would set it up as a warming shack we would run the heater on medium at a minimum, high most times though (just a single size Mr buddy heater). With the insulated fabric, I don't think I put the heater on more than low last year. I did the first time when the temps were around 5 degrees and windy (had it on High to warm it up like with the old one) and it was almost unbearable in there after like 5 minutes. Ran it on medium sporadically the rest of the year just to warm it up and then had it on low or off completely. Otherwise everyone had to take their coat and bibs off it was so warm inside, and it made it a pain to go back outside. If you 'set-up' and fish, you could leave the heater on medium or low I think and sit in there without coats / bibs and be very comfortable. For a hub, I'd never go back to non-insulated after using this one last year.

Hopefully this helps some. I'd highly recommend it. Probably the only thing I'd change (minor) is the doors are a tad small if you are really tall (my brother in law is like 6'3 and he has to duck going in the doors) but this is a small formality in my mind. He can stand in it once inside and he doesn't think its a big bother.

[Mike Stark]

Thanks Gill.  Great info.  I'm think I am going to get one these.  Thanks again.