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This year the FW team decided to tackle a new project for ice fishing season. We had a need for a new fishing shelter and preferred a portable. However, there are things about commercially available portables that are not pleasing: price, size, weight, price, features, price, construction, requirements, price, price, price and price. You may have noticed my fascination with price and it was a deciding factor in tackling this project. Yet, there’s more to this than just price. There really were drawbacks to commercial portables. Granted, if these portables were 100 or 200 dollars cheaper we would overlook their shortcomings, alas they are not and thus the project.
We started by figuring out what we needed. Just building a house like a store-bought portable would miss the point. Ours needed to be better, not just cheaper. After shopping for a portable and trying out different styles and then comparing that experience with our real-life experiences in portables over the years we came to some pretty simple conclusions.
HEIGHT:
Most fishhouses on the market are designed for people with hairy feet who live in houses hollowed out of trees.
Popular now are the “Trap” style houses. Traps consist of a sled with seats. Attached to the sled is a tarp that you pull over you like a cocoon. Actually, that’s a good simile. Exiting one of these houses after a day of fishing is sort of like being birthed from a cocoon. You emerge flapping your arms like butterfly wings and flopping about all in an attempt to get your back to go straight again. The Trap was not for us, but it had good features. Namely, it’s primary piece- the sled. Everything you need to fish is based off of the sled. The seats, portability, everything right there where you need it. Traps have super fast setup time and are easy to maneuver into place. The height would be a problem though.
The one thing that was consistent in our rambling sessions about this new design was that it must have enough head room for a 6-foot-plus person to stand up and not have to stoop. The Trap could not serve this purpose and none of the portables we looked at could either until you got into the 300-400 dollar range.
WEIGHT:
A buddy and I once had a fishhouse that was built from a kit. The tarp and its skeleton were sent complete and you were to supply the base. This house had a number of problems (it was too small, the canvas too thin, we burned a hole the size of a basketball in one corner with the heater and other short-comings) chief among them was the house’s weight. The base was made of ½ inch oriented-strand board and it weighed a ton. Also, unlike the Trap you had to have a separate sled to move it around or carry it. The base folded like a suitcase and had a handle right where a suitcase handle would be. Yet, this suitcase was so heavy it was like you’d packed your Encyclopedia Britannica set to go fishing. Weight is a factor, lest you risk popping one of your tubes.
Portables really vary in terms of weight. There are some light ones, but for every one that is light there are 10 that are heavier than a hotel elevator during a Jenny Craig convention. The lightest model I saw was one which was approximately 6 foot by 4 foot and its base did not fold. Though the interior was 6 x 4 feet, the base or small sled on which the canvas set was only 6 x 2 1/2 feet. The absence of hardware and extra material for folding the base made it very light. In fact, even though its collapsed size is still pretty big, this was a great house in which to fish. Its headroom was so-so, but for its price, weight and ease of use it would probably have been the FW fallback plan should our project have failed.
FEATURES:
One thing that really burns my ass about commercial portables is that there’s no room for storage or accessories. It burns my ass because I have actually burned my ass in a portable because there’s no convenient place to put a heater. We tried the little heaters that run on butane torch tanks, but they only serve to burn off their fuel source. Essentially, they’re a better light than a heater and they’re not that great of a light either. No, when we go fishing in the winter we want heat, that’s why our heater must be the “Hell Fire 5000- Heats like a MotherF**ker or your money back (napalm attachment sold separately)”. This is also why we burned a hole in the last portable. It really isn’t our fault. Putting two grown men in a small dark space filled with fishing equipment, buckets, lawn chairs, miscellaneous legal addictive substances AND a large fiery pie-plate of death is a recipe for disaster.
So, we decided right off that this new house must have more than just space; it must have many spaces for many things.
SPEED:
I have to be honest. Team FW doesn’t fish through the ice that often. Frankly, it’s just not our favorite way to fish. Contrast ice fishing with open water fishing for a moment. In the summer, you cruise about in the sunshine wearing shorts and a Fishwrench.com T-shirt casting ever so gracefully under a hanging branch whilst reclining comfortably on the front or back deck of a 20’ Skeeter.
“Ah, like another beer, buddy?” we could be heard to ask in the boat. “Yep”, we are usually heard to answer.
Fishing in the winter is exactly the same except that it’s friggin’ cold, if you happened to pick a bad spot you can’t move real easily and the serene landscape is gray and frozen. Most disturbingly is that peeing outside the fishhouse makes a sound that you usually only hear in the summer if you have accidentally aimed at the motor. Looking at this in terms of urine analysis, in the summer you can simply turn away from your buddy and pee from where you stand. If you do that in the fishhouse, you will pee on the sandwiches.
So, given our infrequency of outings in the winter the house doesn’t need to be assembled and torn down rapidly. Instead, it needs to be easy to unpack and take less than say 5 minutes to put up and take down. This would be slower than a commercial model, but we’re building this for us and this is about our needs and we need to get the house up in less than 5 minutes so that the Jerky doesn’t freeze.
DESIGN COMPLETE:
It was through this fact-finding process that we really discovered what we wanted for a house. We could then learn from some of the portables on the market and come up with our own version. This would take work and that means extra beer. Everyone has beer available at the house, but no one likes to run out. Yet, beer is expensive because the man just keeps pushing me down. So, when the call went out for “extra beer” we were committed and there would be no turning back now.
PROTOTYPE:
Having spent most of our planning budget on drafting materials and a nacho-platter at the conference facility, we decided that we should not buy a lot of materials until we knew what we were building and what it would look like. It was time for a proof of concept or a scale model.
Architects often make scale models so that the customer can better envision the space and spirit of the structure. Seeing the structure in three dimensional forms can give one a better sense of its purpose, its personality, and its overall sense of self. The materials chosen for the model are as important as those actually used in the completed structure. They must send a clear message to the viewer without overwhelming them. The materials must not overtake the symphonic presentation of the piece, but instead echo the object’s grace while giving the object its life-breath. In that vein, we decided to make ours out of cut up pieces of pizza delivery box and the little flags with which the utility company marked the underground phone lines.
Our prototype, while crude took nearly twenty minutes to create. That’s more time than most married couples take to create children.
Our prototype was based on our initial concept mined from the idea-discovery process or “Happy Hour” as it is sometimes called in certain regions. The plan was simple, a lightweight cube, framed with a skeleton of pipe and anchored to a wooden box. The box would serve three purposes:
The entire structure would be sheathed in inexpensive tarps.
The prototype served to give us our first physical realization of our brain excretion. But what would this brain excretion prove to be? Would it be a good secretion like saliva or would it be bad like that stuff that comes out of your ears when you eat greasy foods? I don’t know, it was ok I guess.
We did make one design change based on the prototype. The plan called for two wheels on either end of the box structure. This would serve as a transport medium on the ice, but more importantly a means to easily move the box in the place that it will be most of the time, the garage. However, we could never come up with a good handle or hitch design and the tires were 40$ of extra expense we could do without. The wheels on this bus went round and down into the trash. We opted for a small child’s sled under the box. It would be cheaper lighter but harder to maneuver when off the ice. It was a sacrifice, but a necessary one.
MATERIALS SELECTION:
Searching for materials is difficult. You have to put on a shirt—a clean one and go to one maybe even as many as FOUR stores. Thankfully, we spread out this part of the exercise over two or three weekends.
When it came to deciding what should be used for the house’s materials we took into consideration price, availability and applicability. Would it work? Do you know where it’s sold? Can we afford it? Pretty simple formula, but it worked. We settled on the following:
For the Box, pine for the end pieces, ¼ luann plywood for the bottom and inexpensive flake-board shelving for the sides. Total cost for the box materials and fasteners:16.00$.
For the tubing we chose PVC pipe. ½ diameter pipe for the vertical members, ¾ diameter for the horizontal members. At the corners we used a ¾ inch 90 degree street elbo fitting with a 1/2 inch side discharge. This allowed us to connect three pieces of pipe at each corner with one fitting. Total cost for the piping: $10:00.
For the canvas we chose off-the-shelf low-grade tarps. The tarps themselves were 8 foot by 20 foot and we used two in a cris-cross formation over the cube. Tarp cost: $16.00.
Next was the window material. We chose photo album pages. Total Cost: $5.00.
For the door closures we settled for 4 foot strips of self-adhering industrial Velcro. Total Cost $10.00.
We painted the box since we did not use all-weather materials. Three cans cheap green spray paint. Total Cost: $2.00.
We needed tarp tape to secure the windows as well as a few seams. Total Cost: $3.00.
We also used rivets for the tarp where it attached to the piping. Cost of the rivets and inexpensive rivet gun: 15.00$.
We bought two child sleds that were simply flat pieces of plastic. Total Cost: $5.00.
We bought a few other incidentals for fastening or working with the materials and the final cost was $109.00. Not bad and well within the range where we thought we could build it and still save enough to justify not buying a house.
This process was not of course without peril. To buy Velcro, we had to go to a sewing store and that seemed kind of gay. We went in together, but staggered ourselves about 15 feet apart. We said things like “I think this is where my FEMALE WIFE bought that fabric for my GUN CASE” and “HEY, this don’t look like no strip club!”. We made it out without too much discomfort and I kind of like the fabric store. In fact I’ve been thinking about getting some nice quilting to make a padded frame for all my Joey Lawrence pictures. He’s just the dreamiest - in a not gay or uncomfortably attractive way. I bought a Playboy once and I have a survival knife. REALLY! They’re right here in my decorative basket-- doh.
CONSTRUCTION:
When committing to undertake a project like this you have to be ready. Oh sure, we had gotten the beer, but we hadn’t mentally prepared for what lay ahead. So we allowed ourselves several weekends to meditate and focus our minds on the tasks ahead. After race season was over, we got serious about construction.
First on the list was the construction of the box. This wouldn’t be too difficult, but it would take some careful measuring and preparation. The box would have to be wide enough to hold a 20 pound propane tank and long enough to hold the vertical poles. The size of the inside of the box had to be 6 foot 8 inches by 1 foot 6 inches. The height of the box was determined by the materials. The shelving that we used for the long sides of the box was exceedingly cheap—2.50$. It was available in a size of 8 foot by 12 inches. Now at that size based on the box measurement, we could have used this material for all 4 sides of the box. However, the flake board is not real tough and we feared that the box would not be strong. So, we opted to put solid pine on the ends. The pine was a little more money, but it was cheaper than having to build the box twice.
To construct the box, we cut all pieces to length. Then, we milled a pair of ¾ inch dado grooves in each of the end pieces. These grooves would be where the end and side pieces would intersect. Placing the sides into a groove in the ends would add support. We also ran a ¼ inch dado near the bottom of the sides and ends into which the ¼ inch plywood bottom would inserted.
To assemble the box we simply fit all the pieces together at once into their respective grooves. In each groove we placed a healthy amount of exterior-grade epoxy. At each end, we used 3 T15 zinc-plated torque screws to secure each side to the end piece.
To dress it up a bit, we ran our router with a round-over bit around the piece which knocked off all the sharp corners. Finally, we finished with a little sanding and the piece was ready to go. The entire process took less than a couple hours. Though we had access to a table saw, router and assorted other thingies that whir and shutter the whole project could have been completed with a simple circular saw, screw driver and a sanding block, or a circular saw, router and screwdriver, or one shoe, a butter knife and a carefully honed putty knife.
With the box now in the can, as they say (which is the exact opposite of being in the shitter, by the way), we moved on to the collapsible frame of the house. For this structure we had chosen PVC because it was inexpensive, light and easy to work with. It is a better choice than say, cast iron, lead or solid granite.
The PVC is flimsy; this is its weakest weak point. However, its weakness could also be considered a strength. Strength in that the PVC is so forgiving that it could be bent and flexed when assembling the house. This would mean that the canvas could be CUT-TO-FIT and the pipes could be bent and wedged into place to hold the canvas tight.
To begin, as with the box we cut all of the pipes to their respective sizes. We took into account the length of the fittings at each end of the vertical pieces that would receive the horizontal framing and also the overlap that would be needed to allow each pipe to slide into a coupling fitting. Once all the pieces were cut, we stepped back realize we cut most of them wrong mainly because figuring out their lengths involved math which is an instrument of the devil. Actually, only the vertical pieces were incorrect and this was remedied with 4 splices purchased for 9 cents each at our local home center. No biggie, but this did eat into the extra beer supply.
The pipe frame is designed to have each of the four vertical members permanently affixed to the canvas shell. The horizontal members are to all be loose and the removal of these pieces would be how the house would be disassembled. The horizontal pieces would lay loose in the box. We thought the loose pipes might be a source of confusion because when putting this house up you would have to be inside the canvas shell to put in all the pieces. In the dark, probably in the wind this would be difficult if the pieces weren’t all uniform. Since the prototype and the design called for a cube, all of the sides of the square are equal. Thus, all of the horizontal pieces could be exactly the same length. This would reduce confusion. One exception to this rule would be that the bottom of the pipe frame would connect to the front of the box. This connection meant that the two horizontal pieces at the bottom of the structure would have to be shorter to account for the width of the box. We labeled these pieces with black tape so they would stand out.
To connect the piping to the box, we made two triangle shaped wooden pieces and drilled a 1 inch hole in the center of them. We then affixed each triangle horizontally to the inside rear corners of the box, 1 inch from the top of the box. The rear vertical pipes would be inserted here. Since the rear pipes connect to the box in this manner, there would be no connection fittings at the base of those pipes. For that reason, it would be very easy to determine front from back of the canvas shell when assembling the house.
To connect the piping to the front of the box, we used ¾ inch schedule 40 end caps and affixed each of them to the box using a ¾ inch drywall screw. The piping for the bottom of the pipe frame would simply be inserted into the caps when the house was assembled.
The shell of the house, in our case two tarps, was perhaps the most arduous task. For those of you who don’t know what arduous means, it was a real pain in the butt. However, with two people it can be managed.
We first assembled the pipe frame and connected it to the box. We then took one 8 foot by 20 foot tarp and pulled it up the front of the cube, over the top and down the back. Working from the front of the structure we straightened the tarp and placed rivets at 12 inch intervals all along the front two vertical pieces. We were careful to pull the tarp around each post and rivet the inner side of the pipe so as to prove more support. We then pulled the tarp taught over the top and using spring clamps we secured it at the top of the rear posts. Then as in the front we placed rivets every 12 inches only now we worked from the top down.
The same basic method was used when securing the other tarp only we now spread the tarp from one side to the other overlapping the top of the cube. This time, we only secured the tarp to the back of the cube and the top 12 inches of the front posts. The bottom 4 feet would be left open in the front to serve as doors.
Now with the tarp in place we used two 4 foot self-stick Velcro strips to secure the open portion of the sides to the front posts.
With the tarp done, we moved on to the windows. We opted for three windows and these were placed at our discretion. Since this is a cube, the arrangement of the individuals inside it could vary. Our choice of seating arrangements maybe different that yours and as such you may choose to place windows in different locations. Of course, you may choose to not have windows at all. We used photo-album inserts for windows and simply cut a square hole ½ inch smaller than the insert in each dimension in the tarp. Then with tarp tape we adhered the window to the tarp on both the inside and outside of the cube. Then, we trimmed the excess from the overlap of the tarps and used those scraps for window covers. You see sometimes, you don’t want to look outside. For instance, if your buddy has gone outside to see a man about a horse, you may want to shield your eyes. We simply used more self-stick Velcro, a little in each corner.
Lastly, we put three coats of paint on the box and attached it to the sleds. Our project was complete.
FIELD TEST:
We took the FW house out on a maiden voyage in cold conditions over a weekend.
How did it go?
Well, I got hammered. I must have thrown up 15 times. I threw up so much that I had the dry heaves. I hate the dry heaves. There’s just no sense of closure. Vomiting should be like painting or mowing the lawn; it should be a job that you can walk away from and see that you’ve accomplished something.
As for the house we had a validation of design, but somewhat of a damning of materials. The self-stick Velcro when the temperature fell below 10 degrees. However, sewing it in place would solve the problem.
The piping and tarp worked well when there was no wind. Unfortunately, on our second day out winds were gusting close to 30 miles an hour. This made the house flex with the wind and since there was no floor, the wind wanted to lift the structure. We were able to correct this somewhat by setting the house with the box portion facing the wind. The box side was the strongest and withstood the wind much better. However, later in the day the wind began to swirl as a storm passed by. The structure simply couldn’t maintain it’s shape and it began to slide.
We came to the conclusion that a better door system, one that allowed for securing the houses sides to the bottom pipes would go along way to correcting the problem. Another possible correction would be to somehow construct a base for the house on which we could sit our chairs and add our weight to the structures strength.
CONCLUSIONS:
This house was a great step forward for team FW. The prototype and later version 1 of the FW house performed well in all areas with the exception of materials. We are nearly certain that with a little more effort and a change in a few materials or their use we could make version 2 of this house a treasured fishing tool.
Building something for yourself sometimes saves you money, never saves you time but always makes you feel fulfilled. Team FW’s house was sleek, nifty and very usable and the process was proven to be beneficial due to its result. So next year, before laying down the big money and buying your portable - look to design one for yourself. Need help? Ask Mr. Fishwrench!
