Recommended Minimum Ice Thickness

Rough guideline for new, clear, solid ice only; many other factors can cause ice to be unsafe:

• 2" or less: stay off!
• 4" foot activities such as ice fishing
• 5" ATV or snowmobile
• 8"-12" car or small pickup
• 12"-15" medium truck

White ice, sometimes called "snow ice," is only about one-half as strong as new clear ice so the above thicknesses should be doubled.

Vehicles weighing about one ton such as cars, pickups or SUVs should be parked at least 50 feet apart and moved every two hours to prevent sinking. It’s not a bad idea to make a hole next to the car. If water starts to overflow the top of the hole, the ice is sinking and it’s time to move the vehicle!

Checking Ice Thickness
Whether you're fishing, snowmobiling, skating, or ice boating, it's a good idea to check ice conditions. Factors such as temperature, snow cover and currents affect ice safety. Ice is seldom the same thickness over a single body of water. It can be two feet thick in one place and one inch thick a few yards away due to currents, springs, rotting vegetation or school of rough fish. You need to check the ice at least every 150 feet, especially early in the season or any situation where the thickness varies widely.


Ice Chisel
An ice chisel, also known as a bud spur, is a great way to make a hole in the ice to check its thickness. Its a metal rod with a sharp flat blade that is stabbed into the ice. Depending on the sharpness of the blade, thickness of the ice, and strength of the user, it makes a hole fairly quick.

Ice Auger
There are several varieties of ice auger. Some people like the hand auger for its low cost, light weight and low noise factor. The disadvantage of a hand-powered auger is that after a few holes, operator exhaustion becomes an issue. Some folks like an electric auger, with its low noise level rivaling a hand auger, with the advantage of a lot less work for the user. An electric auger does, however, need an external 12-volt battery, which can be something of a nuisance to lug around. Gas augers boast the fastest speed in drilling through the ice, but are heavier, noisier.

Other Considerations:

• Many ice drownings involve children. When your child is near the ice, you should be near your child.
• Avoid alcoholic beverages when you’re on the ice. They can make you feel colder and slow down your reaction time in case of an ice emergency.
• Carry two large nails to use as ice picks to pull yourself out if you fall through thin ice.
• Never drive on the ice at night.
• Avoid pressure ridges, and areas with current if you do choose to drive on the ice.
• Drive with your windows down and doors partially open to avoid becoming trapped if your car breaks through.

Selecting An Ice Shelter

Collapsible/pop-up, portable shelters are an important tactic when ice fishing. They allow mobility, so you can move where the fish are, and provide protection from arctic temperatures and harsh winter conditions. With so many available options, there's no reason you should sit exposed when you could be protected in a portable ice tent.

Collapsible / Pop-Up Shelters
Collapsible / pop-up shelters set up quickly and provide full protection from the elements for up to six fishermen. They resemble a camping tent, but are customized for ice fishing. The poles serve as the shelter's frame, and the floor is a flexible fabric with pre-cut holes or an opening for easy fishing. High-end models feature windows.

Things to Consider
Invest in a quality Eskimo shelter. Inferior shelters won't hold up in cold conditions. Paying a few more dollars will also likely offer features to make you're fishing more comfortable.

Collapsible shelters come with zipper doors. This is handy when you've buried the tent skirt in snow, a tactic used to block out wind and hold in heat. Zip them open slightly and you have another venting option.

Make sure the shelter you buy has windows on every side. You'll appreciate the light they let into the hut. They also let you monitor things outside, like your tip-ups. Make sure they have a roll-up covers, though, so you can block out light when you want to sight fish.

When choosing a shelter, consider how you will to use it. Collapsible / pop-up shelters are extremely handy when heading to back country lakes on foot or going on a fly-in trip. Regardless of which model you choose, you'll be more comfortable in a shelter than sitting unprotected and exposed to winter winds and cold temperatures.

Eskimo Ice Shelter - Quick Fish 2

The QuickFish 2 is one of three in the new Pop-Up Portable category. As the most portable ice shelter on the market, an angler has complete mobility to go where the fish are. A backpack holds the shelter for easy transport. Sets up in seconds and protects from the worst of elements. Extremely durable and comes with ice anchors for windy fishing. 


Features

• The most compact, portable pop-up portable ice shelter on the market.
• Heavy duty ice anchors with tie-off ropes included for stability, even in high wind conditions. Anchors and rope stow away in special pouch for travel.
• Dual-pull zippered door feature a premium YKK 10 coil style zipper, the best zipper in the world.
• Extra-long skirt helps eliminate drafts and keeps the elements out.
• Large storage pockets give you a place to keep your gear handy.
• RED Rugged Extreme Durable fabric withstands abuse, while protecting you from the elements.
• Reflective corners and license holder included.
• Provides ample space for two ice anglers.

Specifications

• Capacity: 2
• Setup Size: 60" X 60"
• Height: 67"
• Weight: 18 lbs 

Order Today

Domain Dominance - Ben Janssen / Nexstep

Journal-Sentinel Article

Ben Janssen and his Appleton-based NexStep Inc. operate on a fairly simple premise. 

"You don't have to remember who we are, you just have to remember what you want to buy," Janssen said. "That's our philosophy and it seems to be working out so far."

His company is built around product-specific websites and Internet addresses. "What we did was try to focus on generic, market-branded domain names," he said.

The business, which consists of six people and 25 websites, is growing and will be moving to larger quarters in Little Chute next month.

His storefront consists of websites. There is no brick and mortar and no geographic boundaries. That allows him to sell snow blowers to people in Russia and log splitters to people in Sweden. "Our customers are all over the place," Janssen said.

The company is one of many for whom the Internet has become the center of commerce, where barriers to entry are low, customer service is paramount and having the right combination of words in a Web page address drives customer traffic.

When torrential rains fell across parts of the Midwest and South this summer, NexStep's website waterremoval.com/">waterremoval.com saw business spike.

When tornadoes marched across parts of the South and Midwest this spring and summer - toppling trees like they were toothpicks - NexStep's logsplitter.com/">logsplitter.com saw traffic pick up.

And when heavy snowstorms shut down huge portions of the East Coast last winter, Janssen's snow-blower.com/">snow-blower.com sold out of its inventory.

"We're a distributor of a bunch of different lines of products and we have been for years," Janssen said.
His sites include chippershredders.com; gardentillers.com; hedgetrimmers.com; zeroturnmowers.com and lawntrimmers.com.

The brands he sells include Troy-Bilt, Earthquake and Mantis.

Doing business online

The company represents a continuing trend toward doing business online.
As sure as there was a dot-com bust a few years back, there are also business models that survived and are being embraced by consumers.

"There is much less reticence to purchase online," said Sandra Bradley, director of the University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium's Web and multichannel marketing area. "As a matter of fact, there is the expectation of being able to purchase online."

Competition is everywhere. Then again, so are Janssen's websites.

"It's all competitive," he said. "The thing is, we don't have to be competitive in just one market. We don't have to rely on one geographic marketplace and we don't have to rely on one product line, per se.
"We're open for business to the entire world."

Convenience and customer service are crucial to a successful online business, Bradley said.

"Specialty or niche items are clearly a growing area for Internet sales in particular, driven by ease of being found," she said. "Consumers want convenience. They don't want to search hard. They want easy to use, easy to find."

Doing business on the Internet has become accepted practice, she said.

"We're the e-business consortium and we're in our 13th year. Every year we talk about dropping the 'e' because it really is just business. And it's not 'Web marketing.' It's just marketing."

Customer support

Janssen, 31, and a business partner started the company in 2003. He bought out the partner's share soon after that, he said.

"We were primarily into building websites for other people," Janssen said. Then, he said, he realized he could build his own websites and use domain names that he already owned as part of the business.

He currently owns about 680 domain names.

In building the company, he says he has learned a few things.

"The best thing to do is answer the phone," he said. "Customer support is the biggest thing in this industry.
"When they call, they want someone to answer the phone."

Day to day, "It's about getting the correct lines of products and working with the manufacturers and getting relationships going before you can actually launch a web site," he said. "That relationship between you and the manufacturer is really important, especially in this industry because it's so fast-paced.

"A customer orders, they want their product, they want shipping information right away and you get the order to them as soon as you can."

Business continues to evolve, he said.

"We're still growing. Every year we get a little bit bigger, " Janssen said.

"The real action, I think, is yet to be seen," he added.