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The 8" Nils handauger made its debut for me on the ice this weekend. The double offset handles took some getting used to, but by the tenth hole I was able to get the correct technique down. Fished 3 different lakes/ponds with various ice conditions. The first was a small pond that had an inch of snow/ice crust followed by 3.5" of black ice. The second was 3.0" of black ice with no crust, and yesterday the last was a 4" mixed of black ice on the bottom and the top 2" was a mix of snow and ice. The auger cuts awesome using a slow steady turns and very slight downward pressure, just enough to keep it cutting. The difference is that the entire bit is one single welded piece as opposed to two separate blades. The auger is heavier than other brands. I found that once the bit broke through I did have to plunge it down then ease it back out since it was leaving a little hangnail of ice that the blade was getting hung on without a plunging it. I drilled aprox. 80 holes over the two days, and don't feel fatigued or sore in my arms like I normally do from other augers. I do feel like if there were 5"+ of ice the auger would have done better as the hole would help the auger from wanting to dance during the last turn or two after poking through. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 as a rating for ice 4" thick or less. Will update this post when I get on thicker ice.
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