bushwhacking stick

[Sirrus123]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

[knowschad]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "bushwhacking in quite a literal sense", but be careful that you're not damaging the environment by the way that you're using it. There should generally be no need to beat back the vegetation, if that's what you're asking.

 

Buy one? Nooooo.... just keep caching until someday you stumble upon the perfect walking stick. I have several that I culled from beaver dams over the years. I gave them a light sanding, followed by a couple of coats of varnish or linseed oil. If you want, drill a hole through the top to receive a leather bootlace. It will mean so much more to you than some stick that you bought...IMO.

Edited November 2, 2007 by knowschad

[Sirrus123]

Well its good to have spare until then, right?

[+Seasoned Warrior]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "bushwhacking in quite a literal sense", but be careful that you're not damaging the environment by the way that you're using it. There should generally be no need to beat back the vegetation, if that's what you're asking.

 

Buy one? Nooooo.... just keep caching until someday you stumble upon the perfect walking stick. I have several that I culled from beaver damns over the years. I gave them a light sanding, followed by a couple of coats of varnish or linseed oil. If you want, drill a hole through the top to receive a leather bootlace. It will mean so much more to you than some stick that you bought...IMO.

 

I'm in 100% agreement. A found stick is so far superior to a bought one. One of my favorites was picked up on the Green River Lakes in Wyoming while I was hunkering down behind my canoe when the wind came up so strong that I had to run ashore. I inverted the canoe and got down behind it to get out of the wind. This was many years ago, long before wood spirits became the rage and as I sat there waiting for the wind to abate I carved a face in that stick. I left it just the way it was, it was an old root and had that great looking silver sheen that driftwood gets after being out in the elements for years. I wrapped a leather hand grip around it later and that is the best stick I've got. It also bring back fond memories of a great trip every time I pick it up.

[knowschad]

Well its good to have spare until then, right?

 

Absolutely! I have several spares. Each one a beaver-chewed stick. I've woodburned the date and the name of the river they came from onto each one, too. No two are from the same river.

[+Renegade Knight]

Well its good to have spare until then, right?

I use a sheep herders staff. That hook is handy. They are also cheap.

 

They are better than sticks you can find. Sticks you can find seldom have a hook.

I've hung off of things using that hook to reach the cache. I've hooked my kids to keep them from running off (they hate that). I've hooked ammo cans deep in rock cracks. The hooks fits around tree branches to pull them down so you can reach the cache, OR to climb up a tree if the lowest branch is a bit high to grab.

 

The only thing they don't do is collapse to travel with.

 

I have to admit, Beavers have good tasted in sticks. If they could only make hooks...Maybe I can get a beaver mad with my stick and he will customize it for me next time I bump into one.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Renegade Knight

[+Renegade Knight]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

It's too short for a hiking stick and too long to be good at wacking. If it's a dowel...it won't be strong enough for much wacking either.

Edited November 1, 2007 by Renegade Knight

[+StarBrand]

I have carried my el-diablo caching/hiking stick for several years and it has held up very well.

[+briansnat]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

If you mean to literally whack bushes back with a stick, I think you should come up with a better idea. That's all we need is for a park ranger seeing a geocacher doing that. We try to make this a low impact sport - or at least we should.

Edited November 1, 2007 by briansnat

[+Travelinmatt76]

hmmm, I'd love to come across a good hiking stick. Being from the south and geocaching through the swampy wetlands doesn't help though. All the sticks I find are rotted water logged sticks.

[+tozainamboku]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

A Stihl MS 260 Pro would work far better than a 3/4 by 48" wooden pole.

[+cache_test_dummies]

 

El Diablo's Hiking Sticks

[+SmartSapper]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "bushwhacking in quite a literal sense", but be careful that you're not damaging the environment by the way that you're using it. There should generally be no need to beat back the vegetation, if that's what you're asking.

 

Buy one? Nooooo.... just keep caching until someday you stumble upon the perfect walking stick. I have several that I culled from beaver damns over the years. I gave them a light sanding, followed by a couple of coats of varnish or linseed oil. If you want, drill a hole through the top to receive a leather bootlace. It will mean so much more to you than some stick that you bought...IMO.

 

You sanded and drilled a beaver!? That's insane!

[+Maingray]

I've hooked my kids to keep them from running off (they hate that).

 

Great reply . I'm buying one of these tomorrow..any ideas where?

[+SixDogTeam]

Contrary to popular belief, the earth will not shrivel up and blow away if a few seasonal weeds are bushwhacked...

[+Scare Force One]

Why dont we all go out and start forest fires. That would be much better for the enviroment than molesting grasses and bushes.

 

~.~Scare Force One

[+BlueDeuce]

I've hooked my kids to keep them from running off (they hate that).

 

Great reply . I'm buying one of these tomorrow..any ideas where?

 

Shepherd's Crooks

[+Renegade Knight]

I've hooked my kids to keep them from running off (they hate that).

 

Great reply . I'm buying one of these tomorrow..any ideas where?

Farm and Ranch Stores.

Here it's Cal-Ranch but they vary by area.

[+trainlove]

Persponally I drive a bulldozer to all the caches I find.

 

Actually I'm so stealthy that even last winter with 3 feet of snow and 600 yards to a cache along a trail, I didn't even leave ANY footprints that anyone could follow to the puzzle cache. Basically I went about 50 yards from the car, went off into the woods, took a pee, hopped to a downed log and from a spot 30 feet from the yellow spot, bushwhacked a hundred feet from the trail all the way to the cache. Sure someone could follow the start but my decoy would deter them from thinking there was any more trail to follow.

 

But back to bushwhacking sticks. Also last year I was caching on my way to an event in a neighboring state. Got to the site of a puzzle cache and discovered I was on the other side of a 15 foot unfrozen deep river from the cache. I found a long pole and was looking for a good spot to pole vault when walking along the bank the stick made me stumble on ice and smash my knee. 10 months later there is still a twinge once ion a while. Oh, I ended up walking 300 yards not quite along the river to a bridge and 300 yards back to get the cache then 300 yards back to the car all with a bloody knee. Friends at the event all commented on the blood.

[+eigengott]

A stick for bushwhacking?

 

But if you meant a stick to poke around a bit in search for a cache, this might be a cool foldable stick:

 

[rogheff]

It just so happens that what may just be the perfect hiking stick can be found right here

[+cache_test_dummies]

A stick for bushwhacking?

 

But if you meant a stick to poke around a bit in search for a cache, this might be a cool foldable stick:

 

What's the battery for?

[+ventura_kids]

We use some ski poles that we bought for $10 on ebay.

They telescope down to a little over a foot long.

We keep them in the back of the jeep.

They are aluminum, and perfect for whacking bushes.

[+The VanDucks]

Wow - those hand-carved sticks sound amazing! But if you just want something quick and cheap, try your friendly local WalMart. We just bought a couple of hiking sticks for about $10 each; we found them in the hunting/fishing section of the store. They adjust for different heights, and also can be folded down a little shorter for packing. Another local geocacher uses them and recommended them as a much cheaper alternative to the very pricy hiking poles sold by the outdoor adventure stores. We like using them for climbing up and down slippery slopes where a little extra traction is nice, and they're also good for poking into hollow tree trunks.

Edited November 3, 2007 by The VanDucks

[+Rattlebars]

A stick for bushwhacking?

 

But if you meant a stick to poke around a bit in search for a cache, this might be a cool foldable stick:

 

What's the battery for?

 

For scale. Lets you know how big the thing is.

[+cache_test_dummies]

For scale. Lets you know how big the thing is.

Ah. Thanks. That explains it.

 

I thought for a minute it might be both a folding stick and a fiberoptic scope. Which would be very cool, by the way.

[groundhog123]

HHHHMMMMM, this thread evolved from bushwacking sticks to hiking sticks.

[Tahosa and Sons]

Use a machete, after you've cleared the area around the cache. Make a trade for the pen knive in the cache. Then you have traded up and made the location easier for the next cacher.

[+Dgwphotos]

I will commonly pick up a stick for clearing spider webs. Also, it doesn't damage the plant if you just gently push it aside.

[+SixDogTeam]

Why dont we all go out and start forest fires. That would be much better for the enviroment than molesting grasses and bushes.

 

~.~Scare Force One

 

We have a grass molester in our neighborhood. We're having a meeting to decide whether or not to burn him out...

[rogheff]

HHHHMMMMM, this thread evolved from bushwacking sticks to hiking sticks.

 

That's because a good hiking stick will be able to bushwack as well, or it isn't worth having. First thing I do with a new stick is wack it on the ground to make sure it doesn't break. No sense spending a lot of time carving if it's just going to break later.

 

As for damage to the environment, I was at a State Park yesterday. After seeing the environmental damage that hundreds of hunters and their dogs have done to the brushy areas (paths, broken branches, BUSHWACKING to the extreme), I don't know that I'd worry a whole lot about some lone geocacher wacking down one dead burr plant.

 

Of course the enviro-proper thing to do while bushwacking is to move that offensie Burr plant gently out of your way with your walking stick.

[+elmuyloco5]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

I would suggest using an old broom stick if you want a temporary and very cheap item until you can find a wooden one you like. But, eventhough we have two beautiful wooden walking sticks, I never use mine. My husband still uses his, but I prefer my metal telescoping one. It has a nice pointy end that can be used to protect yourself, dig into the ground to get better footing, great on water crossing, and it can also be used to stab trash when CITOing. Plus, it collapses so I can fold it up and tie it to my pack when I don't want to carry it. It also adjusts to any level so I can hand it over to one of my kids if they want it (although they usually hike with their snowshoeing poles).

[+Arndtwe]

A stick for bushwhacking?

 

But if you meant a stick to poke around a bit in search for a cache, this might be a cool foldable stick:

 

Where do you buy those?!?!

[+eigengott]

Where do you buy those?!?!

 

They were once sold in the Netherlands in army surplus shops - initially they were used to hold up infusion bags on stretchers.

 

Today you can buy them in shops for fishing gear. Look for folding gaffs there. And make sure to saw off the sharp hook before heading out geocaching.

[+Seasoned Warrior]

It wold be really cool to thread the end and be able to attach accessories such as hooks or a small mirror for looking under things. They seem to fold very compactly.

[+meralgia]

Here's a pic of my 5' 4.5" walking stick that my father and I "cultivated" when I was a teenager. We went into our woods out back (we had two acres--one was woods, the other was lawn), tagged a bunch of vine-entwined trees and came back a year later. Some were cooler than others. I spent a considerable amount of time debarking, devining, and staining this beefy walking stick. The parts that aren't as dark are rub-off from normal wear and tear.

Edited November 4, 2007 by meralgia

[+Rattlebars]

This one on eBay is nice (click here, only 5min left!)

 

That's the one I got for $15 and it came in two days. Very pleased.

 

Use it for a monopod when photgraphing in low light.

[+briansnat]

Contrary to popular belief, the earth will not shrivel up and blow away if a few seasonal weeds are bushwhacked...

 

No, the Earth won't blow away, but you can bet that if a park ranger were to see a geocacher hacking at weeds with a stick or machete it could mean the end of the sport in that park system.

 

Nothing we do is going to destroy the earth, but if land managers begin to perceive our sport as high impact, we're going to start losing places to play.

Edited November 4, 2007 by briansnat

[+geobudman]

My main stick is persimmon. There was a small persimmon tree outside of my other home in Mississippi that screamed "take me take me, I'm a walkng stick", so I did. I cut it, peeled it, and put it over the AC vent to dry it for a couple of weeks. Then I sealed it with polyurethane, put a rubber stopper on the bottom and a leather thong on the top, voile', walking stick! Found a "toy" but useful compass that points north most of the time to put on the leather thong.

 

Also bought a red Wal-Mart walking stick--I prefer the persimmon.

[+Rontro]

I was thinking about buying a 3/4 inch by 48" wooden pole and using it for bushwhacking, in a quite literal sense...

What do you guys think of this?

 

I use my ETrek fold-o-matic hiking pole with built in camera stand for hiking and geocaching. I had this LONG before I started geocaching. I try not to bushwhack, but there are times when folks place caches in blackberry bushes and in cases like that, some bush "Movement" is required.

 

Rontro

[+Tyger4]

As a child I had a favorite bushwacking aka walking stick. It finally bit the dust. Now that I am geocaching, I wanted to be prepared. I have a wooden dowel that I drilled a hole in (handle end) and put string. Although we all call it a bushwacking stick, it is mainly a pokey in places you dont want to stick hand stick as well as to gently move vegetation aka Poison Ivy out of the way. I put the hole and string so that the kids in our group would not confuse the ends. I dont want to touch the end that has been near the PI. If I were to find a cool stick on the trails I would use it but so far not much luck. My wooden dowel works well for poking, walking, etc.

 

ttfn

Donna

[+trainlove]

I think this topic has degraded from using a stick to whack bushes to comments on walking sticks.

 

One is good for your health, the other is just plain bad for Mother Nature.

[+bflentje]

I think this topic has degraded from using a stick to whack bushes to comments on walking sticks.

 

One is good for your health, the other is just plain bad for Mother Nature.

 

bad for Mother Nature.. good one.

 

The World Without Us

 

It's even more believable if you're a left winger..

[+One of the Texas Vikings]

If you mean to literally whack bushes back with a stick, I think you should come up with a better idea. That's all we need is for a park ranger seeing a geocacher doing that. We try to make this a low impact sport - or at least we should.

 

Oh, but it is okay to steal sticks from beaver dams !

Yes, I can see that, after all, there are many more beavers and beaver dams, than there are bushes and leaves...

[+briansnat]

I think this topic has degraded from using a stick to whack bushes to comments on walking sticks.

 

One is good for your health, the other is just plain bad for Mother Nature.

 

I'm not so sure that it's truly bad for nature. Nature is resilient. The damage caused by one person whacking bushes with a stick is minimal and temporary.

 

It certainly is bad however for perceptions about our sport.

Edited November 9, 2007 by briansnat

[+Seasoned Warrior]

If you mean to literally whack bushes back with a stick, I think you should come up with a better idea. That's all we need is for a park ranger seeing a geocacher doing that. We try to make this a low impact sport - or at least we should.

 

Oh, but it is okay to steal sticks from beaver dams !

Yes, I can see that, after all, there are many more beavers and beaver dams, than there are bushes and leaves...

 

Hey, the beaver stole it first, it would just rot there sitting in all that water, you are just allowing it to continue on its journey. LMAO

[+Driver Carries Cache]

bad for Mother Nature.. good one.

 

The World Without Us

 

It's even more believable if you're a left winger..

 

 

If we were all gone, why would we care what the earth was like?

 

Reminds me of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

 

DCC

[+PlantAKiss]

Why dont we all go out and start forest fires. That would be much better for the enviroment than molesting grasses and bushes.

 

Actually forest fires ARE good for the environment. Millions of years ago its how nature managed plant life and animals. Natural burns control overgrowth and encourage new growth. In fact, some seeds require burns to germinate. Its people who have "gotten in the way" so to speak by trying to STOP fires. There are plants who's existence is endangered because humans stop natural burns. Sorry...off topic I know. Its just that fires aren't a bad thing. Its when people are sadly in the way of the fires that's a very bad thing. If we allowed natural burns, fires wouldn't be as devastating as they are now, fed to monstrous proportions by gross overgrowth. But from the ashes...comes new life. OK...hoping down off my soapbox.

 

Now...on topic....I finally found me a nice hikey pokey pole I liked...and unfortunately I found it cumbersome. I had a dog leash, GPSr, camera and the stick....too much for two small hands to manage. It has remained in my car since. It might be handier minus the dog but I take him with me for hikes as much as I can. I'd LIKE to be able to carry it but I was just a bumbling mess with all of that.

[+KoosKoos]

Why is everyone talking about walking sticks?

 

 

BTW, I have nothing against pushing some bushes out of the way now and then, but as others have said, we should try to minimize our impact and not rip apart plants while we're enjoying our little hobby.

[+GeoMire]

I have actually been using a wooden cane that was purchased at a feed store. They have hickory canes that are very hard. Great for poking at snakes and hooking branches when climbing.