A few years ago, I tried making a "survival staff" using some bits of aluminum tubing I had lying around, and I never got a unit that worked well enough as a staff to warrant carrying it on any kind of a trip. All the stuff in the handle screwed up the weight and the balance. <br><br> Light weight and "swingability" are critical to a decent staff, and while a staff is not an essential survival tool, it is indeed a very useful item to have in the outdoors. One of my very best was a replacement tool handle, all of $2.