thin_ice jennifer sometimes I walk so softly others I bound leaping and crashing and I don't do either intentionally 000428 ... birdmad the silent reproach of a million tear-stained eyes 000428 ... Miner Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears under your feet. You slip out of your depth and out of your mind, with your fear flowing out behind you as you claw the thin ice. 010523 ... Mahayana Just because it's February doesn't guarantee that the ice is safe [According to a chart by the American Pulpwood Association] + 2 inches of ice thickness will hold one person on foot + 3 inches is safe for a group if they go in single file. It takes: + 7-1/2 inches to support a passenger vehicle (2-ton gross) + 81/2 inches for a light truck (2-1/2-ton gross). + a medium truck (3-1/2-ton gross) needs 10 inches, + a heavy truck (8-ton gross) needs 12 inches. [[[Keep in mind that river ice is about 15 percent less strong than lake or pond ice, and that slush ice has only half the strength of blue ice.]]] *Always* be on the alert for: spring thaws, rapidly flowing pond outlets, and other open water. While you're out there on the ice, mind the dangers of the windchill factor, as well. If in doubt, stay off the ice and out of the wind! ¿[are YOU walking on thin ice]? 020202 ... phil I sit on a blanket of ice, waiting for winter. 020204 what's it to you? who go blather from