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Drill Bits - New Orange Fox or Fisch Alu Speed Ice Auger

Joel R

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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Jan 13, 2020
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Cleveland
Looking for a new drill bit for coaching. Anyone tried the new orange fox design vs the Fisch Alu Speed Ice Auger. Coaching in the east so see ice and a mix of conditions but not glacier ice. The flutes on the orange fox looks like they might be a bit wider with rounded edges which would seem more comfortable to carry it around, hang it from your belt etc..
 

sparty

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Feb 15, 2018
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The orange plastic bits are far lighter and easier to carry, especially since they're not conductive (the bit won't suck the warmth out of your hand the way holding a metal bit will). I prefer to use them, both for that reason and for reduced weight, but I can't tell you how they compare for durability (I haven't noticed a difference in normal use, but since I just pick up a different club-owned drill each time, it's hard to say for sure).

A reasonably fresh orange bit drills through ice just as well as a sharp metal bit in my experience, and you can flip the cutting edges on the orange bit once before needing to replace them (I don't think they can be sharpened, which is a downside).
 

S.H.

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I have both but use the orange far more than the blue. It's lighter, it works just as well on everything except glacier ice. I can get 4 sets easily out of the orange bit (2 AM 2 PM) ... if it's cold, sometimes that's a challenge with the blue. Blue you have to clear the hole, which is fine but different.

Both are good. If you're not on glaciers, no need for the blue, but ... the orange ones can bend, or so I've been told. I've seen a bent one ... not sure if natural or somebody tried to get it to bend. I don't take particularly great care of mine and it's been fine...
 

ScotsSkier

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I use the Orange fox when it is supplied but i bought the blue Fischer for my personal . I do prefer the feel of it and just about as light as the Orange fox. I have seen some bending/out of true issues with the Orange but you can't go too far wrong with either one
 

S.H.

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Depending on where you are ... you may still want an old school heavy full metal bit for drilling into dirt during low-snow years (i.e., like this year in the northeast) ...
 

BGreen

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Orange Fox bits will break, aluminum bits won't. This is both a good thing (someone crashes into it) and a bad thing. The new design is a significant upgrade over the original design. Orange bits work better than aluminum bits in all snow, especially spring snow where the blue bits can stick/be overly aggressive. The blue bits definitely go through ice better where the orange bits can skate a bit. RTFM but I don't think you can use the orange bits in a hammer drill but you can with the blue bits (again, confirm that part). I have had success honing the tips of orange bits with a diamond stone because I was too lazy to rotate the tips. Regarding the orange bits getting bent, I have not seen that, but I have seen several that were shipped out of true and had to go back. If you drill gates out a lot, that will scar the orange bits where blue bits will remain unscathed, but the blue bits will chew up your gates. Because of the design of the orange bits, you can really only drill a hole the size of the bit, you can't really ream out a hole -- e.g. you are not getting a 41 mm base in the ground with a 35 mm bit. You probably should be able to ream a hole with a blue bit. Neither is better. Pick the one that works for you.
 

hbear

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Orange ones are light but they break, most all coaches out here have moved to the blue alum ones (all I see when we are around the WC in training as well) Pretty much just as light, and BGreen nailed the differences above.

Certainly seemed like it saturated the market for a year or so.....but think there are a lot of unsold orange inventory sitting around somewhere.
 

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