Not to mention, in Maryland (here), in the buggy season (now), if the staff is light enough, waving it in front of you like an insect antenna while walking to clear what seem to be an infinite number of nearly-invisible spider webs that span the trail. Without it, you clear the (often occupied) webs with your face, among other body parts. Without a stick, some trails are nearly impassable- you spend all your time fighting webs and spiders until you give up- or run shrieking, depending on your nature.<br><br>Still, I carried a staff backpacking for 10 years or more, and I have to admit it was something of a relief to give it up. One less thing to keep track of, and hands free.<br><br>Somewhere around 1969, as a teenager, I made up a hollow aluminum tubing staff containing a “survival kit” (mostly matches, compass, and a jackknife) out of hardware store parts. The top quarter of the tube was actually a separate piece, joined to the rest by a tubing connector, and that let me fill the top and leave the rest empty, so the balance was about at my normal grip. I wrapped the top half with bicycle handlebar tape. Plug in the top, crutch tip on the bottom. Pretty primitive, but nothing like it was available then.<br><br>I’d put a bunch of Ohio Blue Tip strike-anywhere matches down there, and without thinking (funny how that phrase precedes the accounts of so many spectacular learning experiences), while sitting in the furnished basement of my parent’s house, I slid the jackknife down the tube on top of them. All of the matches ignited at once.<br><br>I’ve since heard that Russian partisans used to use match head scrapings as gunpowder in muzzleloaders. Don’t know if it’s true, but it seems feasible.<br><br>The jackknife shot across the room and imbedded itself, closed, in the wood paneling. The matches erupted in a fountain of fire, like a roman candle going off all at once, and proceeded to scorch a couple of dozen spots on the rug. I got the fires out before they spread. I had a very awkward time explaining the damage to my parents, but I’m very, very glad I wasn’t looking down into the staff when I pulled this stunt. <br><br>No real point, I guess, other than to be aware that there is some hazard with regard to these matches…<br><br><br>