Frequently Asked Questions

The sleeve is made of high density plastic and the cover is made out of lexan.  The use of these products along with the design of our sleeve has resulted in a sleeve that is of very high quality, and will allow you to use our system on several fishing trips going forward.

Currently there is not a sleeve and cover system or an aftermarket cover that allows a true flush ability.  Other products in the market have their own adaptable cover or covers that have been developed to accommodate other sleeves already.  However, they protrude from the floor anywhere from near a 1/4 inch to close to a 1/2 inch.  This protrusion creates a tripping hazard, as well as an injury hazard since you could stub your feet on other manufacturer’s covers in your wheelhouse.  Our sleeve has been developed to universally fit the two main manufactures in the market that make permanent covers for wheelhouses and permanent shacks, with the use of our Fish Hole Buddy Accessory Clips,

Our cover is fully encompassed on the bottom and sides of the cover, which allows it to fit flush with the top of our sleeve.  This creates 360 degrees of support for the cover on the sides and bottom, so you don’t have to worry about the cover slipping out of the sleeve.  With our cover being made of lexan you will also experience minimal flexing of the cover when even an adult is standing on top of the cover.  With minimal flexing, full encompassment, and a solid ledge you won’t have to worry about your cover slipping out of the sleeve.

We made our sleeves the standard 9″ height since some people block their houses up with boards to prevent their frames from freezing to the ice or if their is flooding on the ice from the weight of snow. Additionally, with varying frame heights and floor thicknesses, you can then cut your sleeves to the preferred height. We recommend cutting your sleeves by setting your house on a flat surface and measuring from the ground to the top of the floor ring that our sleeve sits on. Some sleeve owners cut it to the exact height, and some will shorten the sleeve slightly to account for snow pack or uneven ice.

In order to achieve our true flush sleeve and cover combination the telescoping process is a little bit different compared to the other sleeves in the market. The reason is that our sleeves have less taper to them as a result of the smaller opening on the top, which allowed is to achieve flush cover, and still being able to have an opening on the bottom that was greater than 10″. While the process is different, the added safety and security that our flush mounted covers offer compared to others in the market is the main reason people are making the switch to Sven’s Sleeve in their house and has become one of the hottest wheelhouse accessories in the market.  With actual frames general ranging from 4” to 6” and varying floor and flooring thickness, unfortunately not all wheelhouse have a standard cut height.

If you cut your sleeves or the telescoping piece too short or are looking for additional height, we do have 4-6” black remants available on our website for sale for $5 each.  Each remnant extends the sleeve approximately 2.5″ since it is beveled, when stacked on the outside of your sleeve, and can be shortened to desired extension.  If you are looking for a longer telescope from the remnant you will just need to make a vertical cut to remove enough material to achieve desired telescope if you will drop in on the inside of your existing sleeve.

With dropdown wheelhouses now being the preferred ice house, and less people converting campers to ice houses, the demand for a longer sleeve is not enough to support the cost of developing a mold and then manufacturing an 18″ sleeve.  However, there are times where we will have a limited quantity of sleeve remnants that can be added to our existing sleeve.  Each remnant will add 2.5″ of height to our existing sleeve if you are looking for a sleeve in the 12″, 15″ 18″ or longer.

If you have done a camper conversion and need a taller sleeve, but want our flush system another option is cutting the bottom off a 5 or 6 gallon bucket and then dropping our sleeve in the bucket to create the long sleeve.  Another good option is to cut down an existing 18″ sleeve that you have to the preferred height after inserting our sleeve into theirs to create a tall telescope.

While fishing out on the ice, our direct on ice sleeves and covers will reduce the exposure to wind and cold air that contribute to ice developing on the top of your hole.  The cover will also prevent most loose ice and snow from being kicked into the hole as well, which often results in ice forming on the top of your hole also.

For wheelhouses, our sleeves are designed to reduce the amount of wind draft that comes from under your house that allows cool air to get into your wheelhouse or cause your hole to ice over.  If you are on uneven ice and have cut your sleeves to a preferred height or have a gap between the sleeve and the ice you can pile up some snow or ice by the hole and push your sleeve into the snow or slush to seal off your hole.

Additionally, putting a fan on the floor in the back and/or front of the house, depending on the layout, creates the air movement that is necessary to keep warm air going down the hole covers and keeping the holes open.  In our experience, we have been on the lake for 4+ days in subzero temperatures without needing to clean out the holes while on the ice.

If you are looking for additional items the help reduce the chance of your holes freezing over in your wheelhouse we recommend packing the sides of your holes under your wheelhouse with slush/snow, banking your house with snow when it is available or using frame skirts when it is not, putting wheel skirts over wheel well, and/or using a Bobber Buddy Sleeve Cozy that is available on our website to provide additional thermal insulation from the cold.

Our cover was designed with four designated entry points for your electronics that you put in your ice fishing hole.  This feature is not available on any other covers in the market.  You may also use the fishing line slot for your electronics, if preferred.  However, by using the dedicated entry points you are less apt to experience your fishing line getting tangled up with your electronics.

 Generally ice fisherman that are fishing directly on the ice or in a portable tend to be less stationary.  Since they tend to move one or more times during the day. The likelihood of experiencing a freeze-in unlikely.  We will not rule out the freeze-in possibility of a sleeve that is inserted into the hole for an extended period of time due to extreme cold temperatures.  However, with the design of our sleeve, we are confident that you will be able to remove the sleeve in the event of a freeze-in through a twisting motion out of the hole.

Sven’s Sleeve® offers a limited lifetime warranty in materials or workmanship of our products that have not been modified from their original design.  We will replace any damaged product that occurs during normal use and proper installation of our product at our discretion.  Damage resulting from unintended use of our product will not be warrantied.

Through our research it was estimated that over 70% of ice fisherman that fish in a portable or directly on the ice use an 8” auger.  As a result, our focus was to develop a high quality product that would accommodate the significant majority of the ice fishing market.  We recognized that the second most popular size was a 10” hole, and that there are some auger sizes between 8 inches and 10 inches.  We wanted to be able to accommodate the ice fisherman, looking to secure their hole, that fish with holes between these sizes.

We will not be producing any sleeves for our direct on ice model smaller than 8″ as a result of the demand not being enough to support the cost to manufacture these smaller sizes.  It is estimated that 70-75% of users use an 8″ auger, while 10-15% use an auger larger than 8″ and are becoming more popular.

The sleeve is about 4 3/8 inches tall and inserts into the hole about 4 inches.  The outside diameter of the sleeve portion that inserts in the hole is about 7 4/5 inches on the top and about 7 2/5 inches on the bottom.  The sleeve portion is approximately a 1/8 inch thick.  The cover is about 1/4 inch thick. The collar that rests on the ice is about 11 3/4 inch wide.

Unfortunately, our sleeves do not fit inside these buckets.  In order to make the sleeve accommodate a 10 inch hole we had to make the sleeve with a wider collar.

Our sleeves are beveled, which will allow them to stack together.  Our portable/hub/direct on ice model stacks in 2″ increments.  Our wheelhouse model stacks in 3″ increments..

We currently only offer the smoke option on our direct on ice model, and do not plan on offering it with our wheelehouse model in the future unless we offer it as a limited edition option for the wheelhouse model.

Using the smoked cover with Sven’s Sleeve direct on ice model will limit the amount of light that goes down a hole when fishing during the day, or when you have a lot of light from your portable lights.  You are still able to see your bobber or other tackle when the smoke cover is in use.

If you are looking for a smoke option for your clear wheelhouse covers we recommend you tinting them yourselves. By tinting them yourself, you can choose how dark you want them and do it for nearly the same cost as it would be for us to offer  a smoke option.

Our researched showed us that not all 8” augers create an 8” hole.  If your auger is slightly less than 8” it may be necessary to round out the top of your hole so your Sven’s Sleeve fits into the hole?

Since several skid houses or homemade shacks are lower to the ice, our direct on the ice version is a viable option to secure your hole since the floor is in close proximity to the ice.  Our wheelhouse model is also an option if you have floor rings from Catch Cover or Fish Hole Buddy in your floor.  If you already have holes in your floor that are larger than our direct on ice sleeve you can insert the sleeve directly into the ice. 

Our direct on ice model is designed to be walked and stood on by adults weighing 300 pounds or less.   While we have tested it to support weight amounts in excess of 300 pounds, we recommend you avoid standing or walking on our covers for extended periods of time to prevent damage or injury.

Our wheelhouse model has been tested up to 700 pounds without breaking or slipping out of the sleeve.  Check out our durability test showing the strength of the covers on our wheelhouse model.  Our proven design and it’s durability provides you the strongest and safest option for covers in your wheelhouse.

Excessive jumping on our covers is not recommended and can result in damage or injury. 

Any material is bound to get scratched if not protected when not in use or during transport.  To minimize the amount of scratching, we recommend they be stored in a way the will result in keeping them from moving around during transport and placing a paper towel or piece of paper in between each cover.  We do offer our Sven’s Sack that allows you to store up to 16 wheelhouse covers, accessory clips and bobber buddy cozies in one spot.