12-05-2019, 10:37 PM
There is no doubt the Nils makes a great hand auger, your only issue is if they get dulled they are very expensive to get sharpened and not something the average DIY guy can sharpen themselves since there are angles and cambers to the blade that require a jig to keep things positioned correctly to sharpen.. (Price is also an issue Nils run close to $200)
As for your issues with the other hand augers, I didn't have too much of a problem with mine, but I was very anal with making sure that others didn't damage it by dropping on the ice and dinging the edges, I always kept a cover on the blades when not in use and watched out for sand and rocks in the ice so I didn't damage the blades, but they were never as easy as a nils to punch a hole.... (Bought my laser for $40 on KSL)
My question for you is have you considered the electric drill option? I got a strikemaster laser hand auger and took off the hand crank, bought a $15 adapter from auger to 1/2" drill.. Which I already had a drill for home shop use... Anyway I use this all the time and with the Milwaukee 2804 drill, this auger will punch tons of 8" holes per battery pack, it never rests, it just punches holes up to 3.5' deep... Last year on Strawberry it drilled the full depth of the bit and I had to plunge the chuck into the water before the bit cleared the ice, but it never had a problem drilling holes like that in less than a minute... If I would have done that by hand it would have taken me a half hour and risked a heart attack... as for gassers, they drill okay if you don't mind scaring every fish in the area away for half an hour... I still have a 10" Eskimo gasser, which has it's place, but it's not on my first string line up... I'd consider going to electric if I were you, come try my auger and see for yourself... Home Depot was selling the drill for around $200 on the black Friday deal... Not sure what the price was, but it was cheaper than the usual Amazon price... I found Ebay had a good deal on the drill too if you get serious about doing it... Make sure you get the battery and charger in the drill kit and not just the tool, or else you'll spend more in the long run... It's a little expensive, but if you do any home projects you'll be happy to have a great tool that does double duty... To me the cost of the Nils and the electric drill option are very similar and you can use the drill all summer, not so much for the nils... Good luck... Jeff
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As for your issues with the other hand augers, I didn't have too much of a problem with mine, but I was very anal with making sure that others didn't damage it by dropping on the ice and dinging the edges, I always kept a cover on the blades when not in use and watched out for sand and rocks in the ice so I didn't damage the blades, but they were never as easy as a nils to punch a hole.... (Bought my laser for $40 on KSL)
My question for you is have you considered the electric drill option? I got a strikemaster laser hand auger and took off the hand crank, bought a $15 adapter from auger to 1/2" drill.. Which I already had a drill for home shop use... Anyway I use this all the time and with the Milwaukee 2804 drill, this auger will punch tons of 8" holes per battery pack, it never rests, it just punches holes up to 3.5' deep... Last year on Strawberry it drilled the full depth of the bit and I had to plunge the chuck into the water before the bit cleared the ice, but it never had a problem drilling holes like that in less than a minute... If I would have done that by hand it would have taken me a half hour and risked a heart attack... as for gassers, they drill okay if you don't mind scaring every fish in the area away for half an hour... I still have a 10" Eskimo gasser, which has it's place, but it's not on my first string line up... I'd consider going to electric if I were you, come try my auger and see for yourself... Home Depot was selling the drill for around $200 on the black Friday deal... Not sure what the price was, but it was cheaper than the usual Amazon price... I found Ebay had a good deal on the drill too if you get serious about doing it... Make sure you get the battery and charger in the drill kit and not just the tool, or else you'll spend more in the long run... It's a little expensive, but if you do any home projects you'll be happy to have a great tool that does double duty... To me the cost of the Nils and the electric drill option are very similar and you can use the drill all summer, not so much for the nils... Good luck... Jeff
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