Spud bars

[defish]

Im also 6'2 and to reiterate slayers point....its good to have something you can reach out a bit with....doesnt do much good to find the ice 2 inches from your boot is an inch and a half thick.....I use a homemade one, pretty heavy, but it does the job and so far, knock knock, keeps me on top.

I'm 6'4" and a straight reach forward is 2 to 2 1/2 feet from my feet with the Cabela's spud straight down - further if I angle it.  The long spuds usually weigh around 12-15lbs and I'd rather have the Cabela's spud with me than a 6 ft. long I-don't-want-to-lug-that-thing-with-me-spud that stays at home...  If you want a longer spud the Rapala ones also look good.

[spoofhoundicefisher]

so next question is if I am able to buy a bar long enough or if i need to find someone to make me one?

i had the tech school attached to our high school make me one.  it is just a 6 foot 1/2" rebar with a 4" chunk of steel welded onto the bottom with an edge on it and a 1/2" piece of conduit on the top for a handle.  took them 45 minutes to whip it out and they just used scrap they had laying around. 

[RuttNutt]

I had a 6’, two piece spud bar for years. It was very heavy. Lost it last year and picked up the one piece Cabelas special at $19.99 a couple weeks ago. My intent was to get it now and look for a “better” one, then keep it as a backup. But the more I look at it, the more I like it. Might become my primary spud. The 6 footer was overkill in my opinion. So heavy my shoulder was sore after a long walk out on the bigger lakes.

[Cliodiver]

I bought a frabil spud that I use for checking ice thickness. My suggestion is to mark your “comfort “ thickness on pole/handle from top of cutter. I spud a hole through ice a little bigger than width of the head hook the top edge of head on ice and gauge the thickness by mark on handle.

[Nosaj]

I love my Jiffy Mille Lacs Delux.  I have the 2 pc however I never took it apart the first year and now I cant short of heating up the joint which would kill the paint.  I like the way it is tapered from one side to the other to that it starts out with just 1 tooth in contact with the ice concentrating the force on 1 tooth as compared to the eskimo ones that are tapered towards the middle start with 2 teeth in contact with the ice distributing the cutting force over two teeth cutting the PSI in half.  If I cannot draw water with 1 good whack it is safe to walk.  I have a lines starting 3" up from the top of the blade so I can measure the thickness.  I touch up the teeth before the start of the season with a file and they usually are good for the year.  I mainly use it in the beginning and end of the year when the ice is questionable.