Ice cracking.... is it really that scary??

[NETim]

I was visiting with a resort owner yesterday at a show and he mentioned scuba diving.  I told him I was getting back into it and hoped to do an ice dive someday.  He told me he has done one ice dive and would do no more.

He explained to me that when the ice cracks, it's very loud (like a .22 rifle shot) and can be un-nerving. 

Comments??

[Dragon Eye]

ummm it's like 20+ inches thick right now- I didn't hear any cracking last weekend.

[Hydro]

it's more like a 50mm rifle going off, if you are afraid of loud noises, or you have a heart condition, you might want to rethink hanging out near lake ice. it's even worse underwater, but fish shut down their hearing in the winter as an adaptation, so they are fine.... its no big deal once you are used to it, i'm actually more worried about the concentrated radation that leaks from the cracks in the ice, a lot of people line their drysuits with lead spray to reduce the exposure... hence exposure suits.    .... it's really more amusing than something to worry about.

[arcFlash]

Sometime I find it intriguing. Most times I do not. I've had cracks pop so loud that I could feel the pressure wave hit my head. I don't really care for it and I can say it's startled me many times. It makes me tense and I lose the fine sense of being. That is, I feel right in my gear and I listen for bubble and such to 'monitor' myself. Pops and crack distract me.

Don't let it keep you out of the best season we have.

[mermaid]

What conditions have to exist before cracks don't pop? 

[grumpie]

the pops and cracks happen when the ice contracts and expands. this a natural happen with temp changes. what you really should watch for is ice ridges where one edge of the ice goes over the other.
one side is like a large ski jump and the other is like a wall, with open water at the base of it. if you go out to lake minnatonka at browns bay and look a cross the lake to the east, you will see a ice ridge 4-5 feet high. below the ice bridge is a large sand bar, where the ice has push up over it.

[mermaid]

I guess I wasn't thinking of natural environmental conditions (duh).  I was thinking more of the presence of heavy vehicles (or not) being on the ice.  :

[NETim]

I fully intend to get in on the ice action at some point in time.  I was just curious what others thought of the noise when in the water.

Thanks!!

[DiverQueen]

My family and I stayed overnight in an Ice house on Mille Lacs.  I knew the ice was thick enough from the size of the vehicles (one ton trucks with duallies) driving on it.  But hearing the popping and shifting kept me up most of the night...Wish it was the rattle reels keeping me up!  ;D

[DetectorGuy]

I have heard the pops under the ice and it is a distraction, if anything. I sometimes don't dive directly under dark shadows on the ice if the ice is thin (10" or less) just in case it is a vehicle above. I don't really have a problem driving on ice that thin, but I get a little creeped out wondering if a vehicle is going to fall through on top of me. The only way this bad dream could get worse is if it was my vehicle. This probably hasn't ever happened in the history of mankind and probably will never happen but the "popping" sound reminds me of this every time.