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Walking Sticks


ROOKIE49

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I have wondered why I always saw pictures of people with walking sicks. Well after a few times out with my stick I have come to really like it. It helps alot when crossing streams or walking across logs or anywhere balence is an issue. How many people use walking sticks? I made mine out of a wooden closet rod about 6 feet long.

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I usually use two trekking poles. They make the downhills easier on the knees help with balance when crossing streams and rocky areas. I'm so used to them that I feel naked without them.

 

I prefer trekking poles because they are lighter than wooden hiking sticks and they collapse and fit in my pack when I don't need them.

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Always carry my hickory hiking staff. Helps on hills, flipping rocks while not exposing myself to poisonous nasties, could be used as a splint or crutch in an emergency, used in fending of wild dogs and other critters large and small, and could be used to smack annoying cachers in the head. An extremely versatile tool.

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Always carry my hickory hiking staff. Helps on hills, flipping rocks while not exposing myself to poisonous nasties, could be used as a splint or crutch in an emergency, used in fending of wild dogs and other critters large and small, and could be used to smack annoying cachers in the head. An extremely versatile tool.

 

I was caching with Bobolu one day when he accidentally smacked me in the side of the face with his stick. I can vouch for the fact that a hiking stick can be a very effective weapon. <_<

 

I sometimes (depending on terrain or weather) use a nice Wilderness Walkers dogwood hiking stick I purchased from eBay. It's a great stick and has saved my butt on several occasions.

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I've had a two piece Tracks Sherlock Staff for a while. I really like it, but here in Illinois, a hiking staff isn't all that necessary usually. More often than not I leave it in the truck and then wish I had it with me when things get hairy on a trail.

 

Last week I picked up the Compact Travel Staff instead. It breaks down into three pieces (shock corded together) which means it's easier to pack, though I still prefer the sturdiness of my original staff.

 

One other big plus for both of them is that the walnut nob on top unscrews and you have a camera mount underneath. The rubber foot also comes off, so you can jam it into the ground and get in your group shot. Pretty handy.

 

Bret

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<_< Yes, I use a Hiking staff that I purchased 2 decades ago. It is called "the staff of life" or something similar. Don't recall where I bought it from. It unscrews into 3 sections for easy portability and comes wth survival gear in the upper section, includes an icepick, and the knob on top unscrews for a camera mount. Unfortunately, the compass in the top knob doesn't work anymore. It also has a heavyduty, adjustable wriststrap and a foam rubber grip.

 

Because I have wickedly bad ankles, I use it whenever I expect the going to get rough and tricky. It has saved me from serious injury many times.

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I have a 28 inch long piece of 1/2 inch diameter steel pipe that I carry almost everywhere; it's what I refer to as Clothahump's +5 Wand of Poking.

 

I also have a 6 foot bo staff that I will bring on long bushwhacking hikes; that's Clothahump's +10 Staff of Poking.

 

I teach Taekwondo. Both of these are weapons that I train my students in, and it's very nice to have them along when I'm wandering around in the boonies.

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Love the hiking stick.

 

It's like holding onto a tree when climbing up a steep hill. A secure hand hold when going down. Pushing aside thorns and nettles. Poking into holes and lifting pieces of logs and bark. Testing ice covered creeks.

 

With my Leki you can unscrew the wood top and the screw shaft beneath will hold a standard 35mm camera so it can be used as a...well not a tripod, but you get my drift.

 

It packs nicely and is light enough to carry tied to a backpack.

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I got my hiking staff from one of the areas that I like to hike in. The visitor center at that park area has a few and it has come in fairly handy. I used to volksmarch when I lived in W.Germany and got into the habit of carrying one.

 

I 'personalized' it making a hand wrap out of some cord and my wife braided a lanyard for it. It's about 5' tall and made out of white ash. I clip a small compass/temp gauge onto the lanyard and sometimes clip a bandana onto it for the really hot days. I sometimes wonder if people think that I am walking with a flag.

 

I don't use it for the in-town caches but I always have it for when I go for the ones out of town and just for regular hiking.

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I always hike with my Leki hiking stick, which doubles as a monopod for my camera. :D

 

It also came in handy last Tuesday when we were searching the ashes for a cache that burned in a recent 16,000 acre brush fire. We never would have found the remains without the hiking stick to poke through the several inches of ash.

 

b4754e1c-ba31-4cdb-8033-5f6c101757fa.jpg

 

:(:D:(:D

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I used to think hiking poles were for dorks cause they lacked the character of a true walking stick. That said I've found myself on many impromptu treks without a pole (and wishing I had one) cause there aren't enough places to store a 5' stick in a Jeep Wrangler for daily driving.

 

I've been pondering a collapsible pole to keep in the Jeep for just those occassions. Do you like ketchup on your crow?

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Kind of along the same lines as walking sticks...what kind of gloves are recommended. I used to use my pair of Youngstown motocross gloves but I sliced them up on rocks. I was looking at the kevlar-reinforced Oakley Standard Issue gloves, but they are $50. Any recommendations?

 

Thanks

 

Robert

 

P.S. Sorry for hijacking your thread :laughing:

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I used to try to find gloves that would last a long time and after being in construction for several years, I came to the conclusion that gloves wear out faster than you want them to. I would suggest that you find some that you won't mind losing - meaning you get a pair that fit you and are cheap enough monetarily that you can afford to lose them.

 

I use leather gloves mainly because that's just my preference, I've had kevlar, cotton and rubber coated ones but leather worked the best for me.

Edited by Ciyt
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I use a collapsable hiking pole... it fits nicely in the car! The fact that I can change the length means that on particularly uneven ground or when going constantly up or down hills I can change the length to make it more suitable for the terrain... e.g. I shorten it going up hill a little and lengthen it going down.

 

I wouldn't walk without it now. It provides great balance and support especially on uneven ground and is great for poking around bushes etc when searching for that elusive geocache :sad:

 

I prefer a single pole. I find two unnecessary. I have tried two but couldn't get used to them so I will stick to just one.

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:) Ok, I'm a newbie to Geocaching, but not to walking sticks. My partner and I have been carving them for years. So, I'm embarassed to say that I was stupid enough to do a "quick cache" run this afternoon without taking my stick with me. The wpt was only 20 ft from a paved path...so what harm could there be???

Well last night we had some rain, which created a very slippery area and I found myself quickly in the Erie Canal!!! B) No harm done...except to my pride, but I'll never be without my stick again!

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;) Yes, I use a Hiking staff that I purchased 2 decades ago. It is called "the staff of life" or something similar. Don't recall where I bought it from. It unscrews into 3 sections for easy portability and comes wth survival gear in the upper section, includes an icepick, and the knob on top unscrews for a camera mount. Unfortunately, the compass in the top knob doesn't work anymore. It also has a heavyduty, adjustable wriststrap and a foam rubber grip.

 

Because I have wickedly bad ankles, I use it whenever I expect the going to get rough and tricky. It has saved me from serious injury many times.

:ph34r: i have the very same staff and it is great, even modified it to take a cold steel bushman knife, turns it into one hell of a spear :ph34r:

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I have used various hiking staffs for a long time, and a collapsible aluminum one for the last couple of years. Very handy and has the camera mount on top under a screw off knob. I highly recommend one of these.

 

Just over a week ago, I got a pair of Trekking poles because I long wondered about them and wanted to try them. All I can say is: Incredible. Its like turning on a turbo-charger and 4-wheel drive. I tried them twice on very steep, crumbling, nasty trails and it was great. Stability, speed, confidence. Feel like a mountain goat/bighorn sheep. $75 for a pair of them at REI.....

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I usually use two trekking poles. They make the downhills easier on the knees help with balance when crossing streams and rocky areas. I'm so used to them that I feel naked without them.

 

I prefer trekking poles because they are lighter than wooden hiking sticks and they collapse and fit in my pack when I don't need them.

Same here....and for all the same reasons. Mine also have "shock absorbers". I also like that you can make the absolutely any length you need them to be, whether going uphill or downhill or unlevel slopes.

Edited by wandering4cache
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I am a very avid backpacker. I have been using the same stick over 15 years. All it is is an old piece of birch found on a trek when my other stick broke. EMS and other camping stores are making quite a profit off the ski poles they sell which are no better the a stick found out in the woods. Also the ski pole type rods people use are bad for the environment for the impact they make in the ground, if you want to airate the ground please go to the driving ranges/golf courses not the wilderness.

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I used to think hiking poles were for dorks cause they lacked the character of a true walking stick. That said I've found myself on many impromptu treks without a pole (and wishing I had one) cause there aren't enough places to store a 5' stick in a Jeep Wrangler for daily driving.

 

I've been pondering a collapsible pole to keep in the Jeep for just those occassions. Do you like ketchup on your crow?

 

Hey, I carry a 58" 1lb 9oz (I just measured it and then weighed it Sissy's postal scale) Hickory walking stick. I've found it so useful that I even carry it on my bike. (See red motorcycle in below pic.)

 

When we use the truck or the van we simply throw ours in the back. If I were concerned about keeping a stick in a smallish vehicle like a Wrangler, I'd figure out a way to mount that bad boy overhead. How about a PVC-pipe carrier mounted creatively?

 

I've used my stick from simple probing vegetation to jamming it into the side of bluff as a foot hold after nearly falling to my death. (Okay, so it was only 20', but still I'd much rather go up than down. As it was I feel lucky to have only walked away with bruised tail bone.)

 

A walking stick can be used for so many things it's amazing. Not only the aforementioned things, like steadying myself, or a camera, but it useful for a grip for your partner when helping them up a hill, pushing fallen limbs off the trail, hanging your pack on, a spear onto which you can tie rope for throwing over a limb, brushing the unavoidable spiderwebs aside, and a whole bunch of stuff. It comes an extension of your arm.

 

5e3b39c6-28d5-4846-9543-05e288c3bbe0.jpg

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We use Swiss Gear collapsibles we got at Wally World for $10 bucks each and they've saved us from injury on many occasions. We never go cachin' without 'em.

 

Same as I use, I just use a single one, but it definately is a blessing on long hikes as well as to poke the cache a few times or suspected areas where a cache might be to scare off any rattlers, plus it helps detect the cache, a clunk or a clink means "this is where the cache is hidden"

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You can buy an Eddie Bauer collapsible trekking pole for about $19 or less at Target. Walmart probably has it too.

 

If that's too rich, go to an ice rink in your town that has some high school hockey games and find a broken hockey stick. Just cut off the blade end, the other end will probably already have a nicely taped handle.

Edited by cachew nut
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Also the ski pole type rods people use are bad for the environment for the impact they make in the ground, if you want to airate the ground please go to the driving ranges/golf courses not the wilderness.

On a stretch of trail where I have hiked for years, recently some off road vehicles did more damage (in about an hour) than I could do in hundreds of years with my poles.

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After seeing a cotton-mouth about 2 feet long near a cache I decided to invest in a stick. Sometimes I wish I had gotten it a little shorter but it does help to pull my girls up a hill.

 

We've seen a few state parks this summer and I like to buy a hiking medalion. It is a souvenir I don't have to dust.

 

Recently we took a news crew to some caches for a story and the anchor woman used my stick. See this cache for pics. Yes, my friends make fun of my stick because I drag it out every chance I get. :ph34r:

 

1ee7dfd1-e62c-445f-bb6d-b529a5d47f21.jpg

 

41bf03c4-405f-4248-a33d-026730054269.jpg

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Also the ski pole type rods people use are bad for the environment for the impact they make in the ground, if you want to airate the ground please go to the driving ranges/golf courses not the wilderness.

 

Gee, I don't see any mention on the Leave No Trace site regarding not ever making a small hole in the "wilderness". Any area that is so fragile that a hole the size of a ski pole is having a negative impact probably shouldn't have hikers walking through it either. I also trust that you never use tent stakes in these areas when you're camping?

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I just turned my walking stick into a TB and I am trying to send it down the Northville/Lake Placid trail to get lots of scenery pics. Then maybe the Appellation trail. I was just wondering where you guys get those little metal Groundspeak tags that I've seen on a few different walking sticks? I think the walking stick TB's are really a cool idea and I would love to see more pics of the ones that you guys have. Nothing that's store bought, I want to see pics of original and hand carved and hand finished walking sticks. Swizzle

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Geo Hiking staff medalion

Is this what you mean or do you mean a TB tag?

 

I just turned my walking stick into a TB and I am trying to send it down the Northville/Lake Placid trail to get lots of scenery pics. Then maybe the Appellation trail. I was just wondering where you guys get those little metal Groundspeak tags that I've seen on a few different walking sticks? I think the walking stick TB's are really a cool idea and I would love to see more pics of the ones that you guys have. Nothing that's store bought, I want to see pics of original and hand carved and hand finished walking sticks. Swizzle

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I have yet to verify this (thank goodness), but I figure that the bottom of my walking stick would produce a nice round indentation on the back of the local rattlesnakes which is why I started using one. I have found, as others have already posted, that it's great for crossing streams or walking on logs in muddy areas.

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WALKING STICKS

 

by Trucker Lee

 

So my children, I hope we see

That a walking stick should be with thee

To turn the rocks, and push the tree

Avoid the critters and snakes that be

 

Decorated, or plain as Jane

Have a stick even in the rain

Support it offers for ankle or knee

A healthier cacher we all will see

 

Long or short, it matters not

But without your stick, don't be caught

Carry always for your health

A walking stick as part of self

 

:laughing:

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I have wondered why I always saw pictures of people with walking sicks. Well after a few times out with my stick I have come to really like it. It helps alot when crossing streams or walking across logs or anywhere balence is an issue. How many people use walking sticks? I made mine out of a wooden closet rod about 6 feet long.

 

I took a long golf club and sawed off the head. Works great for poking around and parting weeds.

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Don't leave your car without you're walking stick. They are good for balance, clearing spider webs and briars, defense against snakes, dogs, wild pigs, etc.

Where I work ( View Carre' cache) we been handing out Bamboozle walking sticks for years to lucky cachers. They are made of 1/2" heavy wall aluminum conduit custom cut to length with a black hand-truck grip on one end and a rubber black crutch end on the other. Its light, attractive, and better for caching than any I've tried and I own some expensive ones.

 

If you come to New Orleans look me up and we'll fix you up with one.

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Fancy sticks!! I bought a fiberglass/metal +5' painting rod from Home Depot that can extend to about 10'. With the thread attachment at the end, I keep various tools in my backpack that allow me to grab, stick, hook, knock, etc. hides from the tops of tunnels, reach through barriers and reach under water. It is light and has a good diameter with a rubber grip on the end.

 

I'm gonna make a camera mount attachement so I can do some high up photographs.

 

I can also attach a broom for CITO (kidding) and a paint attachment for ??? (kidding again)

 

It's cheap and practical -- and represents me well....

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Always carry my hickory hiking staff. Helps on hills, flipping rocks while not exposing myself to poisonous nasties, could be used as a splint or crutch in an emergency, used in fending of wild dogs and other critters large and small, and could be used to smack annoying cachers in the head. An extremely versatile tool.

 

I was caching with Bobolu one day when he accidentally smacked me in the side of the face with his stick. I can vouch for the fact that a hiking stick can be a very effective weapon. :blink:

 

I sometimes (depending on terrain or weather) use a nice Wilderness Walkers dogwood hiking stick I purchased from eBay. It's a great stick and has saved my butt on several occasions.

 

I got one of their Hickory Sticks, too. I was so impressed, last year for Christmas, bought one for each of the Vikings.

I think they had a clue, tho, even tho I wrapped them well.

Anyone looking for a really high quality stick, with you name on it for free, Check out "Wilderness Walkers" in Ebay...Great service and great people.

One add-on to my stick, was a holster holding pepper spray. I have run into feral dogs a couple of times and

I would rather spray them than hit them in the head with a stick. :blink:

I use my staff for balance, probing, depth of water, spider web removal, all kinds of things.

Wouldn't cache without it.

I have been seen caching in Walmart lot, with my staff...hahaha

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