Great topic, lots of good info here. Best of all, it has us all thinking a little more. But there's one point that seems to have been missed a little bit (unless I missed it). Suggestions were made about what to do for "the other guy" who falls through; also, if you fall through, getting your face up to the ice where searchers can see it (if you haven't found the hole). If someone's already fallen through, would not that indicate there's already a real problem in that area? So any searching or attempts to drop something into the hole to help would mean the rescuers would have to be operating in a pretty dangerous area, no? The main theme here is being prepared. $300 for a suit is cheap. Its not like you have to get a new one every year. Tag lines to shore or at least something else less apt to sink (sleds, sheds, etc)and picks should do it. A small detail on the picks-keep them hanging outside your clothing somewhere easy and quick to grab. If they're buried in a pocket with some spare jerky and pipe tobacco, you'll never get at them when you need to.