How Many are Now Carrying a Cane?

[JN01]

I dont go pee without a cane.

Shooting sticks might work better

[wheelyfun66]

I do not carry a cane, but have thought about my next trip to NYC, and how I just might carry one while there.

No concealed weapons allowed in NYC, and even a pocketknife could get you in trouble...but how the heck can they dispute a cane?

I have done some training with bokken and sword, and so the cane would feel right at home in my hands.

Does anyone see how "they" could possibly mess with you for walking with a cane? Not like you have to carry around a Dr's note with you...is it?

[Deltaboy]

Originally Posted by wheelyfun66

I do not carry a cane, but have thought about my next trip to NYC, and how I just might carry one while there.

No concealed weapons allowed in NYC, and even a pocketknife could get you in trouble...but how the heck can they dispute a cane?

I have done some training with bokken and sword, and so the cane would feel right at home in my hands.

Does anyone see how "they" could possibly mess with you for walking with a cane? Not like you have to carry around a Dr's note with you...is it?

You will have no issues. Federal Law know as the ADA prevents even the Police of asking you about your cane. If one does you can own NYC.

[Carl Levitian]

"No concealed weapons allowed in NYC, and even a pocketknife could get you in trouble...but how the heck can they dispute a cane?"

Actually any small pocket knife is okay. We go to NYC 4 or 5 times a year for an over night just to see the sights, and I've never had trouble with a small sak on a key chain. In the real world, you don't really need much of a knife in NYC. Any little pen knife will do.

But I always carry one of my blackthorns, or homemade hornbeam walking sticks, and have a AA LED mini mag in a side pocket for back up use. The streets of NYC are much safer than you would think. In 20 years of going there, we've never had a problem more than an over aggressive pan handler. Don't carry what looks like an old fogy cane. There's a whole technique and sub culture to carrying a stick in the city. Carry a knarley looking rough and rustic looking stick, and don't look like you really need it. It's the "yeah, I see you lookin at me, and you're gonna get wacked trying any funny stuff!" It's all about sending the message the street punk will understand. A crook top cane may send a mixed message, but a rough stick carried by a healthy looking person sends the right one on the street.

But NYC is pretty safe to walk around in.

Carl.

[CollinLeon]

They won't mess with you for carrying a cane. All you have to do is cite the ADA if some jackbooted thug tries to question you. They cannot ask what is wrong with you or why you need a cane. Of course, plenty of us have enough scar tissue that even if they did ask, we could make them embarrassed for asking...

With respect to NYC, you need to decide for yourself how much you truly believe in the 2nd Amendment and whether you are willing to let some liberal [expletive-deleted] tell you what you can or cannot do with respect to your personal protection. There have been many people who continue to carry while visiting NYC and no one has been the wiser. The libtarded sheep up there have put metal detectors at the entrances to certain buildings, so you have to consider that also. I know what I would do and have done. It is up to you to consider the choices and make the best decision for your particular situation.

[Nematocyst]

Carry a knarley looking rough and rustic looking stick, and don't look like you really need it. It's the "yeah, I see you lookin at me, and you're gonna get wacked trying any funny stuff!" It's all about sending the message the street punk will understand. A crook top cane may send a mixed message, but a rough stick carried by a healthy looking person sends the right one on the street.

Those are words of wisdom. I carry my sticks much more than using them. I'll tap the ground with them on occasion, maybe stand with it when waiting for a light to change, or when crossing snowplow piles. (In winter, I carry my trekking pole with an ice tip.) But I usually walk at a fast pace with it carried horizontally in my hand, constantly looking around at engaging all others with a direct look.

[Owen Sparks]

I am a big proponant of a heavy cane but for thrusting weight is totaly irrelivant because when done properly, all your body mass is added to the stick. For circular strikes stick weight is critical.

You need the heaviest stick that you can wield with one hand AND NO HEAVIER. For most of us this is between 1 and 1 1/2 pounds.

[Deltaboy]

Good Luck on getting your cane!

[GreySmoke2]

Well, I'm in my 50's, have no cartilage left in either knee, a cane can be a necessity. I carry a simple masculine WalMart Brown Cane. Mostly when the pain is intolerable. I should carry it more.

[Steel Talon]

FWIW

You would be better off carrying a stick cane with a ball grip, than a traditional cane with a crook. If your not skilled with traditional cane the crook can get you into trouble. It'll will catch when you dont want it to, and the opposite is true. It will be able to be wrenched from your grip quickly.

A stick with a ball grip will perform as a solo baston, with a much easier learning curve.

I'm old now pretty much anymore I carry a 5.5ft walking stick for balance now, a bit more in convenient. But effective..

[Owen Sparks]

Absolutly, a ball grip is the way to go as a crook will get in your way and throw the balance way off if you have to grab the cane by the other end in an emergency. The balance point should be near the center.

[CollinLeon]

Agreed, but a crook cane is more practical for non-defense related activities. Like when reaching in the back of a shelf for a 2 liter drink at the grocery market because they bottles didn't slide forward along the sloped shelf like they were *supposed* to do. My cane has a small t-head on it and it doesn't work well for moving the 2-liter bottles.

Now, something like this would be useful as the head of a cane:



Except that it is made out of rubber... If it was made of brass, I would probably buy it... Would prefer a bit more shaft support though... Maybe with a couple of pins that could be driven through the shaft so that it could not easily be pulled off?

[bikerdoc]

Owen and I are on the same page.

Ball heads, good wieght, practiced moves.

Become one with the stick.

[Steel Talon]

Now, something like this would be useful as the head of a cane:

CollinLeon.
You can get yourself a brass hame to top off a hickory stick. that you ma like? does make your stick a bit top heavy but the curve to the brass ball fits the palm and can hit like Thors hammer.



Myself I still perfer a ball grip.

[CollinLeon]

Originally Posted by Steel Talon

CollinLeon.
You can get yourself a brass hame to top off a hickory stick. that you ma like? does make your stick a bit top heavy but the curve to the brass ball fits the palm and can hit like Thors hammer.

Myself I still perfer a ball grip.

I sent an email to one of the companies that sold those and they said that the brass ball was hollow...

[Steel Talon]

I sent an email to one of the companies that sold those and they said that the brass ball was hollow...

Aint nothing but a thang... An easy fix with epoxy and #9 lead shot...

Just saying

**Hames are extremely durable as they are.

[Steel Talon]

When you carry a cane for defensive use there are a couple of things you should consider other beyond length and durability of the wood.

If you go with a crook then train with it, so you understand how to deploy and manipulate it. The crook should be wider than standard canes (easier to catch with) and the tip of the crook should not be smooth and rounded; It should be angled back and finished into a point. The point will dig in and grip so no matter how big and wide the bad guy's neck, shoulder, forearms, etc. are. That point will grab and move the body part where you want it.

FWIW You can buy a hickory "livestock cane" fairly cheap from most ranch / farm feed stores. and fashion your own.

On the shaft of the cane, you need to mentally divide it into three areas. ( ends and middle) for your grip Then you want to "file in "with a dremel sander etc. finger grips.
(4 sides round shaft) Top end 6/5/6/5 middle 5/4/5/4 Bottom end 6/5/6/5

Again based on my experience for new guys starting out. I prefer ball grips for the untrained. If you want to learn technique to apply to the cane seek out an Arnis / Escrima school, or a combative Hapkido school.

My .02 cents

[Boomer...]

<snip>

[CollinLeon]

Originally Posted by Boomer...

I've been following this thread for awhile, but never posted. Oops, maybe never ever before posted. I'll update my profile at some point...

Anyway in short, I have typical age-related osteoarthritis issues. Until 2 months ago, I'd caved in to the pain and had become too sedentary. Since then, I've been doing a daily walking routine averaging (now) 4 miles per day. At Cold Steel's recent (local to me) parking lot sale, I decided to buy a couple of walking sticks; a City Stick with their now standard lighter cast aluminum head and a Slim Stick too (more for hiking than local walking). As you guys might know, both of those products are considered somewhat tactical (viewing C-S's website videos), but not quite suitable for my long term purposes.

So what did I do?
For the City Stick, I wrote them and ultimately purchased one of a few remaining NOS cast stainless "skull heads" which is now on the stick in combo with a 5/8" ID "Neva-Slip" rubber cane tip. I also shortened the stick a couple of inches. It suits me now and is kinda cool too in an intimidating way!

For the Slim Stick, I determined the threaded insert within the carbon fiber wrapped stick is M8 x 1.25 metric. After much web searching, I found a solid stainless ball typically used on machine tool control handles which is drilled and tapped M8 including machined flat of same diameter matching the top OD of the City Stick and same OD too as the standard aluminum head. The stainless ball (similar to the City "skull") is substantially more stout than their cast aluminum "golf ball" furnished with the stick. I also bought a 3/8" ID hiking stick tip which matches the diameter and profile end of the stick perfectly plus more traction for my intended use. I left the longer length untouched since this one is intended for hiking.

A metric thread? That's odd... They're a US company, right? Located in SoCal, I believe...

Personally, I think that Cold Steel should have gone with something a bit thicker than that... Maybe a M16x2 or larger... I don't want the threads and connecting rod to the the week point in something that I might be using like a sledgehammer on someone.

Osteoarthritis is just a fancy way of saying that you're getting old, right? Join the club... If I had know I was going to live this long, I might not have done some of the things I did in my youth... Nawh, I probably would have still done them... Like a lot of guys at that age, the concept of cause and effect wasn't all that clear to me at the time... As I've always said, the leading cause of death among men prior to around 25 or so is TESTOSTERONE... After 25, it's ESTROGEN, but it's a VERY slow and painful death...

[Deltaboy]

You will have to hunt but you can find solid Brass ones at Junk Stores and such they were made that way before WW2. The one I posted on this thread is solid Brass that I found in a Fort Worth Antique Mall.

[Boomer...]

Originally Posted by CollinLeon

A metric thread? That's odd... They're a US company, right? Located in SoCal, I believe...

Personally, I think that Cold Steel should have gone with something a bit thicker than that... Maybe a M16x2 or larger... I don't want the threads and connecting rod to the the week point in something that I might be using like a sledgehammer on someone. <snip>

Without meaning to flame, I'm curious how you managed to quote my text, fully snipped 4+ hrs before you posted a reply? Perhaps it was in draft reply mode during those hours? Oh well...

For those unaware, Cold Steel's products (including specialty category "sticks") are all, sadly, manufactured offshore in Asia. http://www.coldsteel.com/specialtyitems.html. Without intending to promote their products, videos on their website seem to demonstrate strength of the sticks I bought. Each one has unique advantages and could be utilized differently as a tactical walking stick or cane. I chose to upgrade both stick heads from cast aluminum to steel for reasons stated in my snipped post captured in your reply. The thread type mentioned on the Slim Stick is accurately stated although oddly, the thicker City Stick shaft utilizes a fractional (non-metric) threaded insert. With the replacement steel heads and rubber tips I chose, these sticks are interesting to look at, comfortable to handle and could do serious damage if ever needed for such.

I snipped my original post 'cus I thought it too lengthy for my first forum post. Now I'm doing it again. Signing off for now...

[CollinLeon]

Originally Posted by Boomer...

Without meaning to flame, I'm curious how you managed to quote my text, fully snipped 4+ hrs before you posted a reply? Perhaps it was in draft reply mode during those hours?

Good question... I noticed that your post had been snipped after I posted my reply... I sometimes start on a reply, get called away to do something else, and then come back to finish the reply later... You might have trimmed your post during in the meantime... Either that or I have an internet connection that can transcend time and space...

[Steel Talon]

Go over to ebay and search for member

ToolSupply

He offer many different sizes of solid brass and stainless steel tapped and threaded balls up to two inches..

[Boomer...]

Originally Posted by Steel Talon

Go over to ebay and search for member

ToolSupply

He offer many different sizes of solid brass and stainless steel tapped and threaded balls up to two inches..

Interesting, although a quick look didn't show any already drilled and tapped. For reference, the 316 stainless, 1.5" diameter M8 threaded ball knob I bought for my Slim Stick mentioned above was produced by Carr Lane. Click on the embedded link for full specifications and part numbers. I bought mine online from an industrial machine tool supply distributor without a minimum $$ order charge plus quite reasonable shipping charge (total delv'd cost prox $24).

[CollinLeon]

Originally Posted by Steel Talon

Go over to ebay and search for member

ToolSupply

He offer many different sizes of solid brass and stainless steel tapped and threaded balls up to two inches..

He had some nice choices... I especially liked the 1.5" brass ball, other than the fact that it was only threaded for 1/8" IPS/NPS threads... Those are straight threads, right? I would prefer something with a bit larger diameter on the threads...