Cold water motor skills

[Hemlock]

I carry those $3.00 ice picks with me whenever I'm on the ice. I'm curious to know whether or not I'd be able to operate the zipper on my pocket where I keep them/pull them apart if I was ever in a jam in the cold water. Anyone have any experience/input on this one?

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Hemlock
"Throw'm back"

[Guest]

instead of carrying them in your pockets you should either attach the picks you have with a piece of rope or go get the ones that are connected with the spring cord and wear them around your neck or through your coat sleaves

[Lowe]

Hemlock, I think pulling a pair of ice picks out of a zippered pocket while treading 33-degree water would be an admirable accomplishment. If you're going out on questionable ice, I'd hang them around your neck or tie one end to a wrist. Personally, if I went through, I think the panic factor alone would make me forget how a zipper even works. Of course, different people react differently under pressure, but zipping them up doesn;t sound like a great idea.

[Surface Tension]

I guess it would be like leaving your life jacket in in stowage instead of wearing it.

[Hemlock]

Thanks for the replies. The ones I do have have the plastic spring cord connecting the two handled spikes. I guess around the neck is the way to go.

[Guest]

Hemlock-I sling one end of the loop on top of my left shoulder and the other end under my right armpit and I can fish all day without having the thing get in my way.

[Spunky]

A friend of mine had the ones with the plastic cord around his neck and when he went through the force of the water pulled them off and they didn't do him any good. Good thing someone saw him go down to help him out.

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Rip sum Lips

[Guest]

If you are venturing out on "iffy" ice, not only is it a good idea to have the picks attached to your wrists, or to your coat sleeves, it is also a VERY good idea to WEAR YOUR LIFEVEST!!! It is just as easy to drown if you fall in during winter as it is during the summer.

That's what I do, and thankfully I haven't had to prove myself right. Good luck, don't catch'em all, and be careful!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com

[This message has been edited by Adam Johnson (edited 01-27-2003).]

[Guest]

The iffy ice. Life Jacket is certainly not a bad idead, but as far as the ice picks are concerned, I keep em up my sleeves. Before they came out with those things, I used to use and hold hand gaff. Like captain Hook type of gaff. It had a rope tied to it which I put around my wrist and then I stuffed it up my jacket sleeve. Then if I needed it in an emergency(luckily never did), I could just shake my arm and out it would pop. It had a big handle on it too.
I used to practice brandishing it with an arm shake. Like everyone else said, if you can't get to it quickly, there is no point in having it. Take care out there.

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