Welcome new guy.

Since you are from NM, maybe you can answer a question for me. Once, while vacationing in Arizona, we were out hiking, and stumbled upon the remains of a downed saguaro cactus. The ribs were a honeycome pattern, and seemed to be very light, I have wondered ever since if one of those ribs might make into a really light and strong hiking stick. Do you have any experience with the stuff???

Hello OBG,
Actually I have a friend who has used these Saguaro "ribs" for hiking staffs before. They are very light and make a good temporary staff but they are not durable enough for a permanent one, sort of like the yucca stalks I have used. I wouldn't hesitate a minute to use one in a pinch though.
Kix

Thanks for the info. Next time I find a dead one I might cut myself a chunk, just to play with...

i too have a wooden staff i use. i purchased it at cold steel's parking lot sale. some type of chinese wood - according to their website, but now no longer available. i think no longer available due to the relatively high shipping cost in comparison to the staff itself. i also saw something like it on several martial art websites.

edited - it is 'wax wood'.

mine is unvarnished as wet is not an issue where i hike.

i have a copper 'plumbing' cap epoxyied (sp?) to the bottom.

and i have it wrapped top and bottom as seen here:

http://www.backpacking.net/makegear.html

"hiking staff"

i have grown to like mine and use it every time i go out.

the question i have is: what type and size hook do you use? i had thought about that but wasn't sure if the hook would get in the way or catch on someone's hand if we were using the staff to pull someone up an incline.

thanks,
bsmith

Why not use a loop of rope?

I use one of those rubber coated hooks you use to hang your bike up with (by the wheels, upside down).

It's about 7 inches long from tip of threads to curve.

The hook is about 3 inches wide from tip to shaft.

The curve of the hook is parallel to the top of the staff with the thread screwed into the staff at an angle.

Once the hook is screwed in as far as I want it, I bend it so that the shaft of the hook is flush against the staff (kinda looks like a shepherd's crook).

I've wrapped some cord around the staff at the hooks insertion site and shaft in a vain attempt to have something that looks like cocks-combing and to provide some stability (Not pretty but it works).

It hasn't gotten in the way at all in fact the "V" shape the hook's shaft and the staff make at the top are pretty handy for pushing branches/briars up over my head while I walk under them.

The hook at the top of the staff also acts like a lever to better steer the staff as I'm descending hills or rocks.

I've taken a picture of it and attempted to attach it to this post but I don't have a website to give it a URL address (am I saying this right?).

Like most men, I know how to download pictures (don't ask), but I'm not real savvy about how to upload them.

I guess I'm going to have to join the rest of the planet and put a "my space" site of my own (I feel so old).

Around here hazel is probably the best option. Pretty light and strong and you can find long straight saplings easily. In a pinch you could also make a bow out of it (even green wood if a dry sapling is not available).

I've always said "staves".

A good staff does the job you need it to do. What are your priorities?

Many people here have commented that they like the high-tech sort of ski pole like walking sticks. Myself, I have a pair of three-section Komperdell poles (rebranded by EMS) that I use for skiing only, mainly because I switch off between Salomon 1080 skis and Line Jedi 89 skiboards, so if I don't want to use the poles for awhile, they can be collapsed and strapped to my backpack.

I would never use these things as general hiking sticks, or even worse "survival sticks". They're just not sturdy enough to do anything other than what they were specifically designed to do, and I'd rather have something a bit more versatile, sturdier, and more reliable than multi-section aluminum sticks with lots of parts.

Around town, I use a Cold Steel City Stick. Nice thick fiberglass stick with a pretty polished stainless steel head. It only lacks two things. One is a proper tip, solved by sticking a standard black crutch tip on the end, available at any pharmacist. The other is something to hold it up when you need your hands free. I need to put some nice cord around it for that, because I keep dropping it and nicking up the head. Now I know why so many canes and umbrellas have a crook! I think I want to get another one and paint it brown for vanity's sake.

My favorite stick these days is a Red Oak stick that I hand carved (well, whittled, really) out of a spacer from a stack of lumber from back in the days when I used to work at a lumber yard. Just the other day, I gave it a nice coat of beeswax polish. It's about the length of a Jo staff (4.5 feet or so), and about 1-1/8 inch thick. Someday, I will replace it with a prettier version with nice shod ends. I think I'd like Japanese White Oak (shirakashi), like my favorite drum sticks from Pro-Mark.

The Crawford Survival Staff looks neat, too, if a bit pricey!

thank you for the explanation of your hook. i can see how it really must come in handy for you.