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- Nov 29, 2000
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I always liked walking sticks made of wood. The ones showing a nice grain or bark, straight or with slight twist, new ones and the ones showing patina which comes only with age and continuous handling. I was fascinated with the knobby canes of old men, the richly carved shepherd’s and herder’s sticks and crooks seen in ethnographic exhibitions and the home-made hiking sticks and staves I’ve seen on many trails. I’ve carved a few myself, mostly of beech saplings.
I grew up in Central Europe. There, some of the preferred woods for hard-working and mechanically durable sticks are the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (several Crataegus species), yew (Taxus baccata), oak (Quercus robur and other oak species), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia, an originally North American tree which became very popular in many European regions during the 19th century).
The cornel cherry, a European relative of the American flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), is not very well known in this side of the Atlantic, but in many places in Europe it was considered a premium material for walking or shepherd’s sticks. As all dogwood timber, it is very hard, very wear-resistant, strong and tough, remains smooth in service and is suitable for fine detail carving. It may reach such density that it can sink in water.
Nowadays most of the continental European and even the British walking stick factories prefer coppiced sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) and hazel (Corylus avellana and C. colurna) wood as the material to make walking sticks and canes from. European beech (Fagus sylvatica) is quickly gaining use too. Hazel wood is a springy, but not too strong wood. Chestnut and beech are not the optimal choices of stick wood either, if we are looking at the mechanical properties of these woods. They are brittle, not too strong. Both woods are described as “durable”, but meaning different qualities. Beech wood is durable if we are talking about wear resistance only. Chestnut wood is durable in a way that it has good decay resistance, which is advantage if the raw material has to be stored for a longer time. Both woods have good steam-bending properties, which comes handy when straightening the shaft-wood and making the crooks for the tourist/crook handle canes.
Most importantly, beech is widespread and cheap wood In Europe, and walking stick diameter hazel and chestnut timber is produced at low cost from coppiced woodlots.
Compared to that, in the US one can readily purchase sticks and canes of mechanically superior material for very moderate price.
Ash, oak and hickory are used for steam bent canes, either made from saplings or from sawn timber. These and a number of other type of wood are used for making walking and hiking sticks and staves. Ash, oak, hickory (all three easy to steam bend), flowering dogwood and birch all make very strong and tough sticks, with hickory being usually the strongest. The lightweight cedar, aspen, alder, sassafras, tamarack (Larix laricina) are popular, since are easy to carve and some of them are very decay-resistant. However they are mechanically inferior to the previously mentioned hardwoods.
What I mean is, that a good walking stick used for longer hikes, in my opinion, should not be very stiff or too springy. It should be able to absorb some of the shock, but still should be stiff enough in order to feel comfortable. This is where the wooden stick of yesterday can still excel, providing more comfort than many modern trekking poles made of metal and synthetics.
So these properties are not necessarily the same as those, which would make some wood optimal for martial art sticks, or others for canes used as walking aids for elderly or infirm.
My favorite wood for walking sticks is hickory, with dogwood being a close second.
I also like to hike with a larger crook handled cane, the one called the stockman’s or cattleman’s cane.
There are a number of good and reputable makers who sell good quality hiking sticks and canes made of these woods, with the Whistle Creek company being the largest.
They are sold at outdoor sports related stores and even hardware stores like ACE hardware, but I found that the quality could be uneven (some sticks are cracked or with uneven varnish), especially considering the price they sell for.
That is why I was pleasantly surprised, when several months ago I discovered a small family business producing high quality sticks and canes which are even cheaper than the ones mentioned above.
http://stores.ebay.com/Wilderness-Walkers
Ironically enough, they are located in the same area I live in, but I learned about them on a hiking and geocaching forum.
I purchased a sturdy hickory staff from them, and soon I accumulated several others of their sticks, staves and canes. They are truly addictive!
While looking for a steam bent hickory stockman’s cane, I realized that most places advertising those are actually selling oak or ash ones. Ash can look very similar to some hickory sapwood, and both ash and oak are very strong and tough woods, more than capable to rival hickory for a hard use cane. I stumbled upon a nice company, specializing in scythes, which also had in stock some very nice and long enough cattleman canes.
http://www.themaruggcompany.com
I purchased two and am very pleased, both how they feel and look. They are most likely made of white oak.
One might consider saving a few bucks by making a stick himself/herself. There are a few things to consider, though.
It is not easy to find a nice sapling or branch of a suitable species, which can be cut legally. The woodlands I know here around are all public lands, and I am not going to start cutting trees in the outdoors I am hiking in, just to save a few bucks. Procuring timber for sticks from live trees might have been wise option decades ago when the impact of outdoorsmen was much lower, but would certainly lead to big damages nowadays.
One might consider picking up fallen branches, where this is legal, but they are usually infested with insects or decay fungi. Frequently they fall because the infestation weakened the wood while it was still on the tree. Even if one could get rid of the insects or fungi at home by different treatments, most of these are either not simple ones or are not safe in the absence of appropriate equipment and/or workshop.
A good walking stick maker not only takes care in selecting the proper wood, but also dries it in a way, which prevents future decay. An even better option is, when the maker kills the eventual insects and fungi by steaming and/or kiln drying the wood.
Considering the time and effort involved to produce a good quality walking stick, it is economically sound to buy one from a reputable maker or vendor, which would mean a legal source for the timber, quality material used and a dependable working process resulting a stick, which can be relied on and covered by some sort of warranty. Last, but not least, such a stick is ready for use as opposed to the one which yet has to be dried, debarked, finished and coated in the home-made case.
But whatever the source of the stick, a good one provides a steady support, comfort, eventual mean of protection, and frequently also esthetical pleasure and pride of ownership.
So next time you head for the trail, don’t forget the good old walking stick! Happy hiking!
I grew up in Central Europe. There, some of the preferred woods for hard-working and mechanically durable sticks are the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), hawthorn (several Crataegus species), yew (Taxus baccata), oak (Quercus robur and other oak species), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia, an originally North American tree which became very popular in many European regions during the 19th century).
The cornel cherry, a European relative of the American flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), is not very well known in this side of the Atlantic, but in many places in Europe it was considered a premium material for walking or shepherd’s sticks. As all dogwood timber, it is very hard, very wear-resistant, strong and tough, remains smooth in service and is suitable for fine detail carving. It may reach such density that it can sink in water.
Nowadays most of the continental European and even the British walking stick factories prefer coppiced sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) and hazel (Corylus avellana and C. colurna) wood as the material to make walking sticks and canes from. European beech (Fagus sylvatica) is quickly gaining use too. Hazel wood is a springy, but not too strong wood. Chestnut and beech are not the optimal choices of stick wood either, if we are looking at the mechanical properties of these woods. They are brittle, not too strong. Both woods are described as “durable”, but meaning different qualities. Beech wood is durable if we are talking about wear resistance only. Chestnut wood is durable in a way that it has good decay resistance, which is advantage if the raw material has to be stored for a longer time. Both woods have good steam-bending properties, which comes handy when straightening the shaft-wood and making the crooks for the tourist/crook handle canes.
Most importantly, beech is widespread and cheap wood In Europe, and walking stick diameter hazel and chestnut timber is produced at low cost from coppiced woodlots.
Compared to that, in the US one can readily purchase sticks and canes of mechanically superior material for very moderate price.
Ash, oak and hickory are used for steam bent canes, either made from saplings or from sawn timber. These and a number of other type of wood are used for making walking and hiking sticks and staves. Ash, oak, hickory (all three easy to steam bend), flowering dogwood and birch all make very strong and tough sticks, with hickory being usually the strongest. The lightweight cedar, aspen, alder, sassafras, tamarack (Larix laricina) are popular, since are easy to carve and some of them are very decay-resistant. However they are mechanically inferior to the previously mentioned hardwoods.
What I mean is, that a good walking stick used for longer hikes, in my opinion, should not be very stiff or too springy. It should be able to absorb some of the shock, but still should be stiff enough in order to feel comfortable. This is where the wooden stick of yesterday can still excel, providing more comfort than many modern trekking poles made of metal and synthetics.
So these properties are not necessarily the same as those, which would make some wood optimal for martial art sticks, or others for canes used as walking aids for elderly or infirm.
My favorite wood for walking sticks is hickory, with dogwood being a close second.
I also like to hike with a larger crook handled cane, the one called the stockman’s or cattleman’s cane.
There are a number of good and reputable makers who sell good quality hiking sticks and canes made of these woods, with the Whistle Creek company being the largest.
They are sold at outdoor sports related stores and even hardware stores like ACE hardware, but I found that the quality could be uneven (some sticks are cracked or with uneven varnish), especially considering the price they sell for.
That is why I was pleasantly surprised, when several months ago I discovered a small family business producing high quality sticks and canes which are even cheaper than the ones mentioned above.
http://stores.ebay.com/Wilderness-Walkers
Ironically enough, they are located in the same area I live in, but I learned about them on a hiking and geocaching forum.
I purchased a sturdy hickory staff from them, and soon I accumulated several others of their sticks, staves and canes. They are truly addictive!
While looking for a steam bent hickory stockman’s cane, I realized that most places advertising those are actually selling oak or ash ones. Ash can look very similar to some hickory sapwood, and both ash and oak are very strong and tough woods, more than capable to rival hickory for a hard use cane. I stumbled upon a nice company, specializing in scythes, which also had in stock some very nice and long enough cattleman canes.
http://www.themaruggcompany.com
I purchased two and am very pleased, both how they feel and look. They are most likely made of white oak.
One might consider saving a few bucks by making a stick himself/herself. There are a few things to consider, though.
It is not easy to find a nice sapling or branch of a suitable species, which can be cut legally. The woodlands I know here around are all public lands, and I am not going to start cutting trees in the outdoors I am hiking in, just to save a few bucks. Procuring timber for sticks from live trees might have been wise option decades ago when the impact of outdoorsmen was much lower, but would certainly lead to big damages nowadays.
One might consider picking up fallen branches, where this is legal, but they are usually infested with insects or decay fungi. Frequently they fall because the infestation weakened the wood while it was still on the tree. Even if one could get rid of the insects or fungi at home by different treatments, most of these are either not simple ones or are not safe in the absence of appropriate equipment and/or workshop.
A good walking stick maker not only takes care in selecting the proper wood, but also dries it in a way, which prevents future decay. An even better option is, when the maker kills the eventual insects and fungi by steaming and/or kiln drying the wood.
Considering the time and effort involved to produce a good quality walking stick, it is economically sound to buy one from a reputable maker or vendor, which would mean a legal source for the timber, quality material used and a dependable working process resulting a stick, which can be relied on and covered by some sort of warranty. Last, but not least, such a stick is ready for use as opposed to the one which yet has to be dried, debarked, finished and coated in the home-made case.
But whatever the source of the stick, a good one provides a steady support, comfort, eventual mean of protection, and frequently also esthetical pleasure and pride of ownership.
So next time you head for the trail, don’t forget the good old walking stick! Happy hiking!
