Ice tent thoughts and reviews

[L-D-R]

I'm in the market for a new ice tent I am going insalated and something around 60 sqf fishable space but not sure on the brand thinking Eskimo fatfish 9491 or clam interested to see what you guys have and fished out of how was the room and the quality of the tent you guys own and use.
Thanks and good luck
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[utarcher123]

I like Eskimo products personally. I have an Eskimo EVO-1. and love it. But realize youre wanting a larger pop-up.
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[ru22dizzle]

I have the Eskimo 949i and love it. Have been in -24F and been plenty comfortable with no heater. Blocks out the wind really well. Built great and would recommend to anyone. Fits two people with big camp chairs really comfortably, but could certainly fit three and maybe four with smaller chairs or buckets.
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[ChalkCreekUT]

I’ve had a Cabela’s branded 5 sided tent for several years. Nothing negative in my opinion. Quilted roof holds the heat in quite well. 5 sides seems to pull in more heat from the sun. Typically I don’t run a heater. Lots of gear storage locations. I think it has just over 60sqft of fishable area. Biggest selling point is the extra room the 5th side seems to provide. Have had 3 people fishing 2 holes each without feeling like we were on top of each other.
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[reeseer]

Have had both Eskimo and Clam. Currently fishing out of an insulated clam. Way better quality than any Eskimo I've had.
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[RonPaulFan]

I also have the Cabela’s five side tent as ChalkCreekUt and I confirm those advantages and add that it has a feature that I particularly like that all of the others that I know about don't have and would be my buying decision should I ever need to replace it which seems unlikely because I've used it plenty and it shows no signs of wear or tear or weakness.

That advantage is I like the configuration of the windows with a 360 degree view from anywhere inside when the blinds are open. No getting up to peer out of one and look both ways and go to another with maneuvering around things. Instead, simply look any direction from your fishing seat without getting up or disrupting your fishing.

Tolerance of strong wind is another reason for my selection of a five sided tent over a square tent (though six sides would also have this advantage, those don't have the window configuration I like). Specifically, wind flows better around a round object than a square object. Five sides makes a tent closer to round than four sides and that makes it noticeably sturdier in the wind than my friend's four sided tent which tends to flap considerably with a lot of motion and noise in the wind while being in mine gives the impression that there is hardly any wind until I get out.

I also like that it is tall.

Lighting: I especially like that it is black and with the blinds up, it is much darker inside than any other tent I've experienced. On that, the fishing department manager told me that a customer has used this tent as a photographic dark room. I like the darkness to better see into the depths of the water and not have my eyes seeing unnatural colored lighting as filtered through colored fabric. I like to see true colors when selecting lures and looking at fish, so I appreciate the more natural lighting. I can chose the amount of light from outdoors with the blinds from nearly full darkness in bright sunlight to plenty of light.

I use anchors of the style that is used for ice climbing which are super quick to screw in with just one hand to be using all tie down locations for that sudden strong unexpected wind out of nowhere because that's the difference between distroying your tent and it holding up, so I recommend anchoring each tie down along with this choice of tent.

Ice Fishing Tent Tip: The hubs are appropriately tight and this is good except that that can cause fatigue fractures in plastic components due to friction. When you get your tent, set it up and spray each hub with a dry film clean lubricant of the sort that does not collect dirt.
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[muirco]

http://www.landmsupply.com/department/sp...mLEALw_wcB

Love this one! It fits 4 comfortable!
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[muirco]

http://www.landmsupply.com/department/sp...PcEALw_wcB

You might like this one... it is about the size you want. I don't own it, but love the clam tent I posted earlier.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Frabill makes a good insulated pop up as well, I used to have one of them, but I personally like the flips now because they are so much easier to move if you have to relocate... But they aren't cheap, so I don't blame you going with a pop up.... I run a Clam now and it's great, no complaints, but I have the smaller size than what you are looking for, it's just a two person size.(Nanook).. You can also look at the Otters as well. they are great shelters, but expensive... If price wasn't an option I'd check out the Otter Lodge or Resort depending on the size you need, but I think they are over a grand... but they do give you the option of overnight camping on the lake... Well sorry to cloud your options, there's a lot out there to look at... Good luck... J
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[bowdude]

I have the Eskimo 6 sided insulated, 6120i I believe. It is warm, roomy and I have had as many as 6 fishing in it at the same time. We sit back to back and punch a hole in each corner. Can be a little tight but it works. It is a good quality tent, every bit as good as a clam. I have had 4 popups, this is the biggest and my second Eskimo. It is a bit heavy to not pull behind a snowmobile. If you are interested and would like, I will trade you a fishing trip. You can sit in it and get a feel for it, in return, you can teach me how to catch crappy at Pineview. Send me a pm if interested.
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[Ghansen]

I run a insulated otter and enjoy it. Been in some pretty cold stuff without any problems.
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[RonPaulFan]

I revised my above post with more information which I left out due to too short of a lunch during work, so look again for more reasons for my selection and strong preference for this particular tent.

[liv2hunt]

I have a Eskimo 949 fatfish. I like it, it has been a good ice tent. This is the 3rd. Eskimo tent i have owned. Eskimo make good products in my opinion. Clam also makes great tents. A few friends of mine have them and are pleased. I would buy either brand. Which ever one i could find the cheapest. I dont think you can go wrong with a Clam or Eskimo brand.
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[Fishin_dad]

There are a lot of votes for eskimo. I have not owned an eskimo so I can't say of their quality. I have owned two clams and LOVE them. The first one that I had was a flip over style, non insulated and after the first couple of trips I stopped packing the heater because we never used it. We fished Scofield once and the car said -24 for the weather outside. We got down on the lake and fished without the heater because we were so warm.

When it came time for me to upgrade, I wanted to spend the extra money to get another Clam. I now own a five sided, insulted clam and again I love it. I haven't taken it out as much as I would have like yet )just got it for Christmas) but I have absolutely NO complains about it. It seems to be a high quality tent.
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[L-D-R]

First off I would like to thank you guys for your great reviews and opinions. Yes there are a lot of great ice tents out there . And everyone has different needs to suit . Your posts help me and gave me a few other options to look at .
Thanks all and good luck
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[ponyboyf350]

This is my second year with the Clam Warrior 2 person.
I love it when there aren't 12 inches of snow and slush to pull it through.
Actually, installed a Harbor Freight wench in my vehicle to help pull it up on days when I'm fishing solo.
No Regrets
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[SBennett]

I have used my Otter insulated for four years now with zero damage, and that includes tumbling it for 400 yards across Fishlake in the infamous perch derby ' breeze' two years ago.
I have also had it stand up to some extreme winds while after jumbos on Cacade Lake.
Doesn't get any better is my two cents.
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