The Trotsky murder weapon, it might be noted, was of the “ice axe” variety. Even so most histories, American or otherwise, describe it as an “ice pick”.
Googling also reveals that there was a band called Trotsky Icepick, which is kind of cool.
Nope, but I remember seeing one among my dad’s tools growing up. Never saw it used for anything. Defrosting the freezer has never been a problem, and if I did have to chip at ice, I’d probably use a flat-bladed screwdriver.
We had an ice pick in the house growing up but I remember it mostly being utilized as an awl. I vaguely remember using it when defrosting the freezer and having to be careful not to drive it through the aluminum lining. I think I took it when I moved out but it eventually broke.
Last spring I inherited the small ice chest from my mom, which she inherited from her parents. It looks just big enough to hold the block of ice and has a couple of wire trays that fit across the top.
I’m surprised at the number of people here using ice picks to break up the ice in the ice bin. I just bang the bottom of the bin on the counter once or twice.
I don’t own an icepick but I remember my parents had one in the garage. It was good for breaking up ice that was clogging the gutters and downspouts in the winter.
If I need to bust up some ice I’ll just use a screwdriver.
I’d think twice before I used an icepick as a murder weapon. It would really narrow down the list of suspects.
I own several that I have picked (heh) up over the years at garage sales and the like. They are very useful in crafts for punching holes in leather, wood and thin metal. Back when I was an archaeologist, I regularly used one to pry loose tiny bits of grit lodged in hard to reach places.
Yes, I have one.
only for emergencies.
We always had the same one that followed us through several moves as a kid. I think it might’ve been used to dig out chunks from a frosted freezer, used as a nut-pick or used as an awl.
More than anything, it just sat around in a kitchen drawer for years.
it is best not to use metal, sharp things or do pounding in the freezer of a household refrigerator/freezer or you might kill it.
it’s not just for killing people.
I also own an awl, but it actually gets more use as an ice pick.
When I need lots of ice for something (like my annual 4th of July party), I don’t have time to make all the ice I need in little cube trays, so I put some metal sheet pans with about 1/2" of water into the freezer. Then I can break them up into pieces as big or small as needed.
Yes.
I freeze half jugs of water and use the pick to chop it up. Also use it to poke holes in cans of milk…
I have one that’s over 100 years old and has the name of an ice house in Portland on it. I don’t use it for anything though. I just keep it because it’s old and unusual.
I have one, and I use it to break up the ice cubes that get stuck together in the ice cube bin (I do not have an icemaker/dispenser…use trays) I can’t easily remove the bin to whack it on the counter…ice pick works better.
I also recently bought one to put in the large industrial bucket of dishwasher powder that my church uses. Even when it gets sealed back up between uses, it still tends to get hard as a rock, so the ice pick helps loosen it up enough to scoop out a smaller container-full to set on the window ledge.
I gave it away when he stopped delivering.
I have an icepick, but hammers work better for both of it’s well known uses.
Had a couple that were my grandfather’s. One skinny one he had put a kink in. Too light for ice, anyway. Maybe he had a home lobotomy business; it would be perfect for that. The other was heavy, with a small guard, but I felt the handle was too small for efficient [del]murder[/del] ice pickery. Did you know that the wounds can sometimes be mistaken for .22cal bullet wounds? That one was that size.
IIRC, it was a fad some years ago to have a block of ice at your cocktail party - guests could hack off a chunk of “real” ice for their drink, instead of using those plebeian ice cubes from a tray.