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For hand pullers, the less weight, the farther you can go ! 13 lbs is quite a bit of weight to shed, even more if you hand driil till the ice gets too thick !
Right now with all my equpiment I am 115lbs. Thats sled,poles,vex,auger,cooler,and chair. If I go to the Nils I would drop to just 100lbs. I guess i could give up my tungsten jigs. That would save me 5 lbs! lol
Not that I would, but I'd give up my flasher before I gave up my tungsten jigs. This is just a thought but last year I was fishing a tourney and draging my gear on top of slick black ice (with no cleats) with 6"+ of snow on top of it. Needless to say, I didn't make it to where I knew the fish were. I didn't hardly even make it half way there. I drilled 2 holes and sat there exhausted from hauling all my gear and weight. Sat there all day without a bite. I packed up house an hour before the ending time hoping to make it back before the cutoff time to watch the results. Before hauling all my gear back I got to thinking about how much I love Reel Magic. It keeps all my reels lubed and keeps my line from freezing. I thought to myself, it couldn't hurt to give it a try. I only wish I would have done it sooner. I sprayed it on the bottom of the sled to my TrekkerII. What a dream come true!!! Felt like I was pulling 10lbs as opposed to 120lb. Long story short, I made it back to my truck in 20 minutes, had 20 minutes to spare, and ended up winning the tourney with a nice 24 ince eye with 5 minutes to spare. That stuff does wounders!!!
I have to admit, red, I'm lazy, and never hand cranked a hole with my Nils.I keep telling myself I'm going to do it, even with thin ice (10" or less), but never do.First year I ice fished, I drilled 5 holes with my Mora through 3' of ice. The next dayI was so sore, I could hardly turn the crank to reopen them. Granted the Nils hasan offset crank (top hand is not directly over the bit shaft--and in theory makes iteasier to drill since both hands apply turning force), but I just pull the cord, evenin thin ice. MD