I'll take my chances with one of the laminated Boyd's walking sticks... if you live where rattan furniture is made, you might see if you can get a 50" piece of rattan... most of the escrima/kali Filipino martial arts sticks are short...when I walk at night, feral or aggressive dogs are more likely a problem, but I think I could break a tib/fib with mine....it's pretty hard to grab that low...