The Walking Stick
28 April 2008
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I’ll never forget the scene in “Robin Hood” when Robin fights John Little (who he comes to call Little John) with cudgels in the middle of a babbling brook. That Robin ends up “in the drink” a couple times is funny… and not. Those scenes got me thinking about the value of a walking stick though. Not only does it provide you additional support, but it can also a tool for self-defense, part of a shelter, or carry other items handy for hiking and/or backpacking in the great outdoors. Let’s look at a few of them – including a VERY basic home made one – and what features are best to have.
The term "walking stick" has come to cover such a variety of items that it's almost too inclusive for our topic. What I've always called a cane is now advertised as a walking stick. What I was taught (in tae kwon do classes long ago) is a bo staff is also now being sold as a walking stick. So, to clarify, what exactly do I mean?
For our purposes, the walking stick is:
A stick or staff made of wood or synthetic material four to six feet in length specifically designed to aid in stability during walks or hikes in a non-urban environment.
Now, although I specify "four to six feet", four feet is a little on the short side in my opinion. However, my ten year old son is about four-and-a-half feet tall and a four foot walking stick is about right for him. So, if you're a full grown adult who happens to be five feet tall then you don't need a six foot walking stick. You should experiment with a variety and see what's comfortable for you. My optimum walking stick is just over five feet tall.
In the picture to the right you can see an example of a commercially produced walking stick. The one shown is adjustable in height (we'll talk about that in a minute), has an ergonomically shaped grip and a wrist loop so the stick doesn't simply fall to the ground if you lose your grip or need to use your hand for something else. There is also a sturdy rubber "stopper" on the bottom to absorb impact and increase traction when you place the stick down (or dig it in) as you walk.
While adjustable height walking sticks are great if the stick is going to be used by one person, or by someone who hasn't finished growinup up and might need that adjustment, I'm not, in general, a fan of adjustable sticks. Inevitably they depend on a friction or tension device and if you have to move them enough eventually you will get some wiggle in them. Given that the walking stick is supposed to help you maintain balance and support, I don't think it's a good thing to have it wiggle in your grip or under your weight.
Many times you can get a sense of the personality of the user by looking at the walking stick. Simple and practical... synthetic and colorful... carefully crafted organic material (wood with twine wrap grip)... and others. The variety is as wide as the people who use them. I prefer to make my own. It's not something done in a single day and sometimes the walking stick doesn't turn out quite exactly as you'd pictured before you started, but there is something rewarding about cutting, trimming and finishing your own stick.
I did this with my son recently. He wanted a walking stick and he wanted to make his own. So, off to a wooded area we went to find a suitable sappling we could cut and use. Hard woods are always better: oak, cherry, maple, etc. We happen to live in an area with lots of oak and maple so finding a suitable sappling wasn't a challenge. As I said, he's about 4'6" tall so we cut it to his height. It was, for the most part, straight and had few branches. On the upper two thirds of what would become his stick we trimmed the branches down to the surface of the main stick. On the lower third he asked me to leave about 1/2" of the branch base still there. He felt that these nubs would add "character"... and I have a sneaky suspicion that he was also thinking the walking stick is a good defense tool and those nubs would add impact to strikes.
Over the course of the next couple days he stripped the bark off the stick on all but the top five inches. The "top" was the thicker end of the stick (this is usually the case although I've seen folks do it the other way. Makes no sense to me to have the stick be bottom heavy). Once the bark was all stripped off, he sanded (and then I sanded it when he got tired) to smooth it out and get rid of any splinters that were still sticking up where he'd cut too deeply with his knife while stripping the bark off.
The natural color of the wood was pretty pale with a few darker brown markings once the bark was all removed. My son liked that so we used a clear sealant on it. That took longer than most of the other work. Two layers (at least) are required and it takes six hours to let the first coat dry before the second coat can be applied. The second coat had to be dry before we could put on the handle wrap he wanted.
For the handle wrap we used simple string. You can get a bottle of Krazy Glue at the hardware store that has a brush on applicator. That means the mouth of the bottle is wide enough that you can stick the end of the string in and dip it in the glue. Doing so, and then letting it dry (takes about 30 seconds) keeps the string from unraveling as you wrap it around the wood. Our handle wrap was a two layer design:
- The first layer was a simple tight wrap. We laid 11" of the string along the stick starting an inch below where we wanted the grip to be. We were aiming for ten inches of grip space. So we laid the 11" along the length and then started wrapping the string around from the top down, keeping it tight together. When we got down ten inches, we used the last inch of the string to tie itself off in a square knot. We then used some Krazy Glue to hold the cut ends from unraveling.
- The second layer took about 20 feet of string. We started at the top using the middle of our string. Each end was pulled around, crossed over and then wrapped back to the other side where it was again crossed over and wrapped back to the other side. This was repeated for the length of the ten inch grip space.
What we ended up with was a four-and-a-half foot walkign stick that had about four inches of dark bark at the angle top; a ten-inch double-diamond warpped grip; and the rest was sealed natural color wood. On the end we're going to put a piece of cut aluminum. We'll cut it in about a three inch circle and then cut slices out to within an inche of the center. With the stick in the center the "wings" will be wrapped up onto the stick and tacked on. I'll put a string-wrap, similar to the handle, around the top of the aluminum "tip" to hide the tacks.
In the wilds the walking stick can be used for defense, balance, stability and whatever variety of chores you can find for it along your hike or in your campsite. Modern day walking sticks often have small compasses in the handle / grip, and some have hollow spaces to put survival items. I've seen one or two hand made sticks that were specifically designed to be used in conjunction with a knife as a spear for fishing or defense as necessary. I've thought about tacking on a piece elastic around my son's, just below the grip area, so that he could slide a small folding knife in between the elastic and the stick itself, held in place by the knife's clip handing over the elastic. He and I are still discussing that.
So, what would you want in your walking stick? Think about it. Maybe take a try at making your own. One that is handmade definitely reflects the peronality of the person making it... or at least the person's outlook as the effort was expended.
Enjoy your time in the great outdoors!
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