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Hello.....I'm looking for a good walking stick for some of those bushwacking and difficult trail caches. Does anyone have suggestions on some good ones.

 

Also I am somewhat interested in making my own if anyone has some suggestions for type of wood and tools I may need.

 

Or maybe someone has some tips on a good type of dead tree to keep an eye out for and how to work that into a good walking stick. I live in Illinois to give you an idea of the types of trees in my area.....Thanks

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Also I am somewhat interested in making my own if anyone has some suggestions for type of wood and tools I may need.

 

Or maybe someone has some tips on a good type of dead tree to keep an eye out for and how to work that into a good walking stick. I live in Illinois to give you an idea of the types of trees in my area.....Thanks

I would be more than happy to give you my advice if you think it's worthy enough. However I would caution that if you don't have the tools needed it can be quite expensive. On the other hand you end up with a staff that you personally made! :(

 

I would also like to think Viking for the honorable mention.

 

El Diablo

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I have a few that I have made myself in the last couple of years. I found all of them around areas where beavers are active. When I find them they are usually wet and heavy but as they dry they become light and even end up with a few cracks in them. The cracks, along with the beavers teeth marks, just add character to them. I wait until they are nice and dry and cut them to length and sand them. And sand, and sand, and sand, and sand. Then stain them whatever color I want and put a clear coat of polyurethane on them for protection. I have a couple that turned out so nice I won't even use them in the woods. I have not done much of this type of woodworking but I found this to be rather easy. Good luck if you decide to make your own. The best thing about making your own is that it is one of a kind and you made it!

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I have a recycled mop handle. It's pretty thick, almost an inch in diameter, found abandoned. A hand strap on the top and a cane tip on the other, and it works really well. If you want to buy, there are several aluminum models available. I once had one of the collapsible trekking poles, but I made the mistake of using it to push some twigs aside, and it snapped. Those things won't take much lateral force at all.

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There are tons of walking sticks available on eBay. I just bought two Wilderness Walkers from j.j.jackson.

I started to buy a trekking pole at Target but the only ones they had left were ones that were bent or were locked into place and you couldn't adjust them. I decided that since I was likely to run into that problem with a trekking pole on down the road, I might be better off going with a wooden pole. Only thing I'm really missing by having a wooden one over a trekking pole is not being able to collapse it down and carry it in my backpack, but that's not that big a deal to me anyway.

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Way back when, when I was a Boy Scout; having a self-made walking stick was very fashionable. I found a fair length of wood, ash; I believe and made my walking stick out of that. I carefully stripped the bark off of a 1" x 3" section near the top and lovingingly carved my initials into it. I also braided a stout strap out of 1/8" cord that we had laying around the campsite. I finished it off with with a pair of carefully carved beads a la Philmont.

The strange thing is that I made it over 20 years ago, and I know exactly where this walking stick is right now. Leaning in the corner of my garage, ready for the next hike!

I guess the point is that anything will do if you want it to. I've never felt the need to invest in anything else, because my "old friend" is always at the ready.

 

God, I'm gonna be sad if I ever break it!

 

Hope you find your perfect match...

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For a while now I have been looking for a good hiking staff, to no avail. Then I saw the work of El Diablo and was thinking about buying one. He does great work, but I couldn't afford to buy one. Then one day whilie I was looking for less expensive staffs I stumbled on an article about the subject. This guy said that he just used a hardwood broom handle for his stick, so I decided to try it out. I went to Home Depot and bought a 60" hardwood shop broom handle and used that, I works great. I was even inspired by El Diablo's work and painted my avater and name on it, then I topped it off with one of these great emblems. Long story short, it works and looks great. My little brother, Red Mage, made one too.

 

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TIP:  If you buy an aluminum collapsing pole, buy it from REI.  They will replace it if you break it.

What he said. Plus, get one of the ones with the cork looking ball on top. It unscrews to reveal a camera mount, plus the strap on that pole is one of the most comfortable ones around.

 

Of course, since I got my El Diablo hiking staff, my poor REI stick has been gathering a lot of dust... And the other day, a female hiker that I passed said "I like your staff". I think that falls into the 'priceless' category.

 

--Marky

Edited by Marky
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For a while now I have been looking for a good hiking staff, to no avail. Then I saw the work of El Diablo and was thinking about buying one. He does great work, but I couldn't afford to buy one. Then one day whilie I was looking for less expensive staffs I stumbled on an article about the subject. This guy said that he just used a hardwood broom handle for his stick, so I decided to try it out. I went to Home Depot and bought a 60" hardwood shop broom handle and used that, I works great. I was even inspired by El Diablo's work and painted my avater and name on it, then I topped it off with one of these great emblems. Long story short, it works and looks great. My little brother, Red Mage, made one too.

 

3.jpg

Great job on the staffs. :(

 

El Diablo

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Also I am somewhat interested in making my own if anyone has some suggestions for type of wood and tools I may need.

 

Or maybe someone has some tips on a good type of dead tree to keep an eye out for and how to work that into a good walking stick. I live in Illinois to give you an idea of the types of trees in my area.....Thanks

I would be more than happy to give you my advice if you think it's worthy enough. However I would caution that if you don't have the tools needed it can be quite expensive. On the other hand you end up with a staff that you personally made! :(

 

I would also like to think Viking for the honorable mention.

 

El Diablo

Sounds like a great article idea for some geocaching 'zine. Know any you could submit it to? :(

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When I'm not caching, I'm backpacking. Sometimes I'm doing both. My unstable knees require me to use poles, and they are useful for caching too (poke - poke - mr rattlesnake? You in there?) Leki makes great poles - my favorite set of poles (what, I have about 6) are Leki ultralite Ti poles. Expensive but durable and lightweight if you want to strap them to a pack. There is a lot of information on hiking poles available at backpackgeartest.org (yet another thing I do in my non caching or backpacking time), as well as backpacking.net, backpacker.com, etc.

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Also I am somewhat interested in making my own if anyone has some suggestions for type of wood and tools I may need.

 

Or maybe someone has some tips on a good type of dead tree to keep an eye out for and how to work that into a good walking stick. I live in Illinois to give you an idea of the types of trees in my area.....Thanks

I would be more than happy to give you my advice if you think it's worthy enough. However I would caution that if you don't have the tools needed it can be quite expensive. On the other hand you end up with a staff that you personally made! :(

 

I would also like to think Viking for the honorable mention.

 

El Diablo

Sounds like a great article idea for some geocaching 'zine. Know any you could submit it to? :(

I had never thought about it before. Great idea!! Thanks Mopar.

 

El Diablo

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My hiking stick was a piece of wood I found while caching. It was formerly owned by a beaver. A search of the forums will find my story retold many times.

 

I also have an collapsable aluminum pole that I picked up at Target for cheap. It has given me good service.

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I am a solid fan of two trekking poles. We are volunteer rangers at a state park in Colorado. I had seen folks with the telescoping poles and thought that was a little much. However, I have lower back problems and my walking had been reduced to about a 200' distance without stopping.

 

We had some out-of-state company in town and took them to the park. The day before we went, I spotted two old ski poles in the garage and decided I would give them a try. Made a two-plus-mile hike with no stops. The next day I had a set of Komperdells, and it has been getting better ever since. I'm not sure what the magic is, but they work great for me! :(

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Hey thanks alot everyone, these are some great ideas :( ..Now I have to decide which one to use :(..... I think I am leaning twords making my own but I really like the post that mentioned the pole that had the attachment for putting a camera on it....I'm gonna try and figure how to add that to the pole I make as to help with those slow shutter speeds and full zoom shots...My tripod is kinda bulky and takes a bit to set up. I think this would help to speed things up as not to miss those great wildlife shots that are all to breif.....Thanks again everyone this really helped :( .

Oh by the way, those are some nice staffs on your link El Diablo :(

Edited by pnt1019
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Hey thanks alot everyone, these are some great ideas :( ..Now I have to decide which one to use :(..... I think I am leaning twords making my own but I really like the post that mentioned the pole that had the attachment for putting a camera on it....I'm gonna try and figure how to add that to the pole I make as to help with those slow shutter speeds and full zoom shots...My tripod is kinda bulky and takes a bit to set up. I think this would help to speed things up as not to miss those great wildlife shots that are all to breif.....Thanks again everyone this really helped :( .

Oh by the way, those are some nice staffs on your link El Diablo :(

A standard camera tripot socket is a standard quarter-inch bolt (1/4-20?), available at any hardware store. A drill, a few drops of epoxy, mixed in with some sawdust from the sanding operation, and you've got an unobtrusive camera mount on your stick. Drill a hole in your removable finial, and insert a standard nut, T-nut, or threaded coupler for a twist-off top.

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