Well the deice folks on the UPS ramp never got the message. Last winter we had 5 thanks to them about 50 grand.
As for ice don't f'in mess with it on the ground or in the air. We carry handheld sprayers and a push broom in the 99's most of the time it works just fine other times we hanger or de-ice. If it aint clean im not going thats it.
Excellent choice by not going
C'mon, lets be serious, ice is a reality, and you have to operate in conditions that may inadvertantly lead to icing. The trick is not to do anything stupid, which is something that can be hard to do.
Good rules of thumb.
Don't take off with ice or unpolished frost.
Don't continue flight through ice if you don't have deice.
If you have deice, let it build before you blow it off. (Avoid Bridging)
Make sure the static ports are free of obstruction.
Someone said earlier that "ice and frost will cause 40% of your life to be lost." Not true, a categorical statement like that shows someone who doesn't know about how ice works. Ice is not predictable. You can't say "ice will make you crash," or "ice will do this or that." Because you can't show that it will. Ice is, by its very nature, unpredictable, and being ready to roll with the punches in flight, and make intelligent decisions on the ground are the key to operating in it. Part 91 has no provisions for operations in icing conditions outside of subpart f (fractionals), so the only way you can operate is by thinking for yourself, and being rational. If you don't feel comfortable, then don't go. If you feel comfortable, then exercise your judgement and think for yourself.
Part 135, Part 121, and Fractionals you have guidelines, opspecs GOMS etc. In those cases, follow your company guidelines, and interpolate in areas of greyness.