How to determine the thickness of ice?
Thinking about going ice fishing this winter but I am worried about falling through thin ice. I know that ice should be at least 4 inches (10 cm) if clear and 8 inches (20 cm) if cloudy, but how can I actually tell the thickness of the ice?
I realize that I can use my auger to drill through it and see the thickness that way, but that requires me to get on the ice to drill, which is exactly what I don't want to do unless I already know the thickness.
So is there any other way to measure the thickness of ice?
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/10027. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
Start at the edge and work your way out. The ice will usually be thinnest where the water flows INTO to pond or lake, and will be thickest close to the tail. That's because the ice is being pushed that way.
Take samples as you work your way out onto the ice to continue to measure the thickness.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/10029. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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