whats better wood, plastic, or round tip ups

[eskimo_fisher]

what do you prefer

[Squid]

Go with the round plastic igloo types. They are insulated and you don't have to worry about the hole freezing or blowing shut. As a bonus you can fold them up and they drop neatly in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket.

[hanson]

I love NEW stuff, and I also love OLD/TRADITIONAL stuff!!

My sled- 2002 Actic Cat ZR600 EFI. Unbelievable technology in that one.

My other sled- 1973 SnoJet StarJet 440. About as simple as a snowmobile can come.

OK- I'm off track here. I love new stuff but I have a place in my heart for the traditional too. I fish mostly with Frabill thermal tip-ups. They are the round, orange ones. I think they are well engineered and are convenient. Of course, I have a 5 gallon bucket full of them.

But I also love the Beaver Dam tip-ups & the wooden Frabill tip-ups. The Beaver Dams have incredible workmanship. There is just something about a nicely built wood tip-up that can bring you back 20 some years.

[korn_fish]

The round NON-Frabill type if I am after eyes. I say non frabill because the insulated round frabil tip ups have a less than ideal "trip" mechanism. They have changed the trips in the past few years so that the plastic trip is angled which provides less tension/friction than their older models. However, there is still too much for my liking. The tip ups that have the metal to metal flag to trip are far superior for friction reduction. Also look for the tip ups that allow the trip to be moved up or down allowing you to fine tune the friction/tension.

The frabil insulated model does keep the hole open longer than the polar round tip-ups, But in below 0 temps, both will need to be checked every couple hours if you are using them at night with beebers.

Just my .02 cents