My friends and family always worry about me when I venture onto frozen water to go ice fishing. They are continuously worrying about me falling through the ice. While I am always careful and cautious, and I use that thing I have propped up on my shoulders under a wool hat, one can never be too careful. As a gift, my family bought me a pair of Strikemaster Life Guard Spikes, and I wear them most of the time while ice fishing or beaver trapping on ice.

----------First Thoughts:------------

I am sure the first thought or question most people have when they see this product out of context is, What the heck is it? I can’t blame them, the first time I saw them I thought the same thing before my dim lightbulb turned bright and I figured it out.

------------What are they for?-----------

They are for pulling yourself back on top of the ice after falling through and plunging into the frigid cold water. These are certainly a product that I would never really want to use. Let me knock on wood when I say that I have never needed to use these. The trouble with falling through the ice isn’t just the freezing water and hypothermic temperatures, it is getting back up on top of the ice. When someone falls through and tries to pull themselves back up, there is nothing to grip onto and the ice around them becomes even more slippery then before. The water splashes on the surface creating a Zamboni effect, smoother and even more slippery ice. The ice will often break around the person and they become helpless, flailing and slipping back into the freezing watery hole, and will eventually succumb to their death. Without the aid of a friend with a rope, long stick, or a floatation device, your only chances after falling through are to pull yourself out with a product like the Life Guard Spikes by Strikemaster.

-------------They are Handy:---------------

The one thing I really like about these other than the security they offer when on thin ice is just how handy and readily available they are. When participating in winter activities on ice, a person is usually bundled up to the point of feeling like the Marshemellow man. With a heavy winter coat on, mittens or gloves, plenty of layers and heavy insulating clothing, the winter participants become less mobile and even slightly cumbersome to quick and agile movements. When a person falls through the ice panic kicks in immediately and for a person to keep their cool and search through their winter clothes for ice spikes is ridiculous at best. They need to be handy and readily available. That is why Strikemaster constructed these spikes on a handle which are connected to a rope. Keep reading if you want to know how to wear them.

---------------How to wear them:--------------

They aren’t really all that good to you in a case of emergency if they are not handy and available for immediate access.. In order to make them handy, just before slipping into my last layer which is usually my winter coat, I place one of the handles in each hand and drape the rope over my shoulders before sliding my arms into my sleeves. They hang somewhere around my wrists inside of my coat sleeves where they are out of the way yet not too far away if needed.

------------- You Fell Through the Ice, now what?:------------------

What to do when you fall in:

If it is at all possible, Don’t Panic. This will only make things worse. If you are wearing the Life Guard Spikes, get them into your hands and dig them into the ice and pull yourself out one arm at a time in a walking fashion with the spikes in your hands. Don’t stand up immediately for this will put a high amount of pressure on a smaller surface area of ice which often leads to another hole, with you making the swish. Disperse your weight by remaining in a prone position and pull yourself away from the hole and thin ice. Stand up when you thin you are on stronger and thicker ice and get to a source of heat and dry clothing immediately. If you are not wearing the Strikemaster spikes, start praying. No just kidding. Try to pull yourself out any way possible. If you have to roll out, do it. Yell for help. The longer you are in the icy water, the chances of survival diminish.

What to do when someone else falls in:

Don’t make the fatal mistake that most people make when in this situation. That mistake is that you run over and try to pull the person out by hand or get too close to the hole or open water. This usually results in two bobbing human ice cubes instead of one. If you were wise enough to bring a rope, pitch it to the person and pull them out. Ah, but what to do without a rope. As I mentioned previously, disperse your body weight by laying in the prone position and crawl towards the person. If you have a stick, canoe paddle, snow sled, hand ice auger, ice chisel, or anything with more length than your arm, use it to reach out to the panicking winter swimmer.

------------------A couple of side notes:-------------

When I trap for beaver during the winter, I spend a lot of time on thin ice and ice that has thickness inconsistencies. I ended up purchasing another set of these Life Guard Spikes for my trapping partner because I was tired of being the one to always venture out on the ice first because I was the only one with the proper precautions. He would always say Well you have the spikes, you go out first and test it. That got old quick and now we both have a pair.

These also proved to be very entertaining for my friends on an ice fishing trip one day. We were fishing on glare ice without the cover of snow. We had to wear our Stabilicers for traction because the surface was so slippery. With slow fishing and plenty of beer drinking, my friends dug into my gear box for a couple extra pairs of Life Guard Spikes. It wasn’t too long after they found them that they were having races on their bellies against one another. They propelled themselves to pretty fast speeds on their stomachs by digging the picks in one by one and pulling for all they were worth. It looked like quite a work out and I found it to be highly amusing. Your kids or inebriated friends might agree.


----------Price-----------

For $5 these are an extremely cheap insurance for you in a time of desperate need. I now have a half dozen or so of them for friends and just to make sure I always have them. If you venture out onto the ice don’t let your last thought be, I wish I had those damn Life Guard Spikes smallmouth wrote about.

©smallmouth 2008

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