How much ice for ice camping?

How much ice should there be for ice camping safely?

In what ? A portable I’ll sleep in with 5 inches. A skid or wheel house will vary depending on weight. You have to dial down your question a little

If I’m camping in my pop up I’m bringing a lot of gear with and using a quad to pull it out so ill want 7-8 inches. If you’re on foot 4-5 inches of quality ice ought to do it

I think it might depend on how one ice camps. I don’t screw around with being cold, so If I’m in my big portable, I’m running a heater on both ends, and generally a small generator for lights, charging, and the like. I’ve been nervous about the heater melt on 8-10 (I know it’s irrational). If you’re out there with a headlamp and a mummy bag, running your heater every couple hours to keep the holes open, I’m sure 5 is fine.

Wildlifeguy wrote:

I think it might depend on how one ice camps. I don’t screw around with being cold, so If I’m in my big portable, I’m running a heater on both ends, and generally a small generator for lights, charging, and the like. I’ve been nervous about the heater melt on 8-10 (I know it’s irrational). If you’re out there with a headlamp and a mummy bag, running your heater every couple hours to keep the holes open, I’m sure 5 is fine.

I run my heater on low and no generator or anything like that. Lights are ran off a battery. I find no need to over pack for a quick night or 2 camping on the ice. I keep it warm but not a sauna like a few of my buddies. Only time ice melt was a issue was when I didn’t move for 3 days

Oh yeah, I fully admit I over do it. But if I’m not enjoying myself, I won’t be there, so I’d rather be comfortable. To each their own, of course.

Wildlifeguy wrote:

Oh yeah, I fully admit I over do it. But if I’m not enjoying myself, I won’t be there, so I’d rather be comfortable. To each their own, of course.

Skip the generator and just bring a battery. The need for a generator is 0. Other then that comfort is always key in camping summer or winter

Not a fan of hearing a generator hum when fishing shallow.

Ice thickness is not the sole factor to consider if it safe or not. The DNR has a guideline on ice thickness and ice usage but this is just a general information.

A good example is Upper Red Lake currently. The people who had to be rescued yesterday surely were on ice thick enough based on the DNR guidelines for their activity.

You could surely camp on 4″ of ice but assuming that you would use a heater I would hate to be sitting on just 4″ of ice for 2 days with a heater generating approx. 70 degree temp inside slowly melting away the ice under me.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Wildlifeguy wrote:</div>
Oh yeah, I fully admit I over do it. But if I’m not enjoying myself, I won’t be there, so I’d rather be comfortable. To each their own, of course.

Skip the generator and just bring a battery. The need for a generator is 0. Other then that comfort is always key in camping summer or winter

I already have the generator, it costs about 5 bucks to run for 15 hours or so. I run a 5 dollar trouble light and charge all the batteries that run my helix, flashers, speaker, phone and such. While yes I could run that off a battery, I don’t HAVE that battery, and would have to replace my lighting and rig a charging system for everything else that I can currently accomplish with an extension cord and a spike bar. If it helps, I do my best to make sure I’m not within several hundred yards of anyone else if I’m using the generator.