If you usually do your ice fishing alone, and you are looking for a reliable, durable ice fishing shelter for a fairly low price, Otter’s Ice Cottage is a good option to consider. It is 77 inches by 54 inches at the base, and 63 inches tall in the center. Collapsed, it is only 54 inches long, 32 inches wide, and 18 inches tall. If you decide to buy only the shelter, the Ice Cottage is only $300, which is a pretty good price considering the quality of its design. However, if you decide to get a package deal with your Ice Cottage, you can pay $500 for the shelter, sled, and padded seat. The Ice Cottage weighs only 70 pounds, including everything you get in the package deal. This particular piece of ice fishing gear is a little heavier than other one-person ice fishing shelters, so if you are looking for a very lightweight, mobile shelter, the Ice Cottage may not be right for you.
People who like the Ice Cottage say it is because it is very comfortable. It is quite spacious for a one-person shelter, with enough room to keep all of your equipment inside and still stretch your legs. The Ice Cottage is sometimes preferable to the Fish Trap Scout because it is tall enough to stand up in. Having to crawl and kneel all the time can be extremely frustrating if you’re in a cramped shelter for hours on end. The Ice Cottage is also very comfortable because the cushioned seat can swivel around, and features forward-backward and side-to-side adjustability. There is some room behind the seat to store gear, which is uncommon in one-person ice fishing shelters. This is a nice feature because it frees up more floor space for drilling holes. The designers of the Ice Cottage did an exceptional job proportioning the air vents. It is difficult to balance airflow with heat retention in ice fishing shelters, because if there is not enough ventilation, the shelter gets too stuffy, and if there is too much, it gets too cold. There is no problem with ventilation in the Ice Cottage.
The Ice Cottage is a flip-over style of collapsible shelter, which means that to unpack the Ice Cottage, all you have to do is flip the tent part up from the sled it was packed on, and over to the ground on the other side of the package. This design of collapsible shelter is sometimes preferred to the suitcase variety because it is much easier and takes much less time to set up. Most flip-over style ice fishing shelters can be fully assembled in less than 30 seconds. Some people prefer the suitcase design because it is more lightweight and collapses more tightly, which means that it can be packed into a smaller volume. However, the suitcase style never comes with a built-in seat, so people with that variety of ice fishing shelter also have to bring something to sit on, so they may end up carrying just as much weight and have their gear take up just as much space.
