Breaking the ice

[Silverhour]

Just wondering what is the most efficient tool to use to break open a fishing hole. The options I've seen are knife, hatchet and pry bar.  I imagine the hammer could be used as well, but I rarely carry it around. The hatchet and knife are repairable, depending on your whetstone situation, and the pry bar has a finite durability. I haven't clocked each to see how long they take, or how much damage they suffer, but I imagine someone out there has this all figured out.

[stratvox]

I use the prybar. While it's not repairable, it has very limited uses otherwise (breaking into lockers and car trunks). I keep the knife and hatchet for other things that matter a lot (chopping wood and harvesting game). Prybars can't be repaired but decay very very slowly from use. Keep the hatchets and knives for other things.

[Silverhour]

That's what I had thought. I wasn't sure about the repairability of the hatchet versus the durability of the pry bar, but I knew the knife would be a last result sort of thing.

[MrWolf]

I typically use a prybar to break the ice, but I've used a hammer, too.  I always carry a hammer after I find one - it's my primary tool for wolf struggles.  I've used the hammer to clear out a fishing hole when I didn't have a prybar or left it somewhere, and I was surprised to find that it didn't decay the hammer very much, maybe one or two percent, if I remember correctly.

[cullam]

I definitely use the prybar, as it's long-term durability is the least relevant. I also leave extra hammers at fishing huts that I frequent, as once I've got a hammer at each forge, I can pretty much just leave the others at fishing huts. 

[Lonelyloper]

15 hours ago, MrWolf said:

I typically use a prybar to break the ice, but I've used a hammer, too.  I always carry a hammer after I find one - it's my primary tool for wolf struggles.  I've used the hammer to clear out a fishing hole when I didn't have a prybar or left it somewhere, and I was surprised to find that it didn't decay the hammer very much, maybe one or two percent, if I remember correctly.

I'm the same. When I've found a hammer I never go out without it, because in my experience it's the quickest way to end a wolf struggle. So I tend to just end up using the hammer for ice breaking as well. I've never had to yet, but I'm pretty sure you can repair the hammer using a fir log. So if you have a couple of these spare, your hammer should last a very long time for ice breaking anyway.

[ajb1978]

Prybar all the way.  If you have a favorite fishing hut, just leave the prybar there and it's one less thing you have to carry. 

For that matter, try to keep the hut fully stocked with fuel and some water, for fishing marathons. Get as many fish through the hole at once as you can, to maximise returns on your tool wear. Fish suck in terms of calorie to weight, but once you're settled, it's basically free food. 

[ajb1978]

Oh slightly off topic but related (it pertains to fishing), when you find or make fishing tackle, use it for repairs first instead of actual sewing kits.  Wear them down to 20%, then use them for fishing.  Below 20%, you might risk ruining it on your next repair job.  But a 20% fishing tackle is just as effective at ice fishing as brand new 100% tackle.  And I don't feel so bad snapping the line on 20% tackle.

[godhelpme89]

Thanks for the sewing tip