Does anyone have any good ideas on how i can modify an ordinary stick into something more then just a "walking stick"?

Here is one place with a walking stick all tricked out...

My walking stick is a cured Tap root, 6 feet in length. It is unique in shape and very hard wood (walking assistance mode).

I use it to hang my lantern on (furniture mode), to make a hooch (housing mode), and as a defensive weapon (weapons mode).

If in need, it makes a tolerably good, though heavy, short fishing pole in which my line will break first(food procurement mode), as well as to portage bags of cargo/dead animal to the campsite (industrial cargo transportation mode), with the help of another person.

Keep in mind that "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" and that "Your imagination defines the limits of what you can achieve with what you have".

I just found this site: http://members.shaw.ca/wwseb/define.htm
What a stick!

That all depends. What do you want it to be?

Wizard's staves, I'm fresh out of.

Ron Hood has a pretty neat modification that turns your walking stick into an Ojibwa bird snare and a trigger for a ground snare. With a couple of lengths of paracord, a walking stick can be used as a tracking stick. The uses are only limited by your imagination.

M

I'd like to hear more about using the stick as an Ojibwa bird snare and of the trigger for the ground snare, if you have the time.

I was a little interested too, so I went to his website, but couldn't find the stick thing...

Maybe an old stick can learn new tricks. Anybody got any other uses for a hiking stick?

Army ranger rick has some advice on his web site. mainly using the top (and you could use the bottom) sections of bamboo for storage.
simon

Let's see if I can relay this in a coherent fashion.

3 pieces: 1. A walking stick with a hole going completely through it near the top of the stick.
2. A peg, slightly larger than the hole, with one end beveled to just fit in the hole.
3. A light snare, I believe made of the inner strings from paracord, with a small knot tied in it.

The walking stick is shoved into the ground, the line from the snare is fed through the hole. A weight is tied on the free end. The peg is placed in the hole in the walking stick. The knot in the snare line should be placed against the peg where it enters the walking stick. This tension, the knot being pulled by the weight pressing on the peg, holds the peg in place. The snare is draped over the peg.

When a bird lands on the peg, it's weight will dislodge the peg, causing the weight to fall and pull on the snare, hopefully snaring the bird.

An alternate method to power the snare is to tie a spring pole to the walking stick. When using a spring pole to power the snare, the whole mechanism can be turned upside down and used as a ground level snare.

I just purchased and reviewed the first five of Ron Hood's Woodsmaster Series DVDs, covering fire, shelter, survival kits, navigation and trapping. I can not recommend them enough. Some of the material will be familiar to you, but he presents some new and interesting material and methods. I've already started altering my some of my kit. An excellent resource from someone who obviously knows what he's doing.

Hope this helps.

Gerry