Hiking staff transformer

[Shotgun]

Was looking at making a hiking staff out of hardwood dowels and ran across this. Pretty cool I think.http://www.instructables.com/id/Multi-Function-Walking-Stick-Converts-into-a-Cha/#step1

Are dowels a good thing to make hiking staffs with?

 

[Codger_64]

Those look like the connectors for old-style military shelter half poles. Hardwood is heavy. Imagine how many times you have to pick up and move a hiking staff per mile. I prefer lighter wood with more spring like cedar or ash.

 

[jdk1]

I use a Cold Steel rattan cane with a steel ferrule (sp?). It is very, very light and extremely strong. I bought it maybe 15 years ago and it was labeled as "Extra Stout". I used it hard for years when my job was to walk border canyons. It would push down barbed wire fences and beat back brush, as well as help me walk two hours to my vehicle with a broken leg. That was fun, NOT, but luckily it wasn't the femur! They sold longer sticks also. I HIGHLY recommend rattan and I'm sure it can be found on the net somewhere. Good luck.

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

for years I have used an old bamboo cross country ski pole without the basket, tall and light with handle and steel tip.

I agree with codger64 that hardwood would be too heavy.