My Review of Gorilla’s Ice Cube 4 Man Portable Ice Shelter

Over the holidays I bought myself a portable ice shelter. I chose the Gorilla Ice Cube, 4 man shelter. I researched and looked at a few different ice shelters and I chose the Ice Cube. So this is my personal review after trying it out ice fishing on a river.

First off, the price was right! It was on sale for $100 off the regular price so that was a bonus! After trying the Ice Cube out I think paying regular price would not have been an issue for me. It is a good size, I can stand up in it without a problem and it can and will seat 4 people. I tried it out first with 2 people and had lots of room to move and have some gear inside. The second time I used it was with 2 adults and 1 child and there was still enough room. For a 91″x91″x80″ centre height, it has a lot of room, because looking at it you wouldn’t think so.

The Ice Cube comes in a nice carry bag, with straps for behind the back carrying. Hard to believe that this shelter is is this bag! So after getting to my spot on the river, I unpacked the shelter and started the easy 1-2-3 setup. At first I tried setting it up in my garage so I knew what I was getting into and glad I did. Setting it up is easy but at first you have to get used to it. The instructions are straight forward but took a little getting used to. You think your going to break this thing setting it up but the poles are very strong and can take a lot when you set it up.

First is to unfold it with the top piece on top, pull hard on the eye, then go to each side and “pop” out all sides. Oh, first you should anchor down one corner with the screw in ice anchor to make sure it doesn’t get away on you. This is done in windy conditions but I didn’t need to do this as I just step on one corner and pull up, then go side to side, pull the sides out, because it wasn’t windy out at the time.

After the Ice Cube is up just now put it where you want it. Once this is done, place it down and now anchor it to the ice on all 4 sides with the adjustable straps and ice anchors. You just screw the ice anchors into the ice and place the strap around the anchor. It holds the shelter down very well. Now your good to go ice fishing!

Once the Ice Cube is up and anchored, now you can unzip the 2 windows to get some light in. Now I auger my holes, clean out the slush, set up my gear and chair and started fishing. It was -20 degrees out so I turned on my portable heater which made it quite comfortable after about 20 minutes. There’s a air vent on the roof to make sure there’s enough air getting in with the propane heater going. Plus the black color attracts the sun as well giving you more heat which I liked.

Now I fished for about 4 hours and it was great! Me and my wife the first time out and then us and our grand-daughter the next time. There was plenty of room for all of us and the Ice Cube stood up to the Manitoba winter. I’m impressed with the Ice Cube and I should have bought one long time ago as it also allows you to move around to where the fishing is hot!

The take down went very easy and on the first try I managed to get the shelter in the storage bag. After a few more times setting this up and taking it down is easy. All in all, I couldn’t have gone wrong with buying the Ice Cube. It is a very good product and withstands the Canadian winters!