Walking Sticks in the Forest of Unknowing

Not a helluva lot I can add in regards to the sticks. Funny though, my Grandfather used to always walk around with one, even before it was a necessity. Used to p!ss my mom and grandmother off every time he went and started whacking at a snake with it.

Anyhoo, just wanted to mention to Munk that if he's after any more Diamond willow to gimme a holler. the stuff is very, very plentiful here in Alaska, and I could easily send a few sticks down that way for ya'.

Especially after break up when I start plundering in the woods a little more often.
 
Everyone knows poking is best with a stick-much more force directed into a small spot which will hopefully not like the experience and take the rest of his spots with him when he runs away.

I don't wish to carrry a club. I don't wish to carry a ski pole. I suspect my Chokecherry branches are going to work out fine, being a good compromise between weight and strength. I have no doubt any one of my sticks (they're curing in the mud room) would more than hold my 185 pounds.

Choke cherry is amazing stuff. I would have used some for a revolver handle by now but it is prone to cracking. I'll see what the sticks do. White and dark meat, like a turkey, but unlike the one you serve on Thanksgiving this wood is sinewy and real tough.

Really amazing wood- like a shrub had hardwood.



munk
 
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
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Rusty
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AAARRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!! (gnash gnash gnash) AAAARRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!

did you melt it down? :p


(Actually, I may have a chance to not bid high enough on a 66 this week-end. I'm selling a shotgun to bid. The problem is there's a Nylon 76 (lever action) there as well, and the collectors will be there. WTH, at least I'll get out.)
 
Funny. Checked the Internet. 1" x 6' rattan sells for $14.95 to $89.95. (The expensive stuff must be magical rattan. Perhaps inhabited by the spirits of ancient warrior mages.)
 
I used to hang out at the local rattan store... :rolleyes:

I figure the stuff you want for a rattan walking stick is a denser and stronger stick. Some rattan I've seen is really light and not dense at all. The more expensive stuff might be sorted or something. Plus rattan poles usually aren't that straight.

Get the stuff with the skin still on. It's more durable and probably more water resistant.

Oh oh oh... if you go to a place that sells rattan furniture, they might sell poles fer cheap in the back where they make the items.
 
if you get rattan get the better stuff that has been burnt by someone that knows how to do it and why

as far as rattan for fighting over other woods...ask any good stick grappler

if you don't know a lot about the subject to get a few ideas do a search on kali martial arts or the dog brothers


as far as the durability of rattan for hiking and so on, again its very light but very strong and the price should be under $30 for the pair sticks and about $50 or $60 for a staff of good quality

I have several that have had very heavy use and have lasted more than 20 years
 
Think I saw a Tarwar can in one of the pics. HI version of the sword cane, I guess.

I actually have a pair of the aluminum yuppie sticks. I was a scoffer before I bought them. Then I picked up a pair at Sierra Trading Post in Reno, and they promptly saved my butt a few times in the mountains. Also double as poles for the tarp. Using two means you can push a bit with your arms, which helps on the uphill. My arms aren't in such good shape, though, so it means that after a long hike my whole body is tired.

However, in the last week I got a hankering to ramble out and cut a branch. was a bit stick-obsessed in youth, and it would be nice to go back to something natural.
 
Disaster-

All my chokecherry staffs are cracking. That's why they don't make stuff out of chokecherry, I guess.

I wish I knew how to do this better. Maybe if I'd left the skin on and waited several months they might have made it- any ideas? There was a fair amount of work in these already. Darn.



munk
 
No!! I didn't Thomas, and Yvsa told me to.

!!!

Would it be better to leave the bark on next time, or strip and oil with vegitable oil?

Some of these sticks were simply great- and the two that fit me best. CRACKED.


munk
 
I'd strip 'em and coat them with Tung oil. I don't think the bark itself would do much to prevent cracking or splitting.

Any pics, Munk? Is chokecherry in the same family as cherry?
 
munk said:
No!! I didn't Thomas, and Yvsa told me to.

munk
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When you take the bark off you have too replenish the moisture with the oil.
Rub the oil in every day for a couple of weeks, then every other day for a couple of weeks. Don't wipe the oil off but don't use so much that it runs off the wood either.
After a month or so you can oil them about once a week for a month and they will usually be all right.
I cut a nice piece of Hickory in high summer for a brother and told him what too do.
He had no problems and his Hickory staff came out really nice, and crack free.:D
Generally leaving the bark on and letting them dry naturally outside in the cold helps too prevent cracking.
I have a Chokecherry drumstick that had the bark left on. I imagine it was cut in the spring or summer instead of the winter. It has never cracked.
Strong as hell.
Munk just called and said when he peeled them that they were wet too the touch.
I sure wouldn't have thought the sap would've started running this soon but I guess it is sugaring off time up north after all ainnit? :eek:
 
munk said:
Disaster-

All my chokecherry staffs are cracking. That's why they don't make stuff out of chokecherry, I guess.

I wish I knew how to do this better. Maybe if I'd left the skin on and waited several months they might have made it- any ideas? There was a fair amount of work in these already. Darn.



munk
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Cracks may be ok. To slow drying from the cuts and promote uniform drying you can do something to seal the cut ends and cuts where side branches were taken off. Plastic bags over ends, varnish, parafin, etc.

Right now you might try giving the sticks a generous coat of unboiled linseed oil. They may still be strong although cracked. Test them to see before throwing them out. If you're particularly attached to some you can consider wrapping with sinew or paracord to strengthen.

I would trust a round branch that had a small crack before I would trust turned cut lumber with a crack. For the cut lumber the grain may go all the way through and it could crack into leathally sharp fragments. Branches could do something similar but it is much less likely.
 
Howard and Yvsa-

I cut off the ends that cracked. This leaves the two greatest sticks I owned too short for me- but someone will be able to use them. I've oiled the sticks. Darn, Yvsa, I really didn't want to take on another pet and now I have to feed Trav's goldfish and oils the freakin sticks.

I went out to find replacements. No go. There are lots of straight hiking staffs, but none with the wonderfull injury in the bark leaving deformation and character. All the samples I found with the damage were damaged beyond salvage. The plant likes to crack.

Like so many things in my life, I often stumble upon something wonderful, and ruin it before I understand. This is true of both things and people.



munk
 
munk?

is stick.

just stick.

wood piece of tree thing.

stick.

no cosmic connection.

just stick.




be well and safe.
 
I have to relate my "Magic Walking Stick" story. :)
Back in 1980 or so I was squirrel hunting with a friend. We were staying on the trail and basically hunting those that presented themselves easily. Well, something called me off the trail into this nice thinly wooded glade. I walked into this glade and right up to a walking stick that someone had cut, rounded the ends and artfully debarked it leaving just enough inner bark here and there to make this stick beautiful. I was properly amazed and brought the stick with me for the rest of our hunt and then brought it home with me. I oiled the stick for awhile over the coming weeks, did a suede and rawhide wrap handle, shod the bottom in brass and the top with a decorative top.
The next time I went climbing in the mountains with a couple of close friends, I brought it with me to test it out. I used it on the trek to the summit and along the ridge line with these friends. At one point I had to jump Up over a crest of stone near a drop off cliff edge. I made it fine and then my smaller, lighter friend made the jump. He made it just as a gust of wind caught him and sent him backwards over the edge, sliding on his butt with a drop of hundreds of feet coming up fast. I slambed the brass shod bottom of the stick into his chest causing him to clutch at the stick and stop his slide off of this precipace. We got him back over the top and reveled at our luck. I have always, from that moment on felt that this stick had some power and my luck at finding it saved my friends life. I treasure the stick to this day and it is the one I give my Lady, hoping it will take care of her when we go out together.
 
I learn everyday around here.

What a great place this is.

Thanks everyone, thanks.

bamboo
 
Kismet-

They were good sticks I found.
Stick good.


I'm going hunting willow next.

I'm not resting until I have lots of sticks. Sticks for my guests. Sticks for my sons.

The truth is, that though Yvsa told me to oil them I did not realize just how much oil he meant. I would have oiled once only.

Stick probably crack anyhoo. I tell myself. If I've stopped the cracking, they are still at a useful size.
\
Archangel- that was a great story.

munk
 
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