Thoughts on a single person flip over..?

I currently have an Otter 2-man, along with a medium size hub for when I’m fishing with someone else. The other day I was out by myself in negative temps and a stiff wind. I was thinking to myself how nice it would be to have a portable 1 man for when I’m looking to go lighter and pressed for time. With that in mind, I’ve been eyeing something like a Clam Legend XL Thermal 1 man portable (~ 17 square feet) where I can run a heater, deadstick, livescope and still not fall in a hole. One of the main reasons I’m looking at this model is availability and size. To me the difference between 12 and 17 square feet seems worth it. However I’m still open for suggestions.

Any thoughts?

Mark

I use a 2-person Clam Trap Guide – old flip over. I love the addl room of the larger hut. I do bring a lot of stuff though.

Yea I think you would be happy with the Legend. I had one and wish i had not sold it. It’s a good all around shelter

personally i’d never go with a one man…..barely enough room for me in my 2 man!!!!

thats just me though.

I had a 1 man for a season. Like others have, I ran out of space for my gear. The small over loaded sled made it difficult to pull as well.

I had a legend xl and loved it I could have 4 holes one for the marcum two dead sticks and a jig. This year I’m wishing I didn’t sell it. If I buy another one man it would be tough decision between the legend or the Eskimo wide one

Dave maze wrote:

I had a 1 man for a season. Like others have, I ran out of space for my gear. The small over loaded sled made it difficult to pull as well.

Same I sold mine and went with a smaller 2 man

Check out the Eskimo Eskape 2400, just picked one up and used it a couple times. Lot of storage in the sled. Right size for one man to handle. Marine General $599.00

I have a comfortable large shelter that I tow with my ATV. For those times when I can only walk in, I went with the lightest, easiest one man I can find.

Kenai Pro, I even went with the non-insulated to save an extra 5 lbs. No regrets. Works for me and would buy one again if something happened to this one.

Unless your using a small vehicle and its room you need id definitely look into a smaller 2 man. If it’s a 1 man you really want the frabill recruit is hard to beat for extra space in a 1 man platform. Ditch the factory seat and use a folding chair and save weight.

Legend xl has been fantastic. It’s very roomy and heats well. More than enough room to run 3 holes inside if you’re a livescope user and still be able to get in and out without stepping on stuff.

I’m not really sure how people are running out of room if they’re fishing alone. How much stuff do you bring???

2nd year with the legend xl thermal 2 things factory seat is heavy and needs to be to the back when towing the short tub plows snow. Tub should be deeper and front tapered more. That being said it is warm, big enough, and with black inside is good for sight fishing.

Love my legend. Fish in it 75 percent of the time. Plenty of room. Super light.
Curious how much gear you guys bring when fishing solo. I never have a problem fitting everything in my sled.
Have pulled the chair out at times and used my bucket as a seat to go real light.

For what it’s worth, after sitting in many shelters and watching a million YouTubes, I ended up with the icerunner explorer.

It is marketed as a two-man shelter, but I have found it to be a pretty ideal one man shelter (and “acceptable” for two.)

There is no built-in chair (which I like) so the entire shelter/sled comes in at just under 50lb and easily slides into the back of my SUV (even when fully loaded with gear.)

p.s. it is a not a true run-and-gun flip over, but I’ve perfected the art of dragging it 100 feet or more to change depth, without taking it down

broeker wrote:

For what it’s worth, after sitting in many shelters and watching a million YouTubes, I ended up with the icerunner explorer.

It is marketed as a two-man shelter, but I have found it to be a pretty ideal one man shelter (and “acceptable” for two.)

There is no built-in chair (which I like) so the entire shelter/sled comes in at just under 50lb and easily slides into the back of my SUV (even when fully loaded with gear.)

p.s. it is a not a true run-and-gun flip over, but I’ve perfected the art of dragging it 100 feet or more to change depth, without taking it down

Same here. I can get everything in the tub even though it’s shallow. Super lightweight. I wish it was a little easier to get the poles down but I’ve been really impressed with mine. It’s perfect for 3 holes…jig, deadstick, livescope.

I got mine for under $200 when gander mountain closed.

Sylvanboat wrote:

I use a 2-person Clam Trap Guide – old flip over. I love the addl room of the larger hut. I do bring a lot of stuff though.

This is what I use. Pulled one seat. Put in a big fluffy dog bed for my Lab.

How do you guys with 1 mans fit/pack your auger in your sled?

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

How do you guys with 1 mans fit/pack your auger in your sled?

About a 1/4 of my auger hangs on the outside.

I would make sure that there is enough difference between the sled you have and the one you are getting. If you have a hub, that is lighter, so you need a flip is you are moving to make that simpler, but if it is heavier than the hub you might never use it. If I had one that was a good no compromises 2 man, I would get the tiniest 1 man you can find.

AK Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>duluth1an wrote:</div>
How do you guys with 1 mans fit/pack your auger in your sled?

About a 1/4 of my auger hangs on the outside.

Hangs out the back when walking. If I take drill and bit apart both fit in my legend.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>broeker wrote:</div>
For what it’s worth, after sitting in many shelters and watching a million YouTubes, I ended up with the icerunner explorer.

It is marketed as a two-man shelter, but I have found it to be a pretty ideal one man shelter (and “acceptable” for two.)

There is no built-in chair (which I like) so the entire shelter/sled comes in at just under 50lb and easily slides into the back of my SUV (even when fully loaded with gear.)

p.s. it is a not a true run-and-gun flip over, but I’ve perfected the art of dragging it 100 feet or more to change depth, without taking it down

Same here. I can get everything in the tub even though it’s shallow. Super lightweight. I wish it was a little easier to get the poles down but I’ve been really impressed with mine. It’s perfect for 3 holes…jig, deadstick, livescope.

I got mine for under $200 when gander mountain closed.

I’m also in this group. Have had lots of others and the Explorer fit my needs to a T. Most small sleds can’t seem to figure out that mounting the sled tent over the side instead of the front gives you way more room. Shappell and Frabill are the only ones I know of and I’ve had both. As I’m getting older I need to stand up once in a while and neither one allows for anyone over 5’6″ to stand without bending some part of the body. The Explorer allows for all my electronics, heater, fishing equipment and room for more. Love the rear door also as I don’t have to trip over anything to get in or out. Three years of hard use and still going strong.

I am another Legend XL owner that loves it. I had been eyeing them for a couple of years and finally pulled the trigger last January. What a step up from my old uninsulated two-man that I had for about 15 years. It has made ice fishing so much more enjoyable for me. I have a smitty sled. I am just short enough that I can stand straight up inside. The seat is comfy. Wish I would have bought it sooner.

I consider the Clam Legend XL a 1.5 person shack. My daughter won one in a tornament. Her and I can fish out of it together since she is still small.

Ran an Eskimo evo1, big one man, small tub tho so makes gear hauling tough. Switched to the Eskimo Sierra and love it. Also went to a Yukon xl from a regular Yukon so I have room for hauling.

Seems the same getting in and out of truck. Worth a look as well

Otter Cottage sounds like something that would be great.

I guess I’m the rare 1 man house fan. I rarely use a heater in mine. I fish outside much of the time so having a small and light 1 man shack to carry all my stuff in and act as a wind break when needed, is nice. Paired with a little buddy if I bring a heater and I could fish in it all day.

Just downsized from an older clam yukon uninsulated to a clam nanook insulated. Have yet to use the nanook, but it does seem a lot smaller! My theory is to use it as a one man, but still have the option to fish two out of it.

I had a small two-man Otter for over 20 years. Now that I am older (65) I find it was getting harder for me to lift up to put in the back of my Traverse and of course harder to pull. I bought a little one-man Frabill last year and I love it. So much lighter and easy to move around. Yep, can’t even come close to the room I had before, but at this point in my life, I am downsizing anyway. Just learn to take less. Here in Iowa, I pull my sled everywhere so downsizing was important. I find I can get everything I need and my little heater works great. So if you are just looking to go light, go with the one man, but realize it really IS A ONE MAN!

i run an otter cottage. it has 16.8 sq ft of fishable area. i can fit the following in my tub

auger
otter seat
big buddy heater
otter rod case (old style one)
otter sportsmans caddy which holds 1 lbers, lights ect
marcum LX5
small tackle bag
small cooler
minnow bucket

When i fish i have enough room to fish two holes. ive even fished with 2 people in there a couple of times. it was tight but doable.

For what its worth Scheels lists the fishable area of the Clam Legend XL Thermal to be 16 sq ft not 17 if that makes a difference to you. It shows this house is 15 lbs lighter than the otter cottage which could be a big difference if you are walking with it.

Overall i enjoy having the one man. it suits my needs when i fish alone or with someone else you dont mind being cozy with. I have a 4 man hub style house i use if theres a crowd

404 ERROR wrote:

I guess I’m the rare 1 man house fan. I rarely use a heater in mine. I fish outside much of the time so having a small and light 1 man shack to carry all my stuff in and act as a wind break when needed, is nice. Paired with a little buddy if I bring a heater and I could fish in it all day.

I’m with you. I had a Clam Pro Thermal (predecessor to Legend XL) and it was too big for me, but the extendable poles were the deal breaker. I actually used it as a 2-person with my wife more than by myself. My ideal 1 man has solid poles and weighs less than 50 lbs.

I also haven’t sat inside a fish house in 2 years so my opinion is far out of the norm.