Holding ice tent flaps down

[FOOTDOC]

I recently bought a Shappell Rover single man ice tent that pulls over like the Clam products. There is a generous amount of canvas when it is in the closed position. The other day, I was fishing on a lake with little snow cover and notice when in the closed position with me inside, the flaps continuously would blow inside the fishing area. Does anyone have any ideas how to anchor this material. It appears they left a generous 6" lip of mateial and I was thinking of taking the canvas off and asking my wife to sew small, tubular pieces of lead in the flap. What do you think and what would be the best source of lead? I realize this will add a small amount of weight to my unit. THanks in advance!

[Guest]

Doc,

My first thought for weighting the canvas would be sewing the long (8-oz) Decoy weights into them at intervals.

Otherwise, what about adding some short bungy-type tie-downs to the flaps? You could even make them with some custom cut Bungy cord and some "s" hooks, just a thought...Less weight too...

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Chells

[Guest]

Another option to consider, if you're going to open the bottem hem of the canvas, would be to sew in a length of chain or cable which may be easier to come by than finding strips of lead.

[IceC]

When fishing with no or little snow, I just drill a hole and stop before hitting water and use the ice shavings to pack around the skirt. Just make sure to finish drilling the holes out to refreeze so nobody breaks their leg Plus, no added weight and it's cheap.

IceC

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Have an Ice day :)

[Guest]

Use the ice shavings. Like IceC
BUT DONT HIT THE WATER you will chip and pull your a$$ off to get it loose and most likly wreck or rip your flap.

[Dusty]

I use the flex lead duck decoy weight in the hem of my fishtrap. And it works good.

[Stiff]

I always just cary a kid sized snow shovel and use it to collect the slush from my holes to pack on the flaps on the outside of the house. It generally freezes hard but pops loose easily at the end of the day. I thought everyone did this??

Hopefully your house has a door so you can leave the flaps on the ice when you want to get out. If not, pack ridge of slush around the inside edge of house. I used to have a fish trap II (no door)and that was how I did it then.

[Tully]

A buddy of mine has a Frabil and he has some flat rods that he slides in to weight it down. They come with an open hem at the bottom. He also has marks painted on the bar so he knows where to drill his holes to evenly space them.
Tully

[Steve Foss]

I also have a Trap II, and I pack slush from the two holes in a ridge around the inside, and I pull the spare fabric INSIDE the shelter and lay slush on it. That freezes, so when I have to open the shelter to get to a tip-up, that frozen slush clings to the fabric, acting as anchoring weights when I close it back up.

They are easy to knock off at the end of the day, and I have never ripped the canvas doing it.

I also bring towels along to pack into the slits in the canvas along the hinges.

That being said, I'd still rather have a Guide so I could go in and out through a door.