DIY hiking staff, stick, pole or whatever you call it

[cruisaire]

I'm cheap and tired of looking at carbon fiber golf clubs to cannibalize for DIY poles, so I selected a couple of 6 to 7 foot lengths of Redbud from a "natural" area at the back of the backyard. The diameter is 1 1/2" or so. Can't find much info about using this breed of wood. Seemed a little heavy at first, but is lightening up as it dries in the garage.

I am experimenting with letting them dry with a.) no bark and b.) fully barked. We'll see how long I can let them go before gettin' the itch to finish them off. Pictures to follow.

[HIPOCKETS]

I have never tried redbud for walking sticks. For years I have used sourwood. Very light after it dries. I like my sticks about an inch in diameter and 5-6 feet long. I leave the bark on. The bark is smooth and does not peel if stored out of the weather.

[mweinstone]

my staff was made for me all special by dances with mice. its dogwood. and i can ninja with the best of em.dogwoods where its at .

[squirrel bait]

Mine was made by my brother out of Pacific Madrone, tough as nails. I use it braced across two stumps when taking a dump. It's never broke thank god.

[lunchbx]

purist will have my head but i cut down 2 saplings while in shenandoah on a sect hike and improved grips out of surplus rope on hand. they have lasted me about four years so far of moderate section hikes. side note: i never understood having to sit on sumthing to dump in the woods, ive heard of people leaning over logs and such. what do you do in the privy? do you actually sit on that thing, good god! i learned very quickly to hover at privys an just pop a squat in the woods. ive adopted it to using public toilets as well. I have two rules when going in public in general #1 get in and out asap and #2 make as little physical contact as possible.

[Rocketman]

Long ago, I used "found downed wood" which was light if dry, but usually didn't last long enough.

I switched to bamboo staffs, both from bamboo cut from stock at gardening supply stores, and to pretty slicked up bamboo staffs at backpacking stores. Bamboo was the best, if you could get just the right diameter. Most of the stock tended to be bigger diameter than needed, and thus heavier.

Now, I am a conformist using the aluminum multipurpose hiking poles. They don't have that romantic feeling of a real STAFF. But, they collapse, and serve dual use as shelter supports.

[Dances with Mice]

The best wooden hiking staffs will be made from slow growing trees that would have tightly spaced growth rings. Dogwood, hickory and pecan, sourwood, elm, some cedars, trees like that. Fast growing trees would have weaker wood - poplars, ash, pines, most fruitwoods like cherry, pear, apple or mulberry. Redbud I'd classify as a real fast grower and liable to break - the redbud beside my house is always dropping branches.

Bamboo has a lot of different species and I don't know if some are better than others or not.

[bronconite]

I've been using a maple sapling from my back yard. It seems to be holding up well.

[squirrel bait]

Pacific Madrone is a broadleaf evergreen, is this a slow growing species? It always feels smooth and cool to the touch. I don't use it all the time for bathroom breaks, just sometimes I am tired and it's nice to sit and ......

[cruisaire]

Redbud I'd classify as a real fast grower and liable to break - the redbud beside my house is always dropping branches.

Bamboo has a lot of different species and I don't know if some are better than others or not.

Thanks Dances! I have a few dogwood saplings nearby and could "sacrifice" them. They're wild and might do the trick. I've also wondered about crape myrtle, but that would qualify as a fast grower and probably not so good. I'm taking a sweet gum down this winter, maybe a limb or 2 from it would work?

[Skidsteer]

Thanks Dances! I have a few dogwood saplings nearby and could "sacrifice" them. They're wild and might do the trick. I've also wondered about crape myrtle, but that would qualify as a fast grower and probably not so good. I'm taking a sweet gum down this winter, maybe a limb or 2 from it would work?

Sweet Gum is a pretty fast grower also. I'm always cleaning up broken branches on my property.

[greginmi]

$5 chunk of bamboo from Flower Factory with around 40' of 1/8 inch rope for a grip that can be removed in an emergency.

Light, strong and cheap!

[Skidsteer]

$5 chunk of bamboo from Flower Factory with around 40' of 1/8 inch rope for a grip that can be removed in an emergency.

Light, strong and cheap!

40' of rope on a hiking staff is an emergency.

[clicker]

I have been using a staff made from red oak, my dad carved it from some old growth and then left it by our woodstove for the whole winter. It is suprisingly light for red oak, and very strong. Never had to put a cap on it, only mushroomed about an 1/8 inch over the past several hundred miles (including some road hiking).

[Rocket Jones]

I use a broomstick I bought at the hardware store for about 5 bucks. Some paracord wrapped around the top for a handle with a braided lanyard tied through a hole. I put a rubber cane-tip on the bottom. Works great.

[Surplusman]

In 1973 I was working with a group clearing brush from along a riverbank in Virginia, and I made a hiking staff out of a length of hornbeam that had been cut down. I left the bark on it and over the years, practically all of it is still on there. A few years ago I got some collapsible aluminum poles, and I use them exclusively for backpacking, but I still have that old hornbeam "snake stick" and still use it for casual walks.

[cruisaire]

The Redbud is drying pretty well. I have two other poles drying alonside too. No checking after the initial few inches on each end after a week or so. It takes a hand plane well and is showing a grain that's very attractive. Knots are cleaning up well. I won't be staining this one, PU at most. I'm considering a spiral cut or 2, just for show.

[d40mFc]

I made a walking staff from a good sized piece of bamboo from the garden center. I like that bamboo doesn't get slippery when wet. I braided a nice wide wrist strap from polyester cord, epoxied in a 1/4 - 20 bolt for a monopod mount on top and added rubber foot to the bottom to prevent mushrooming. For a finish I chose lemon oil for it's nice smell, ease of application and re-application. The polyurethane finishes I looked at would require a sand down before re-applying. As the walking staff will be on the trail and in the dirt, I didn't want to do the sanding step just to keep the staff looking good and protected from excess water absorption.

I picked a 6 foot piece of 1 and 1/8 inch bamboo because I prefer a bigger grip and liked how sturdy it felt compared to the smaller diameters. It is, however too long to conveniently travel in my wife's car. So another 5 bucks of bamboo, $12 of epoxy putty and a long 5/16 machine screw and furniture nut and we'll try to add a joint to the staff. Attempt one, success, until the bamboo split out during side load testing. I will try this again, and intend to re-inforce the joint with a doubled or trebled square turkshead knot on both sides of the joint. I'm also considering going to the pool cue repair guy and asking him to sell me the metal parts of a pool cue joint.

[GGS2]

I like the old Indian (eg., Native American) instruction for making a bow. It starts with, "First find a nice straight piece of fiberglass..."

[weary]

I made my first serious hiking stick on the trail while hiking Maine with a 9-year-old grandchild in 1991. He kept falling, so I made him a staff from a piece of alder left by a crew that had cut a new trail to the foot of Dunn Notch Falls. My grandson wouldn't use a stick unless I did. So I cut a second.

That staff came with me two years later when I walked home from Georgia. It still stands in my back hall, as sturdy and as useful as ever. But I've experimented with other staffs and other woods over the years -- oak, maple, beech, hornbeam, and bamboo (from an old ski pole).

Alder remains my favorite. It has the right combination of lightness, strength, and attractiveness. I use rubber crutch tips on the bottom, and my current version uses a $12 Komperdell cork tip, and strap, held on with a 1/4-20 hex head bolt, epoxied into a hole drilled into the top, allowing the staff to double as a monopod.

Most homemade poles I see are too heavy. Mine weigh around 9 -10 ounces, some less. None have ever broken, even when I use them to whack off offending branches while bushwhacking, though sometimes they splinter a bit, forcing me to make another.

Weary