Ice fishing safety precautions?

[TwoNewToIce]

    Again, This is all from the books, as well as, common sense...so, I'm asking for "practical experience and advice".

    My daughter wears a PFD with a WHISTLE attached, carries a pair of ICE PICKS, and has verbally gone through the 'scenario' repeatedly...
    She's been "told" of the shock to expect from cold water immersion, knows to "turn" to face the direction she had walked from, has practiced "gripping and seperating" her ice picks, and understands how to use them...
    We sit on floatation cushions on our buckets, carry a rope in our sled, and a blanket in our car...
    We've let the bigger guys "test" the ice for us, and left the ice before them...

    NEVER FISH ALONE ON THE ICE...!

    She also knows that if anyone 'goes in', or anything 'abnormal' happens, she is to drop her gear, grab her cushion, and get on shore...

    What else might help a beginner...?

[TwoNewToIce]

    Here's another one from the books, but since it didn't apply to my daughter (or myself), I neglected to include it, tho, someone may need to hear this...

    Avoid Alcohol...for two reasons...

1)   One may believe that a "nip" will warm them up, however, as the blood vessels dialate and blood flow increases, more "core" body heat will be carried away and lost through the "extremeties".

2)   More Importantly, one may be inclined to make a less "rational" decision, in an emergency situation, and potentially put their own, or someone else's life in danger...

    Just a thought...

     
   

[HIMO]

words of wisdom worth a million dollars. thanks

[Cold as Ice]

No alcohol?  Awwww man! That just takes all of the fun right out of it ..............Just kidding

[acsacmboy]

amen to that Ralph and Mary.....

[Hardguy]

Thats good that you are going over procedures beforehand. We all get so lax that we probably would panic. Make sure your pics float.

[crappieman12887]

the big thing i see people do is panic,the only thing i can say is if you dont feel right stay the heck of the ice.,and if your on the ice an something is to happen try to keep calm and get the heck out.,and all the precautions you talked about are excellent put if you lose your head your screwed.bill

[corny13]

Well I thought Id write about a few other ice precautions everyone should know about...esp since it looks like two guys are drowned here in ND this week ( they are missing).

1) when driving on a frozen lake with deep enough ice for your vehicle...DRIVE SLOWLY...ie 5mph  the faster you drive a shock wave proceedes your vehicle that can make crack in the ice go up and down allowing your vechicle to go thru even though the ice is deep enough to hold it otherwise.
2) Keep your electric window rolled down... my old pickup has manual roll down cranks!
3) If unfamiliar with a lake talk to the locals about where springs are as well as where the last open water was...stay away from those places.
4) Do not cross pressure ridges with vehicles (most likely area to break thru)

[reich607]

I prefer not to bring any enclosed vehicle out on the ice! It just seems that if you do go through, its a death trap

[Grey Ghost]

Only ever broke through early in the year on about an inch of ice