One of the main attributes of an ice fishing enthusiast is the winter fisherman’s crate. This simple device creates comfortable conditions during fishing (serves as a seat, is a storage for fish, protects the hole from the wind), and is also designed for convenient storage and carrying of gear.
Of course, it is easy to buy it in many specialized stores, but models of industrial production can not always satisfy the wishes of the owner. Therefore, many anglers make a box for winter fishing with their own hands. About materials and manufacturing methods, you can ask more experienced comrades.
Equipment Requirements
Experienced anglers are advised to select the size of the box for winter fishing for the equipment already used, and not at all in the reverse order. Therefore, it is better to first collect all the devices necessary for fishing, estimate their volume, leave more space for future catch - this will be the necessary carrying capacity.
The fishing box, like any other device, must meet some requirements:
- It should be lightweight, as the angler sometimes has to travel several kilometers on snowy ice, and carrying the extra burden on his shoulders is not very pleasant.
- The practicality of the drawer should provide both the free placement of necessary things inside the device, and the ease of their removal.
- Based on the optimal capacity, a self-made box for winter fishing should be designed to fit all the necessary gear.
- Any box should not creak under the weight of the human body, so you need to ensure sufficient structural strength.
- The strap for carrying the fishing box must have a large width to ensure it is comfortable to wear. It should be adjustable in length and not twisted during operation.
- The bottom and walls must be airtight to prevent moisture from entering the device. In the presence of cracks, the joints must be lubricated with a hermetic.
Types of Boxes
Basically, homemade boxes for winter fishing, like industrial models, can conditionally be classified according to the nature of the material used in their manufacture.
Most often, anglers prefer the following designs:
- Metal crates. They have pretty good reliability and durability. It attracts anglers with excellent stability and long service life of metal structures. But in extreme cold, the metal can be cold, which can even lead to injuries to the hands.
- Plastic constructions. They have become very popular lately. Moreover, modern craftsmen use various types of plastics to make a box for winter fishing with their own hands. This material is much lighter than metal, but often there is a problem with the low stability of a plastic product, so you have to increase its bottom area.
- Wooden structures. Slightly lose their popularity, as their weight is quite large, and the wood has low moisture resistance, so you have to apply a large coat of paint.
Making homemade boxes
Such devices can be seen not only among beginner fishermen, but also among experienced, experienced fishermen. And it’s not at all the cost of the device, just industrial designs do not suit many in terms of their functionality. After all, it is much more pleasant to use a box in which each element is specially adapted to your own desires and needs.
The process of creating a box for winter fishing with your own hands completely depends on the imagination and material capabilities of the owner. Recently, models made from the freezer from an old refrigerator, a large plastic canister, as well as various types of polystyrene have become very popular. But the old, reliable wooden structures have not lost their relevance.
Canister Item
A box for winter fishing from a canister is a very practical product, light and roomy, however, in case of high frost, the case may crack, which is its main drawback.
It is based on the necessary capacity of the box that the size of the canister is selected. The order of operations is as follows:
- To form an open container, first cut off the top of the canister.
- Then you need to strengthen the top of the box, for which you need to attach a metal strip along the cut.
- Insulate the canister body from the outside to avoid cracking the material in cold weather.
- The lid can be made from a piece of thick plywood. For a comfortable sitting, you need to glue a sheet of polyurethane or polystyrene onto the lid, having previously covered it with a soft cloth.
- Through small furniture hinges, we attach the cover to the body with rivets or bolted connections.
You can make the lid directly from the canister. To do this, one cut is made in the center of the upper part, and then two parallel cuts on both sides. In this case, the top of the canister will be divided into two parts. The stopper of such a cover will serve as a wrapped cork. The seat will have to be made removable, with Velcro.
Partitions are installed inside the case, which will divide it into several functional compartments, while creating structural stiffeners.
Box from an old freezer
A popular product is a box for winter fishing from the freezer from an old, old-life refrigerator. This design is not afraid of rust, has a low weight and strong enough. To make it, you need:
- Remove the freezer from the old refrigerator, having previously disconnected all the working elements of the device. Such a camera is already 70% ready-made housing of the future box.
- Next, we make the bottom of the device, for which a blank of a suitable size is cut from a sheet of galvanized steel or aluminum, leaving allowances for fastening. The bottom is fixed with a bolted connection, and even better - rivets.
- At will, the required number of partitions is made of the same material as the bottom.
- The lid of the box can be made both from metal and from a sheet of plywood. To comfortably wait for the bite, the seat must be trimmed with soft material.
- Using furniture hinges, the cover is attached to the body with rivets or bolts.
- The final step will be to attach a wide belt to carry the product.
If desired, in order to avoid spontaneous opening of the drawer, metal fasteners can be installed on the body and cover.
Foam device
Widely used are modern materials that are light in weight, high in strength, resistant to moisture and temperature extremes. So, a box for winter fishing made of polystyrene foam in the summer can be used as a refrigerator because of the excellent thermal insulation properties of the material.
For the manufacture of the box, you will need to cut blanks from the foam sheet for the side walls, bottom and cover. To make a reliable bond of these parts, you need to make grooves in them. Moreover, in the blank for the bottom, it is necessary to cut out the recesses on all four sides, and for the side walls there is enough groove on only three sides.
Then, using liquid nails, all surfaces are reliably bonded. To strengthen the structure, you can fix the workpieces with self-tapping screws.
The cover is also made of polystyrene, having previously made the grooves. To attach the belt, you will have to insert two pieces of dense plywood in the middle of the end part of the box, placing them outside and inside the case.
Wooden box
The availability of modern materials slightly pushed into the background the use of wooden structures. Do-it-yourself plywood box for winter fishing has a lot of weight and poor moisture protection.
The manufacture of a carrying frame is not particularly difficult. Prepared by size, the workpieces are fastened together using any available method (screws, nails). To create partitions, cut out grooves in the side walls.
The lid of the structure is hung using hinges using small diameter screws.
Additional items
To prevent the drawer from slipping off the shoulder when carrying it, you need to glue a small piece of rubber or polyurethane mat on its belt.
A very convenient fixture for storing fishing rods is a soft rubber holder mounted on the inside of the lid.
For a canister drawer, a pocket made of a smaller canister can be attached to the sides.
Remember that a self-made box for winter fishing is a functional device that will help the fisherman to deliver all the necessary equipment to the place of fishing, while significantly saving strength, as well as an ideal storage for caught fish.