Pat Crawford survival staff

John G

John G

Joined
Jul 4, 2008
Messages
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TAD Gear is offering this survival staff for around $300. Its not my idea of a walking stick, but I'll admit it caught my eye.

crawfordstaff.jpg


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It's a combination walking stick/baton/blowgun/knife, and comes with some blowgun darts. Being TAD it tends toward the more "tactical" approach. I wonder, does Crawford's name drive the value here?
 
looks pretty decent. but I dont really see many wanted that over their own kits/staffs.
 
Hmm, that's an interesting idea. I have been playing around with taking a blowgun into the woods as a survival tool. I have never really been able to justify the weight. It seems like it would just be extra weight even when it comes to survival.

I guess if you were starving you could get a squirrel or other small game, even a bird out of a tree if you were good. I would think that most survival/emergency situations would only last, maybe a week at the most. So food would not be a life or death item.

A dead fall or snare would be more viable and little or no weight. Not sure if that "staff" would be worth 300 bones..
 
You know, I see blowguns brought up a lot in regards to "survival", but I can't help but wonder how useful they would actually be, unless you have access to poison. And how many people know how to find a fast acting poison? Otherwise, what are the chances that you are actually gonna get close enough to a squirrel to use a blow gun, and if you do, what are the chances you are accurate enough to actually hit it in the vitals?

I may be way off base here, so maybe someone who has successfully hunted with a blow gun can chime in.

As far as the staff is concerned, since I already am not attracted the blow gun, and I already carry a knife and a hiking stick, it just seems I could find something a bit more useful to spend $300 on...
 
the sticker is hidden when everything is in the staff configuration.

it's hopefully well made, but you could get some aluminum tubing from the hardware store and ziptie a Mora on the end. for less than 1/10th the cost of the Crawford.

i remember thinking that these were "too expensive" when i first saw them years ago, and they were about $175 then, IIRC.

sooo, there's some work in the threaded fittings and stuff, and it looks like it's all black anodized. there aren't really any other commercial equivalents that i'm aware of, but you could also get a CS Bushman and a hickory handle for a shovel for a small fraction of the price.
 
I am a big fan of crafting a nice walking stick each time I go out in the woods. It is fun to look around for a good piece of wood to work with. $300 is a lot of dough too.
 
The range of a blow gun is pretty good for small game. I don't think it would be too hard to get a squirrel interested in a wrapper crumbs of food or something like that and kill it from 20ft ish.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to worry about hitting vitals, it isn't going far with a 3-4" dart stuck in it, maybe if you hit it's tail it would get away but other than that its dead.
 
Back when I was an early teen, I shot a toad in the head at point blank with a dart from a blow gun and a chipmunk in the midsection at about 8 yards. Both scurried off, or in the toad's case, hopped off, while flipping me off. I cannot be sure about the toad, but I am pretty sure that chipmunk made it without dying. Blowguns are the most useless waste of space in your gear IMO, unless you have poison. Better off getting good at using a slingshot with some bludgeoning and shock power.:thumbup:
 
I got a Crawford staff years ago, and put it to some use, even the lower portion as a cane for a while. Too cold to hold in the winter, though. :)

At $300 I think it's getting into collector territory, rather than user.

The flexibility of where to mount the dagger was interesting, though. I had it set up so all I had to do was unscrew the baton with the dagger inside and use it as an assegai, leaving the walking stick as a club in the other hand.

Never bothered with the blowgun.
 
If I remember corrctly 25+ years ago there was something like this marketed during the "ninja" craze.... Seemed like a reach even then.
now as for the blowgun hunting.... 25+ years ago while squirrel hunting (during my ninja ninja craze) :( with a blowgun (much to my fathers disgust) I shot 7 darts at a squirrel, the 7th hitting him in the front shoulder area and yes it is possible for a squirrel to run/climb away while laughing and flipping you off
 
jb101 said:
the 7th hitting him in the front shoulder area and yes it is possible for a squirrel to run/climb away while laughing and flipping you off
Click to expand...

Yup. I forgot to add, how many of us have shot a chipmunk with a .22 subsonic and hit it in the body, but not in a vital spot and had it run off with a bullet wound? LOT more power in a .22 than a little pin prick.

Honestly, I wouldn't even want to add poison to the tip. That may be fine for tribals, but I ain't putting any poison into my system, I don't care how diluted it gets in the muscle.
 
You could always apply an anesthetic property, then it just falls asleep and you can kill it peacefully by removing the head. I've certainly never hunted anything with a blowgun, but it never hurts to change things up. I still remember the first time I got a boar with my knife, definitely a different feeling than a gun or bow.
 
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