What is the best sapling to use for a walking stick?

Dave Costin

Dave Costin

Joined
Oct 14, 2000
Messages
466
Hi,

I'm wanting some opinions on what you all use to make your walking sticks. I have used and had fairly good luck with Shag Bark Hickory but it always seems to warp. I do like how it holds up once it's dry though. Very hard to break.

I'm in Ohio so I will need something native here.

Thanks,

Dave
 
Hickory usually works fine for me, but I know little on the subject.
 
Not sure if you have much of it in Ohio (I believe it's not native to America at all), but my favorite walking stick is a length of bamboo. Total weight is mere ounces. I'm 5'5" and find that about a 5' long staff works well for me. You can also cut it so that the top section is open and can be stuffed with survival items.
 
Rokjok,
Thats funny, I use Bamboo also. Its real light, looks cool and is strong.Stuffing survival items in the top is a great idea!
 
I always make mine from birch. I'm from Canada and don't know if they have birch in Ohio. I cut off the bark, apply varnish and it looks pretty good. I've never had one warp or break yet.
 
I like hiking sticks, and have several. Bamboo is fine, lightweight, but not quite as tough as I like. Rattan suits me better (Cold Steel lathi's). I also cut hickory for some of my walking sticks, here's a few tips. Peel the bark, if you want it peeled, asap after it's cut. It's tough after it starts to dry. Use an eye-hook or drill a hole or just tie a timber hitch to one end and hang your peeled sapling(s) in a garage, barn, somewhere unheated. Or, if you have a lot of saplings, tie them tightly in a bundle and let them hang for a month or two, no warping. I stain mine and wipe them down with mineral oil once a year.

I also use Eastern Red Cedar, light, fairly weatherproof, and attractive. And they're a 'weed tree' around here, easy to harvest. I peel the bark and remove all the limbs, tie your sapling up and let it hang to dry. After it's dry, a coat of mineral oil and I carry it around in the bed of the pickup, the weather doesn't beat it up badly.

Third tip, I harvest straight buckeye & hazel sprouts from overgrown groves along the railroad right of way. Sooner or later the railroad will come along and spray them with weedkiller, so I'm not robbing anyone. They're light, straight and tough. I leave the bark on these, except at the end. As much as I like machetes, I carry a folding packsaw to harvest these and a couple of hanks of twine to tie 'em into a bundle.

Ferules, or the piece on the bottom of the staff. I often use rubber 'chair & cane tips' from the hardware store, they work fine but I'll also cut a 1.5" section of copper pipe and whittle the end of the stave to just fit snugly, then hammer it on.
 
I'd choose Hop Hornbeam, also known as Ironwood (not Desert Ironwood) It's not light - but it is very strong and tough. Also makes great ax handles if you've got the endurance to carve it!
 
I like a hiking stick, as opposed to a survival staff. My requirements are that the stick be light in weight and strong enough to support my weight. White cedar does me just fine, and is VERY easy to work with.

My Web Page on Hiking Sticks
 
Thanks everyone. No Bamboo is not growing wild anywhere here in Ohio. That does sound like it would make a nice hiker though.

Birch is here but not alot of it growing wild. Mostly domestically planted as yard ornaments.

I do know that Ironwood is very hard. I have just never been able to find a good straight one yet. I always watch though and when I do find one.....it's mine!

I like the cedar idea but again I have not found a good straight one. Next time I go to southern Ohio I will watch. There is a much higher population of it down there.

Buzz, liked your page. Very nice job on those sticks. I may try making a handle like that on mine.

I just took another young Hickory yesterday. I may try hanging it and see how that works. As I said they always seem to get a warp to them. I like a very straight stick as opposed to Buzz. To each his own though. I do have a large hickory that has a bend to it and I guess I really don't mind too much. I've had it for probably 8-9 years so kinda hard to part with. It's very heavy though so it doesn't get alot of use anymore.
 
Nice webpage, Buzzbait. Cedar rocks, wish we had White Cedar here, but my Eastern Red Cedar works well for me.

A couple of other cheap, if not free sources for hiking sticks. Local Boy Scout store sells a BSA hiking staff made of yellow pine for $3.50 (note-while these are turned smooth, the yellow pine can be splintery, plan to spend 5 minutes with a piece of fine sandpaper). Another midwesterner without wild bamboo, so the cheapest local source for bamboo that I've found is the local garden center, about $3 for a 1.25" x 6' stave of construction grade bamboo here. At one time I could get nice bamboo for free at carpet stores, but they use cardboard tubes at the center of the carpet rolls these days.

I also recommend Osage Orange (Hedge) wood, but choose it carefully. It's so tough it can dull most knives trying to reshape it, so it pays to find one that suits you pretty much as is. We have a lot of hedge rows of Osage Orange (sometimes called Bois d'Arc) locally, if it grows in your area it's worth a look. Tough stuff.
 
Dave, I'm with Big Target on this one . Hickory and rattan.
The hickory you should find locally Ok, the rattan can be
bought from a few knife stores.

I use Cold Steel hickory "Walkabout" walking stick at home
and a Cold steel Rattan Crook top cane at work. Tough as
nails the both of them. The walkabout looks like a mini size
Louisville "Slugger" and the Cane is supertough for work.
So I'd say that home grown dried hickory is a sure bet.
 
Good topic, Dave. I have heard of people successfully making walking sticks out of broom handles with a cane tip on the end, but have not tried it myself.

Nice writeup, as usual, Buzzbait. Another potential use for a walking stick is to help gauge the depth of snow when the contours of the ground get covered up in the winter. There are times when I could have sworn there was a path somewhere, only to find myself floundering around in a little ditch or gully that has been drifted over. Not a very safe situation, if there is something to catch my ankle or knee.

Hmmmm, this might have to become my summer project.
 
One other quick note...watch for old rattan furniture that's set out going to the dump. Another reason to carry a folding saw in your car...salvage enough pieces for several walking sticks!
 
I have 2 made from Silver Birch. Got lucky, found them just cut by the road crew. In hindsight, I should've grabbed the other 3 that were there.
I learned the value of a walking stick after crossing a snow covered field while hunting...no one told me about the creek in the middle of the field! It was in the low teens too...brrrrrrrrrr!
Oh yeah, strip the bark while it is still green ;)
 
I usually like hickory best, but I have had a couple of walking sticks made out of Crepe Myrtle that I also liked. The wood is lightweight yet strong. The bark is very smooth. It often has little twists that make for a rather interesting look.
Also used a section of wooden hanger-rod that I bought from hardware store one time.
 
Well this turned out good! I like all the interest in walking sticks. My wife kind of thinks I'm wackey for making and carrying a walking stick but to they are not only fun to make but very useful.

Seems Hickory is one of the favorites. Glad I picked a good species from the get go. Still want to try some Cedar though. Those look very nice.

I was browsing a couple of days ago and found where a guy makes sticks to sell. The thing that really peaked my interest though was it looks as if he takes the tree just below ground level so that they have sort of a "knob" at the end. I'm going to try this soon. The woods behind me is full of Hickory and the entire property is for sale so won't hurt to grab a couple while I can. Be my luck they will level it and put in some type of Metro (Government funded) housing project. I am truly worried. Will substantially lower my property value with the exception of the counties appraisal. They like their tax money.:mad:
 
Yep, many imported briar and hawthorn walking sticks are cut with the rootstock knob attached, polished it makes for a good hand-hold on a cane length stick. Be sure to save the limbs from your hickory, I use lopping shears to chop them into 6" lengths. Soak a handful in water before you bar-b-que, toss 3 or 4 at a time on the hot charcoal for a good smoke flavor, goes especially well with pork and chicken. (FWIW, I use wild grapevine and grape leaves just like the hickory when I grill a leg of lamb.)

Forgot to mention. About 2 feet from the bottom of a hiking stick I wrap my walking sticks with some monofilamint fishing line, put on a few small fish hooks, cover this with duct tape. I then wrap twine around the hooks and mono, and cover it all with several wraps of duct tape.
 
Anybody in Maryland know where to get some walking stick timber?
 
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