Tent as portable ice fishing shelter???

[Terry Olson]

Anyone used a tent as a portable fish house shelter? I have a smallish 2 man portable shelter now, but I need more room for me and the kids and I can't get it into my SUV, only my pickup.

I had the idea that a tent, modified with much of the floor removed, might be a cheaper option than a bigger portable shelter. As an added bonus, a tent will roll up and fit into either of my vehicles whereas a larger portable shelter will only fit in the back of my pickup.

I'm thinking a cheaper model with fiberglass poles would be easiest to set up. Shouldn't be any more difficult to heat than any other portable shelter.

I googled it, but I found nothing helpful.

Anyone done it? If so, what did you think about it?

[eurolarva]

Set up time would be tough with cold weather and wind. My guess is the tent would loose its integrity if you cut the middle out of it. If you cut it you may have to use a sewing machine to make it so it wont tear. Wind will be another problem. You will have to screw in anchors, I dont think you can pound tent pegs into ice. Saw a 4 man portable at Menards for 200 bucks. Wish it would have been around when I bought my portable. I like the one man portable because of weight and size but my back cant take it more then a couple of hours.

[Terry Olson]

I'll check at Menards - the other 4-man shelters I've looked at (8'x8' or so) sell for $699.00 and are so big that I'd have to take the pickup to use them. I could build a regular house for that, but I like the advantages of a portable.

It was just a thought and I bet if others had found it feasible I'd find some hits on google about it.

Thanks for the response.

[roscoe]

Sorry to inform you, but a tent would need several guy lines on each side, to keep it from turning inside-out from the wind.

There are decent 4 man shelters out there for under $300.
And you will still have the old 2 man shelter, so you could use both, if needed.

[Terry Olson]

I looked at the shelters they sell at Menards. They don't carry a 4 man shelter, but they have several smaller ones, the largest of which sells for $369.oo on sale. They're nice, but not what I'm looking for.

I'll keep looking. There's a canvas company not too far off that sells shelters among other things. I'll probably go see what they have to offer.

[gonefishie]

Have you looks into tent that mountain climber use? I'm sure they come with stuff for you to set it up on ice. If you cut a hole on the floor just big enough for the ice hole, I think you would be fine. As long as you make sure the wind doesn't creep in underneath the floor and come through the cut out hole and turn y'all into a cold air balloon. 8)

[roscoe]

Here you go. Ebay item number 170039838626



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ype=osi_widget

I don't know if this will meet your suv size needs, but it would be worth checking out.

[Terry Olson]

Thanks again for the input - I've been all over ebay and considered the tent you linked. It's the size I want and it appears that it has no built-in floor so it will fold much smaller than the others - but you have to pin it down so it doesn't blow away, which you wouldn't have to do with a built-in floor.

I think I'll give that one some more thought. It's basically what I had in mind. Maybe I can find one locally to check out.

Thanks again.