8" p1 rocket

looking to buy a 8″ p1 rocket auger. does anybody have any input on how much ice I can drill with a 1lb tank? also the ion is also on my radar if any one has used both, a recommendation would be great

I’ve owned the Eskimo HC40 Propane, the Ion, and currently have the Ion X, and just got the Eskimo P1 in the mail yesterday. I have nothing bad to say about the 3 I’ve used, and can give you an update on the P1 after I use it Sunday or Monday. All have been 8″. Let me know if you have any specific questions!

that’s a lot of augers you’ve had. Jealousy. Been on the fence about getting an ion. Have a mako from 2004 that’s been good to me. if it goes down will give the ion a hard look.

I do A LOT of running and gunning and wanted to know roughly how many holes I could pop @18 inches of ice with 1 lb tank. or do I need to take multiple out with me .

d608 wrote:

I do A LOT of running and gunning and wanted to know roughly how many holes I could pop @18 inches of ice with 1 lb tank. or do I need to take multiple out with me .

On LOTW this week, my buddy went through a tank and a half while drilling about 70 holes through 32-34” of ice. He also uses a 10” P1 Rocket. That’s pretty good efficiency for $5 of propane, but nothing to write home about. I popped more holes than him with a 8” Strikemaster electric and only charged my battery overnight for the two hours it takes to top them off.

That said, why not carry an extra tank at all times? If you need to warm it up in a pinch, push it down the front of your bibs by your belly. It’ll be at room temp in about 5 minutes.

I have a 8″ Nils/Tanaka and an 8″ pro-4 lite. I know it isn’t an Eskimo, but I have never ran out of a 1lb tank in a day. At most, I have used about 3/4 a tank but that was a lot of holes in some thick ice. In cold weather, my auger will die with about 1/4 tank left. Warm it up and you’ll be able to run it dry. In comparison, I can run a full tank of gas out of my Tanaka in one day easily.

I have a p1 rocket 8 and love it. ive drilled about 30 holes in 20 inches and have about half a tank left.

Bass Thumb. is that 70 holes between the 2 augers or 70 a piece. if its between the two your buddy might have a leak and it sounds about right for an electric. if its a piece you have a awesome battery. by strike masters specs at 32 to 34 inches you should have ran out of juice at about hole 48.5. I’m just wondering because comparing 8in to 10in is tough. if the 10in cut 70 holes the 8in would have to cut 109 holes to equal the same number of cubic inches.

My son has the ion 8 inch and ive cut 30 plus holes through 20 inches in a day and still had power left. the p1 is definitely faster but I love the electric augers when were fishing close to crowd but when I’m going to drill 30 at time ill take the p1.

d608 wrote:

I do A LOT of running and gunning and wanted to know roughly how many holes I could pop @18 inches of ice with 1 lb tank. or do I need to take multiple out with me .

I think it’s hard to gauge how many holes from one propane canister, but I don’t ever remember running out with my HC40, and I haven’t used the P1 enough yet to really have a good estimate. I like to punch a lot of holes, so I would always bring 2 or 3 canisters but I don’t remember ever running out of the first one. They don’t take up that much room and don’t weigh a ton so it’s better to be safe than sorry I would say.

From what I’ve seen so far, very informal comparison, is that the P1 will drill about half the ice that the HC40 will in the same size due to the faster cutting speed of the P1.

Lincoln Schultz wrote:

Bass Thumb. is that 70 holes between the 2 augers or 70 a piece. if its between the two your buddy might have a leak and it sounds about right for an electric. if its a piece you have a awesome battery. by strike masters specs at 32 to 34 inches you should have ran out of juice at about hole 48.5. I’m just wondering because comparing 8in to 10in is tough. if the 10in cut 70 holes the 8in would have to cut 109 holes to equal the same number of cubic inches.

We each drilled about 70 holes over the course of a few days, and he went thru 1.5 tanks of propane total. I wasn’t getting 70 holes on a single battery. That would be impossible, I’m sure. I was drilling about 20 holes a day and ending up with 2/3 charge remaining, according to the questionable battery gauge on the 50v Lithium Lazer.

Tornadochaser,
Are you saying the P1 is slower at cutting holes than the HC40. Or that it uses more propane because it is faster.

rwilliam wrote:

Tornadochaser,
Are you saying the P1 is slower at cutting holes than the HC40. Or that it uses more propane because it is faster.

He’s saying the P1 cuts faster than the HC40.
How much faster does it cut, tornadochaser?

I haven’t run my HC40 side by side with a P1 yet, I’ll see if I can find somebody with a P1 this weekend and time them. From watching a P1 being used before I bought my HC40 earlier this winter, I’d say the P1 is 25% faster than the HC40. The HC40 isn’t a dog by any means; I love it, it’s plenty fast, doesn’t throw shavings everywhere like a Jiffy, and runs 1000 times better than the piece of garbage Clam Edge (strikemaster knock off) I bought 4 years ago.

Use the Fish2018 or FISH2018 code at Gander Outdoors today and the P1 Rocket Eskimo is $349.99. Pretty reasonable for a propane auger.