OK,IM done


Got this in Hickory,I will finish in a red stain,52.32 delivered from Canemasters





Got this at Wally World,63.45 (97 cents shipping) They had lowest price by far

Spuds, I hope no one ever thinks your new walking stick looks like a samurai sword! Good grief, check out this incident from the UK.

Good Grief is right!Crazy world isnt it?

Generally, good martial arts is about moving your own body well. In other words, it's more like dancing than strongman competitions. The only problem is that you'll have to time your movements to an opponent (or even opponents if you get really unlucky), adapt to his movements and other conditions of the fight, etc.

Looking at some of the sticks mentioned in this thread, I think I can safely tell you that, with 15 years of martial arts training (including weapons of various sorts, and 5 years just on sticks), I wouldn't use some of them. Their shape is definitely wrong for what I need to do. The weight distribution may be weird. The geometry may be wrong. Will I use them in a pinch? Sure, but they wouldn't be my day-to-day carry. So this exercise of picking a stick before learning to use it seems to me an example of putting the cart before the horse.

But, hey, it's just money. After you get one of these sticks, you take some lessons and discover the stick you have isn't good for how you'd like to fight, then you can get a new stick, one that fits your techniques.

If I want to carry a walking stick, I'd probably custom order something to my specs from a woodworker. Would that be expensive? Yes. But if you're putting trust in this stick, how much is your life worth?

I believe we are over thinking this. We all have at least one knife, right? Sally forth, find a piece of wood (or maybe even appropriate plastic), and carve, shape, and whittle said piece of wood until it achieves perfection.

"At least one knife"?? I don't think you can even sign on to this forum unless you can provide firm evidence of ownership of at least a dozen knives, swords, machetes, or other sharp pieces.

spuds - both those items will work fine. You now need to train with them. Send me a PM.

Pete2

HEEHEEHEE!

And 6 bandanas,9 stoves,8 whistles,72 pocket knives,11 compasses,43 flashlights with 12 batteries for each....
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Reminds me of the Benny Hill clip....Ben walking along and confronted by Karate guy who threatens with a few moves,whip,swirls,couple punches.Ben dead pans a look to camera,crooks his arm,has a pistol,goes...bang....
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Pete,incoming PM in a few minutes

Well, the selection of wood would be the first problem. I have tried a large number of them, and not all wood works. You need something that resists denting so training with it won't wear it out in a month; that has the right density so it won't be too light or too heavy; that resists breaking; that has the right surface texture so if you need to slide your hand over it, you can do it efficiently; that is strong, even, smooth, straight-grained, tightly-grained in the length you want; that has been properly treated (air-drying and kiln drying changes the wood differently); and so on.

Not all wood, even of the same "type," is equal. Hickory is good for making tool handles, but only some varieties of hickory, apparently. So, great, let's find the right variety, processed the right way, and make a stick out of hickory, right? Well, guess what, hickory dents easily (relatively speaking). I have some sticks made out of Brazilian ironwood. It's wonderful in every way except that it looks too pretty to use. It's also rather dense, and I feel slowed down by it. I have tried a lot of different woods, and some surprised me, but most disappointed.

You can also use engineered wood, and for a while I thought it was the prefect wood except for the density. But then I saw a beautiful piece shatter into pieces suddenly. No, thanks, I don't want to end up holding a stump in a fight.

And then the tools you make apparently make a difference. I personally use machine-made sticks that certainly went through sanding, but some woodworkers claim that sticks cut with a very sharp blade, unsanded, are more resilient.

We haven't even talked about rattan vs. wood...

DANG,switch to plan B and use the stick Mrs is holding,if she isnt smack in the middle of it which knowing her is most likely.

DANG,broke the Mrs's stick,now I have to spray the fool,oh wait,Mrs is doing same thing and it isnt working.

DANG,now I have to stun gun him,oh wait,Mrs is doing that already.And those darn dogs,Honey,can you get Snooky off him please,she doesnt look too happy,neither does Girl for that matter.

Yup,layered defense,back ups and everything a cop carries as legally limited here to civilians,yup,Im feeling pretty prepared for Joe Crackhead,mugger,etc that doesnt have a gun on me.

Somehow my feeling is most fools have already decided to go after someone else.

I live right next to lots of California coastal chaparral, which can supply lots and lots of blanks for potential walking sticks. Have you tried any of the species (mountain mahogany, ceanothus, etc) that abound in our green tinder boxes? Every time I ct one down, I am thinning (no matter how imperceptibly) the fuel for the next conflagration....

In fact, after posting this morning, I went out for a short hike (beautiful day) and found myself looking at some bushes with an eye for transforming them into something quite useful - not a whole lot of whittling required.

How does bamboo work? It makes fine walking sticks, according to some.