Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire walking stick

I'm thinking Bois d'arc (Osage Orange) would be a good choice.

Sweet! That guy is talented.

Yes, and it works well. Be sure to get whatever at a length that isn't too short for comfort.

That doesn't look like any ironwood I have ever seen and I have sawed up a ton of it!

It is Ironwood. One of 6 fighting staves made from it by a friend of mine. This one was too short and was made into a walking stick for me.

I have and carry and use the Cold Steel version of a shillelagh and I love it.

It has killed a number of things.




Travis

Ironwood is a common name attached to a huge bunch of species from many genera... that is not the standard "Desert Ironwood" someone from AZ would be thinking of.

Outstanding choice on just about every level...

I've got their walkabout stick, not as ornate but just as functional. And I am more than sure it would cave someone's skull in, the end is a little bulbous and packs a hell of a punch when swung with force. Mine goes on hikes and resides in the back of my truck most days.

MM

I use a 5 foot Ash walking stick. Made it about 20 years ago. It has helped me hike all over the AT, and the Florida Trail. Used it once on the AT near Grosscloss VA, to beat back a bull that ruled the pasture the trail rambled through on the way to I-81,

Hickory Stockman's Cane was what I carried for years.

Won't break the bank. Won't break easily at all...

http://www.agrisupply.com/stockman-cane/p/25540/

I made this for me, a few years back from a sassafras tree for walking while squirrel hunting. It also doubles as a shooting rest.








It's also a convenient place to hang squirrels for pics, etc.





maddog

Mine is Osage orange. I use it daily and love it.

I have several walking canes made out of cactus, back in the 30's that originally belonged to grandparents. They were shorter than me, so they are good to look at, not practical to use. I started using canes a long time ago/walking staffs when i was doing long distant hiking and not as stove up.
A fellow at the roosevelt thing this weekend got me to thinking more about it, he was commenting on those saguaro cactus spines. They make excellent staffs, but not real good for what i have in mind, too light.

on a slightly different topic, in the 40's/50's my dad was in law enforcement. He used to carry a handle from a pool stick about 12-14inches long, he had hollowed out and filled with lead. Useful to convince people a little resistent in coming to their new home. Being a kid after his death, of course i lost it. It wasn't a cane for sure, but it did serve it's purpose. I can see a cane used for all kinds of things. I had one with me this weekend, it's metal and extends from a cane to a walking staff. pretty handy and as a spike under the rubber tip for ice etc. it's pretty handy, but it is to light for other applications.

A stout cudgel posing as an aid to locomotion can be carried in airports and courthouses when a gun would be detected. I don't trust anyone else w/ my safety and plan accordingly and a good stick goes everywhere in my car or hand. The SWH near me has some that would stun an ox.

It is fun to go through TSA checkpoints w/ your aid to mobility. They will X ray it but not take it away.


mike r

Love that scene.

My buddy Bob has a really cool and effective walking stick. His father worked at the local penitentiary for a number of years. The inmates made him a cane made from leather thong wrapped around a bent piece of re-bar.

I had a broken foot years ago, and used a walking stick for a year or more before it fully healed. I was walking to work through a bad part of town. That was part of the reason it wasn't healing. I added a 6 inch steel lag screw and melted lead into a 3/4 inch copper pipe fitting for the end.

Saguaro ribs work pretty well. Very light yet strong.

i have three or four staffs made out of these, but they wouldn't cover other related uses i am looking at.

Have had a Boyd's Stocks walking stick made from the same plywood as laminated gun stocks for about 10 years. Don't know if they are still making them but they are strong.