hiking staff questions

stingray4540 said:
Hmm, I like that. I was actually thinking of doing something similar with mine, but was thinking of using the carbide tip from a cheap walmart trekking pole... Your way might be a bit simpler and cheaper though. Although, I'm not sure how the soft hardware will hold a point and how well it will grab granite, as bear granite is a common feature in the Sierras here.
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You could always try getting one of our local artist knife makers to harden some 1/4-20 bolts, or maybe, depending what material the bolts are, harden them yourself.

Doc

brizbane: I have been using these tips lately. They are a little pricey but are real well made and cool too. The pointy one is probably good for defense.http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/pa...=3,48759,43733
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I looked at those too, but I've never seen replacement points or rubber bottoms.

Doc
 
Here is a simple one.
7/8" x 4.5' hardwood rod from home depot - strong and lite
top it off with a kitchen drawer knob of your choosing
bottom - use a a cane tip from a drug store - great on rocks
 
I've only made one but I used a rubber cane tip and after sanding the staff, stained it and gave it 4 coats of satin marine grade (I think) spray poly.
 
Hey BIGhairyape. I didnt even think of the PVC pipe I guess it would work great. Use some tape to get a better grip. I were looking at some of the Bamboo i got laying around with the idea that it would look good and if made right would last me a life time. Need to figure out how to mount it to make it right. I had a walking stick that i made like that but it was flimsy. When i did use it, When i were going up a hill the hand tended to feel more naturel laying on top. The idea is not my i seen a pic of a Sherpe (sp) using them going up a steep mountain trail with a load that would make a navy Seal cry uncle.

Sasha
 
I've used boiled linseed oil and either rubber feet or no feet.
Torn between cord wrap and no wrap.
I do like the loop for easing the load on my wrist on long, weary up hills.
Don't forget to decorate your work :)
MikeysStick.jpg

MikeysStickWhole.jpg

The piece above is apricot.
 
sasha said:
Hey BIGhairyape. I didnt even think of the PVC pipe I guess it would work great. Use some tape to get a better grip. I were looking at some of the Bamboo i got laying around with the idea that it would look good and if made right would last me a life time. Need to figure out how to mount it to make it right. I had a walking stick that i made like that but it was flimsy. When i did use it, When i were going up a hill the hand tended to feel more naturel laying on top. The idea is not my i seen a pic of a Sherpe (sp) using them going up a steep mountain trail with a load that would make a navy Seal cry uncle.

Sasha
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Well, Sasharp, I completely agree that the t-handle grip is the way to go for transferring weight to the stick most efficiently. :)

I also really like your idea for the t-handle, because a pair of them would make a long sapling into makeshift crutches if a self-rescue situation arose. And as you pointed out, a top grip would be better to stabilize and distribute load than a side-grip would be, which would keep me from falling on my butt and having self-rescue in the first place, so it's all good.

If you are open to a suggestion, I'd think that making an adapter plug of wood that fits snugly in the pvc and which is sanded so as to taper down to fit in the bamboo would be an adequte adapter for your bamboo pole...

You could, to secure the handle to the pole, go with brass hardware for "olde worlde" good looks or stainless for corrosion resistance. A strategically placed carriage bolt and wing nut pair would make for easier take down, if that is a consideration. It would be for me.
 
You guys are pretty fancy. I make a lot of them with kids. I just use a dern stick. Around here strawberry guava works well. At my last farm, coffee was pretty cool. Length (height) varies depending on the person and the activity. Long ones usually range between breast and shoulder height, but never higher than head height. Short ones range from about hip to bellybutton height (the bent arm at 90 degrees thing). I played with tips in the past, but have happily settled on just the plain wooden end of the stick. As for wraps and decor, again, depends on the person. Have always just used whatever wood treatment oils were at hand. For young kids I use a completely nontoxic, even edible, beeswax mineral oil mixture.
 
I like my staff to come just below my chin. I like to rest with my hands on the top and rest my chin on my hands. Also anything longer than this becomes cumbersome. For a lightweight stick my minimum is half way between my elbow and arm pit. I prefer linseed oil. I keep applying it till the wood won't soak it in within a couple of days. Then I give it a few more days to soak in as much as it can before polishing it with steel wool. I have never had a problem with it feeling oily and I even use raw linseed oil a lot. I have been told that you can polish with corn meal to draw out excess oil but I have never tried it. I prefer to tip mine with a copper union rather than a end cap. The end cap has rounded edges that seem to slip more than the squared off edge of the union. If the edge of the union become rounded with use a file will square them up. I fill in the end with epoxy to steel it and have a rubber crutch tip to put on it if I will be walking on pavement a lot.

For your T handle you could try a copper T for larger pipe. You could also drill a hole in the top mount it like you would a axe head. Or you could use this.

http://www.treelineusa.com/brass-t-handle-coupler.html
 
I neck down about 1.5" at the bottom for a snug fit for a piece of mild steel conduit pipe. I drill a hole horizontally through the pipe for a .5" screw to make extra sure it stays on. I tried copper water pipe. It looks nicer but does not hold up as well.

No finish.

As suggested above, I like mine armpit high so I can use the stick as a sorta' crutch to lean on when pooped.
 
Im going to go to the hardware store and see what they got. I like my stick shoulder high. But the one i got in the store is about armpit. Bigox thats a realy nice and fancy piece. My mind is set up to make the right walking stick for my self. But i want to keep it as light weight as i can for long hikes as well...
Littlehairyape if you dont mind me asking why the nick name????

Sasha
 
sasha said:
Littlehairyape if you dont mind me asking why the nick name????

Sasha
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No particular reason. Partly a pet name the GF calls me, and partly cuz my first name is Harry. A little self-deprecating and slightly humorous mental picture. You can call me Harry, or LHA, or whatever. You can PM me if you want more detail.
 
Great Ideas!
I found a staff, decided to cut it to about chin high, and still am not sure about tipping it, but am considering many of the ideas put on this thread. I like the "T handle mentioned, and my original idea was to just file down a thumb notch in the middle of the top, and when needed lash a stick for a "T" bar, for a crutch or a digging tool. I stripped the bark, cut it to rough size, and hung it again, first time was for six months, this time I will decide and apply a finish on it in a month.
I found the staff in the woods where I first got interested in the outdoors, the woods are encroached by developments now, and soon there will be a "no removal " policy of dead wood so I thought it time to get a staff that means something, as the Osage orange tree row I wanted to look for a staff in had been removed just a week before I arrived back "home".
 
I've used common copper plumbing fitting with some success:

2836_1083813258425_1319167188_30324542_4559545_n.jpg


3/4" to 1/2" reducer(?), short hunk of 1/2" pipe with a cap, 3" stainless steel deck screw
holds everything in place. Standard rubber cane-tip fits perfectly...

More pics here.
 
There was a forumite here who made bored out/machined metal tubes meant to be mounted on top of a staff handle.
By tube i mean hollowed out cylinder with threaded end cap.
The tube was for storing survival gear...visualize a kind of Chris Reeve hollow knife handle (without blade) and attached to the top of a walking stick.
Neat idea and looked exceptionally well done, can't remember the forumites name though.
 
have hiked hundreds of miles. never once with a stick. climbed 12 thousand foot peaks. there worthless! i live in the wilderness, they are af no use. just something to have that is unnessasery. wilderness travel: less is more!!
 
Good on ya, skimmerhorn. I don't know how old you are, or what kind of shape your knees are in, but some of us find them very helpful. (Just like lots of hikers and alpinists for hundreds and hundred of years.) :D
 
skimmerhorn said:
...there worthless!!!
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I’ve been hiking for well over 40 years and have gone back and forth on the hiking staff issue.

I use them more often then not these days, and especially like them on rough or difficult terrain.

The heavier the load the more I like them.

I have read that using a staff can reduce the shock load on your knees by 30% or more.




To each his own…

…SH, I see nothing constructive in your comment.





"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike

Forest & Stream
 
Sorry Skimmerhorn but to put it nicely you just posted a foolish comment about the walking staffs. Even more when you said that you never did use one. There was a study done that they help with us much as 40% with proper technic with the weight that your knees and feet have to handle. I dont care how good of a shape you are in. If you use the walking sticks you would walk longer faster and with less pain. There is a reason why people used them for so many years. Give them a real try, use them on hard trails it might be an eye opener for you. Dont think that everyone is wrong and you are the only one that is right.

Sasha
 
i backback in the northern rockies along with my wife. been up and down vertical side hills to get to mountain lakes to fish. a stick is only in the way. have made our on trails to get to certain spots. never used a stick. balance!! climbed peaks for the fun of it. my knees are fine. sticks only make you weaker!! why use something i don't need? less is more in the wilderness. my guess is that most have never been there.
 
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