How thick black vs white

[Bearseatfish]

I know clear black ice is the best for strength and 4" is the recommend thickness for "safe ice". What is the school of thought in white ice? Same Parameters?

[Uppervalley Kid]

Personally I’d stay away from anything that didn’t have 4” of black ice unless I was in wading depth.

[bootstrap]

black ice with no snow on it freaks me out. i feel like im standing on an aquarium and i dont like it. if its thin i dont want to see!

[zcm_82]

black ice with no snow on it freaks me out. i feel like im standing on an aquarium and i dont like it. if its thin i dont want to see!

I love being able to see the bottom when I'm walking. Lets you see what condition the vegetation is in, specific structure points, etc.

[Brian VT]

Me and a buddy were pike fishing on 3"-4" of clear ice. His (old) tip ups had white line on them. I was able to see and follow the line, and eventually the fish, and I was yelling to him what the fish was doing. It was a great time and a great memory. And we stayed topside. ;-)

[Scranton Joe]

Me and a buddy were pike fishing on 3"-4" of clear ice. His (old) tip ups had white line on them. I was able to see and follow the line, and eventually the fish, and I was yelling to him what the fish was doing. It was a great time and a great memory. And we stayed topside. ;-)

I love that clean 4 inch ice too.  We haven't had any in a coons age though.

[thomasthepikehunter]

I know clear black ice is the best for strength and 4" is the recommend thickness for "safe ice". What is the school of thought in white ice? Same Parameters?

Most charts I've seen says consider white ice 50% as strong as clear ice. I've never been anywhere it mattered. It's rare to get more than maybe 2" of white ice. It's mostly melted snow, or rain if you get that which refroze on top of the regular ice. If you have more than that of white ice, I would be more concerned on why you have so much white ice.

[Brian VT]

I love that clean 4 inch ice too.  We haven't had any in a coons age though.

\We had some recently before a warm spell set us way back.
This fall a muskrat started making a nest in my floating boat dock so I pulled it out of the water. (it was time anyway).
My neighbor was walking on the clear ice and he saw the muskrat under and followed it. He said it was cool as hell. The muskrat would swim to trapped air bubbles under the ice and then roll over and take in the air and continue hunting or whatever it was doing.

[tentwiststhick]

There had better be at least 4" of black ice beneath the white ice and sustained weather below freezing at night and most of the day too. imo

[Crawlerman]

I would count white ice equivalent to whipped cream. Especially at thaw out. I was on a lake where the main body was clear hard ice but the edges and coves were white. The freezing and thawing turned about 13 inches of ice to absolute garbage. In this case it was honeycombing. First step into it it crumbled like a cookie shattered into little shreds. Luckily it was shallow there or I would have gone in . Also 4 inches of good ice is fine but don't assume 50 ft away is 4 inches. Check as you go. I like ice at 8 inches or more so if you end up on a later formed area you have a margin of error to work with.  Also don't assume it's safe because there are people out there. First people go on unsafe ice. Second they may know a safe route and you don't. SAFETY FIRST.  Unsafe don't push it. It's not worth it.

[Scranton Joe]

\We had some recently before a warm spell set us way back.
This fall a muskrat started making a nest in my floating boat dock so I pulled it out of the water. (it was time anyway).
My neighbor was walking on the clear ice and he saw the muskrat under and followed it. He said it was cool as hell. The muskrat would swim to trapped air bubbles under the ice and then roll over and take in the air and continue hunting or whatever it was doing.

That's wild man.  Great memory.

[bigfoot86]

No matter what, I like to see 4”+ of black ice.  If there’s 4 or more of black ice i don’t care if there’s any white on top. 

Yes, clear black ice in that 4-5” inch range where you can see through easily freaks me out too!

[62&done]

Will agree that clear ice is kinda freaky but on the other hand it is very rare to be on any ice that does not have some cracks in it. a close look at these cracks and you can pretty well see how thick it is which will put one at ease.  If all else fails,  spud spud spud

[butcher]

White ice is porous and brittle. Black is hard and sturdy. For a single fisherman, you want 4” of solid black. For a group, 6” of black.

There is almost always a layer of white on top of black, but you need to be VERY wary of white.

If the temperature is frigid low 20’s or less, white will hold up to some extent, but as soon as the sun hits it or the air gets even a little warm, that white turns to mush.

I’ve been on lakes that had 4-5 inches of white on top and a similar amount of black underneath. When I walked out in the early morning, the white was firm and held just fine, but in the afternoon, I stepp on that same ice and my feet would plunge right through it to the top of the black ice.

It is scary when that happens, but as long as there’s at least 4” of black youlll stay topside. If there isn’t, you may be going for a swim (or a casket).

Play it safe. Only count the black and measure as you go.

[lowaccord66]

No measurement, I do what the spud tells me.