OT: non-knife "tool" on the way. ( long but good info on canes )

Walosi, you are a source of information. when i pass, i don't think any vital data will be lost. No one will say, "that old man knew a lot of stuff." They'll say, "that old man sure was full of it..er a lot of stuff."

I believe there is a shrub here called the hawthorne. It is vicious and has thorns. There are also wild plums. I wonder?

I never cared for sloe gin...

munk
 
Pre Sept 11th, I carried a 32 inch handmade Samoan war club back from Hawaii on the plane, wrapped in a beach towel. No one said anything, or even asked to see it. I figure they thought--oh, its wood. Thinng has an acute point, about 30 pairs of shaped teeth along the egdes, diatal taper, fire hardened. Not much of a 'cane'. Made by Samoan prince Tevaga.

I would've been like "Box cutter? Bring it on, terrorista!"

Keith
 
Swung back by the post office at ten AM this morning... first class mail was up.

Tried again just after Noon. It was there!!!

First thoughts:
you may remember a cartoon of a man holding both hands to his head and the caption "Oh S---! You did it exactly the way I told you to do it!".

I wanted a "big gun" of a cane. I got exactly that, but I didn't think it would come chambered for the 458 Win. Magnum. That would make the one I originally started to order but the guy thankfully talked me out of, a 577. I'll go to the market later today and pick up some vegetables ( and sneak a reading of the cane on their scales in the process ).

The cane head is as shown on the "Freestyle English Walnut #1" picture on the web site'a Bargain Beasement. What was not conveyed by the picture was the heft and size of the shaft. It apears to be a fairly thick and gnarly piece of wood, with bumps all the way down. It really looks like it was made from a natural piece of wood, sealed and smoothed on top with a coat of heavy black paint. It looks to keep it's thickness of about 1&1/4" from top to bottom. I figure you'd have to sit and look at it for four or five minutes before you'd start suspecting anything.

Think of it like a 20" AK for Martial Arts use. It's a bit slow to maneuver with your hand on the handle. Think of the handle as a pommel and grab just below the head and it feels right, though. It's the cane equivalent of a bastard ( hand-and- a-half ) sword. Useable with one hand, devastatingly quick and powerful with two.
Walosi's description of a two hand fulcrum strike crumbling a cinderblock should be easy enough. A singlehand strike choked up as described ought to do the job also.

There's a feeling to it that just under the surface is a layer of steel. It's that hard and solid. ( Of course if you read the details of it's construction you'd know that's exactly what is just under the surface. ) After playing with this a while my pine stick feels like balsa wood - lighter than air.

Maybe I'll get one of the Canemasters videos and start practicing my baton twirling. Get one of my friends off his fat arse and get him practising with me too. ( He spent his 20's working as a bouncer. ) Start a mother chapter of the Fat Old Flatulents (FOF).

I'd better cut this off here. I'm starting to think like the duck.
 
Bruise, just stop by the Service, and afterwards, by the house for a few words of condolences. ON your way out stop the car and pick up the wood from the drive where my wife has thrown it. It may be wise to check in front of your vehicle when you park because the larger pieces will no doubt be used as curbs.

munk
 
Rusty: I don't think you'd get that war club past any airline security checkpoint....the steel in it, ya know.
I have a basket in my front hall, full of sticks I've whittled for myself (bad knees and spine, me) using 3/4" - 1/2" maple, ash or oak saplings that grow on burnt-over forest lands here in Maine. There's lots of glacial rocks, and the saplings grow 'out from under' in nice crooks, which can be cut and whittled into solid walking sticks that are 'integral' , and immensely strong. With 16 to 18 growth rings in concentric circles, they are strong enough to support old legs and shrewd defensive maneuvers alike, yet are light in the hand. Only metal on them is a small screw for the rubber ferrule. And they cost nothing but some whittling time and a few cents for the ferrule and some finish.
An apple branch could be substituted. The wood should be dry.
The cane shouldn't be thought of as a club...but as a lance. Sure, it can be swung, in a pinch...but a two handed THRUST is much more effective and harder to parry or avoid. I seldom go where my metal tools are disallowed, but when I do, I gimp a little more than usual, and make sure the guard checks my 'cane' thoroughly.
The only metal cane that you could probably get past a checkpoint would be one of those telescoping aluminum ones. On those, the handle portion can be loaded with sand, and the detachable crutch tip can be quickly twisted off to reveal a nasty half inch diameter hollow pipe that would be penetrative enough to be effective on soft tissue. An impact weapon in one hand, and a thrusting one in the other.
 
Synthetic :D

I love these things, but I have always had misserable luck with them. These two haven't been used yet. I have already lost two others on separate occasions to airlines (checked baggage problems :mad: ). They actually make excellent walking sticks capable of giving you added leverage a number of different ways. Unlike traditional sticks, you can use these to push off, to pull, or to anchor yourself. However, I doubt these will make it as carry-on no matter how much I may limp. :)

n2s

note: The careless use of these things can lead to nasty accidents. Make sure that your guards are in place at all times when you are not using them on ice.
 

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Got a weight for the thing. 40 ounces. 2&1/2 pounds exactly. The guy told me the other one was 3 pounds. An even 2 pounder would be something else again to try.

I will have to see what a few weeks worth of handling the thing does to my hand and arm strength.

Regardless, I intend to have more fun with it than some folks think should be allowed.
 
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