Walking Sticks in the Forest of Unknowing

Svashtar said:
I believe the last Windlass Steelcrafts catalog I got showed several turned quarterstaffs towards the back, that would seem to be great hiking staffs as well as defensive weapons. They were made of some kind of synthetic I think
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I have a similar Dymondwood staff, 54" long x 1.25" diameter, a gentle spiral carved into the center portion, and a 1" leather strap 9" long bolted on a few inches from the top. I picked it up in a store in New York City many years ago.
 
Rattan works pretty well, as does ramin, if you can find a ramin piece long enough. 48" is the longest I've seen, and I also prefer a longer staff- for me, somewhere around 60" should be right.

Yvsa, if you're going to be in my neck of the woods, please let me know in advance, Uncle. I'd love to be able to meet you, and I can drive a few hours to do that.

John
 
mrostov said:
Since I pretty much always have a significantly large knife or a hatchet with me when I'm backpacking, a lot of times I'll just make a new walking staff on location during each trip. It saves a lot of space in transit getting to the location.
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When I lived in NYC, I would take the subway up to the Bronx and hike around Van Cortlandt Park. I rarely brought a stick with me because there were so many copses of straight, strong saplings available. One Swiss Army Knife saw and in a couple of minutes, I had my stick. Switch to the spearpoint blade and trim the side branches, a couple more minutes, as I was walking into the woods. Then smooth off the top and I had a really good looking stick, if only to tap ahead of me in the tall grass ... and listen for the slithering :D
 
Ill stick in my two yen:

Martial arts-wise, dont even think about choosing the weapon so that you can fight with it, think about how to fight with the weapon you have.

If your stick has a thin end, dont whack with it, it will break. Instead, hold it closer to that end and poke with it.
Balance doesn't really mean anything.
Ninjas loved walking sticks!
They used to hide all kinds of things in there: chains, blinding powder, blades, hooks on a cord, all kinds of cool stuff.

A la Rusty, they even had a kind of walking stick that was actually an iron rod inserted inside a wooden stick, like a big pencil.

I used to have a straight black dymondwood cane with a silver skull for a handle. I used it when I was an actor at a renn faire.

Tough, beautiful, really nice...

Get creative! Dont limit your thinking!

I was thinking a shepherd's crook might be pretty useful for self-defense.
http://www.canemasters.com/long_sticks_staffs.html
 
This is going to cause gnashing of teeth from Kismet,
















But behind the seat of the truck are a 33" and about a 40" something length cane and straight walking stick made of 1" diameter silver Nylon 66
 
I have sourwood and sassafras growing all over my farm. It is great bee food but doesn't always yield

I have 2 trekking poles I got from Campmor I hike with. I always thought they were just a novelty till I bought some for Ms. Hollowdweller and she could absolutely kick my ass climbing hills. You won't believe how much stress they take off of your back and knees. But you really need 2, they can't be too heavy and they should be about 6" below your armpit in height.

I don't always take them just hiking less than a mile or so, but steep uphills, carrying a pack, or steep downhills they can't be beat on!
 
I have a blackthorn that I like alot. Very lite and darn near unbreakable. Have a rattan with brass tip and headpiece about 5'. Slightly heavy, but very tough. My wife has about adopted my blackthorn. It's probably my favorite.
 
I have one my wifey bought for me that I think is Ash.

I used to have severall, but my favorite was made from hickory, a little heavy, but with a knob whittled on top, it was pretty good medicine for the rarely poorly mannered pup.

I miss that one.

Lee valley makes screw joints that would work well for a take down model...

Linky pooh

Cane Tips;

Linky Pooh Two
 
cliff355 said:
Oddly enough, a previous post you made about trekking poles on a hike through your hollow planted the idea, and this past weekend I picked up a set of Leki's. Got them through my medical plan at a huge discount otherwise I probably wouldn't have forked out that kind of dough.

There seems to be alot of opinions out there on how to use them, and 6" below the armpit is new advice. I'll try that along with anything else you can suggest. My boy already wants a pair (predictably) and it may take some doing to find some short enough.
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Do they seem to be helping? I noticed right away less tenseness in my back going uphill.
 
Great title Munk !

"Walking Sticks in the Forest of Unknowing "


I'm a bit of a techie when it comes to walking sticks/hiking poles. Use the collapsible aluminium ones. I can't recommend them enough ~~ or any simple stick ~~ to use when out in the woods. Especially if you hike by yourself.

They make me feel like a spider, with 4 points of contact rather than 2. Lets me motor up and down with a lot less wear and tear on the body.

Plus, if you ever break a femur, you've got the beginnings of a splint right at your side ... :cool:

And, of course, chasing away dragons

~ B
 
What could be more appropriate than the poster known as 'Bamboo' weighing in on this thread?

I realize some man made material walking staffs/sticks are going to be strong and light. I don't really want both hands full as I walk, however, and the wilderness is to be experienced and enjoyed. I'm sure a motorcycle would move one faster than even two ski poles.

For me, if I'm to do this, I want a real wooden stick. At the distances I hike these days, I doubt very much the weight will ruin the trip and crush the delicate spirit of the hiker. I've three trailing ducks behind me....well, actually, the 8 year old is ahead on the trail these days, unless we're far in or it gets rough, but I still have a 2 and 5 year old behind me.

I'd think a wooden walking staff a better weapon than synthetic. The wood has a crushing blow available. Am I wrong about this?


munk
 
wooden walking staff a better weapon than synthetic
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I dunno, bro. The fiberglass, maybe. My canvas micarta? No way. 'Course, the canvas micarta is probably about 2x as heavy as an equal amount of very dense, heavy wood. Don't know where you can find micarta staffs, though- my "maker" skipped off to HI, last I heard. :)

Lightweight+ heavy duty SD potential (no personal experience yet, but I'll probably get one for Byron- he just had surgery last night on his back, btw): http://www.newtlivesay.com/NL-GREYGHOST.htm

John
 
munk said:
I'd think a wooden walking staff a better weapon than synthetic. The wood has a crushing blow available. Am I wrong about this?
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I had an unusually sturdy telescoping aluminum pole which took a lot of abuse over the years. But it couldn't take a really hard side impact. History. :(
 
1009229iceaxes.jpg


The old Ice Axe can be another pretty useful all weather tool depending on the terrain. It is not a shock aborber like the walking stick, but it helps alot when you are going up inclines or over broken terrain. It works like an extension of your arm and allows you to pull or push off objects while upright. They are light, very strong, and carry well on backpacks. It can be sharp; so If you are using one in other then ice conditions, keep the rubber guard securely installed over the blade.

n2s
 
This site has some neat synthetic walking sticks and canes as well as some wooden ones and a metal one in the works .http://newtlivesay.com/newt_livesay_CANES-STICKS.htm PS Cold Steel has some nice ones too. http://www.ltspecpro.com/sticks.html
PPS Cold Steel has white wax wood stick/staff in 4ft and 6ft lengths cheap. It is very tough from what I've heard. It used is used for martial arts training bokken and staffs DIJ might be able to tell us more about it.

James
 
Spectre said:
Lightweight+ heavy duty SD potential (no personal experience yet, but I'll probably get one for Byron- he just had surgery last night on his back, btw): http://www.newtlivesay.com/NL-GREYGHOST.htm
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Got one. I like it, a bit heavy, VERY tough. The rubber "golf club" handle doesn't do much for me, not good for leaning on :) But I can/should replace it with a knob top.

I got a WA-1 at 36" too. The curtain rod version of the Gray Ghost. Stiff enough to walk with, deadlier than a sjambok.

Both of them seem nearly indestructible.
 
munk said:
What could be more appropriate than the poster known as 'Bamboo' weighing in on this thread?
munk
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:D


"I'd think a wooden walking staff a better weapon than synthetic. The wood has a crushing blow available. Am I wrong about this?"



~ I would agree. My aluminum ones (Leki's) are quite strong, as long as the direction of force is being applied straight into them - into the ground. I once got one stuck between two rocks, but I kept going .... it folded like a soda can. ~

I just say bring something, so that when your center of gravity rises unexpectedly, you have the perfect tool to reposition yourself and not tweak your back doing it.

Plus they make you look wiser. :rolleyes:

~ B


Edit - Cold Steel sells a White Wax Wood Staff that is pretty nice. Nothing fancy at all, but white wax wood was commonly used in china as staffs and spear handles. It is very strong, yet 'springy' too.
 
munk said:
The wood has a crushing blow available. Am I wrong about this?
munk
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Well, you can be right, depending on the stick. Most any stick can deliver pokes and sideways strikes. The most effective tool for delivering "crushing blows" is either a weighty stick like a quarterstaff or one with a knob on the end. Many of the old Irish sticks have either a root ball on the end, or were cut from where a sucker grew upward from a horizontal branch and include a chunk of the mother branch.

I cut a few of these types of suckers with a section of branch attached when my old apple tree blew down. They're seasoning now.

The drawback to carrying a club is that you have to carry it. That's the reason I usually choose a lighter staff.

Don't discount poking. You may want to take a look at the Aikido Jo techniques for some examples if you're not already familiar with this use of the stick. I googled and found some illustrations at http://www.stenudd.com/aikido/31kata.htm .
 
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