The big portables! Clam X4, Otter Pro Mag Village...

[lookin4fish]

Wondering who out there bought one of these and what were the pros/cons of having these big portables? heating is one of the issues i am wondering about. how big of a heater do you need? i am wondering if there is enough room to have 2 cots plus heaters...and fishing holes?

[lookin4fish]

i am suprised that no one has any expierence with these. i guess i cant say i have seen them out on the ice myself, but i figured somebody new a guy who knew a guy...let me know if you have any info.

thanks

[irvingdog]

I'll bite......

They're heavy?

Seriously, with the big magnum shelters, you need to pull them with something, and I don't mean your buddy Earl. Forget solo trips as loading and unloading these by yourself would be quite the feat. They won't fit in many vehicles. All of your stuff rattles around inside of them when being pulled. They are expensive.

Buy as much house as you need, can afford, have the capability to tow, and can fit in your vehicle.

We have a saying 'round these parts; don't run down the hill and, um, introduce yourself to one. Walk down the hill and introduce yourself to all of them...

[Lotwfisher]

I ordered one for a guy once. He really likes the amount of room in it and the amount of stuff he can haul in it also. But he pulls it with a snowmachine and he says it really tugs back. There is tons of room in them for 4 guys to fish too.

[kwiggy]

I was new to ice fishing 3 years ago when I thought I needed the Clam Sleeper. My kids were 8,5,and 1... I thought a big house with plastic floors was the way to go. It was, if my family wanted to fish with me. Now it is just my son and I and I am wishing I had a smaller shelter. The room was nice, when we were all in it. Unfortunately, we have only ALL been in it for a few hours. I pull it strapped to a homemade wooden sled with a fisherman's delight of a snowmobile. It is next to impossible to set up in the wind by yourself or with the help of an 8 yr old. Thank god for beer or might not have made it through that situation. I am drueling over the new 3 seater fishtraps. They look like the way to go.

[lookin4fish]

thanks for the replies so far. i already have a voyager and know what size can do to mobility. i would not trade my voyager in because i like the room. i was looking at one of the big daddies becaseu i moved to SE minnesota and ice up down here sucks! i grew up north and now have a big perm stored up there and i can get use out of it, but down south i cant very well use the pull-behind. i want something i can sleep out overnight in. i have both a wheeler and sled to pull it so that is not a problem. just wondering how much heater i need, and also the other drawbacks that one might not think of.

[slipperybob]

Quote:

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Wondering who out there bought one of these and what were the pros/cons of having these big portables? heating is one of the issues i am wondering about. how big of a heater do you need? i am wondering if there is enough room to have 2 cots plus heaters...and fishing holes?

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I've got a clam 1060 (not made anymore) just big enough, 10X6 floor and near 6X6 top. I bring out the lounge chair/cot. This year I'm planning on using a 4'6" regular fishing pole for my lazy lounging fishing. It's a tad bit hard to keep all that air warm for just one guy. So I bring some outdoor matts and set that on the ice in the other section that I use for some insulation placebo effect. If I'm sleeping and it's really cold. I like that I can drop/sag the ceiling 1/3 of the way to keep more heat and less air space. I'm planning on some kind of R&D on insulation material maybe this winter or next summer.

The whole package/with tools and extra's in the closed case is just tad over 100 lbs on a bathroom scale. The difficulty of moving that thing around and dragging on the ice is that I drag a sled too and it can be a sweat at times.