Hickory walking stick for SD.

Nice stick!

I've had this hickory stick for what's got to be over 30 years now. Used it a lot and still do.

Yours is very nice!

Yep, nothing beats a good piece of hickory...

Best part of a walking stick especially if your older nobody pays attention to it. even in gun free zones.

Yup. Have several. Favorite I cut from an old poplar tree and placed a paracord handle.

I've always kind of thought to myself that the loose dog problem was a bit overplayed. This past week a lady in her mid sixties was out for a bike ride in an area I used to do a lot of trail riding with my horses and had to leave her group of friends and walk back to their cars when she got a flat tire. 3 dogs attacked her and nearly killed her. These were uncontrolled pets, not feral dogs. People that happened to be driving by managed to stop the attack and get her help, but some of what I've read about it says she had to have one leg amputated below the knee.
Sounds like the good Samaritans had to use their car as a barricade, and one had a walking stick but no other weapons. Thought of the whole thing makes me sick.
The radio host talking about it this morning was worried about the dogs too, wondered if the owners would be able to keep them after this "isolated incident". The world has really gotten to be a mess.
Don't go hiking without your stick.

I need to cut another one that is a little shorter.

A good walking stick can be a good defense tool and make the road less traveled a little easier.

The stick on the left was cut and carved by a friend that passed earlier this year. I think of him while using it. The one on the right I made several years ago it's a little heavy.
I gave my father one that I made earlier this year, it has a para-cord handle, he likes it.

If you like this thread you may find enjoyment in another thread that has a few hiking shafts in it
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/today-i-enjoyed-the-outdoors-i-chose-to-carry.869284/

I’ve made several out of black locust. My daughter has one and keeps it in an umbrella stand by the front door. She went out with her yellow lab on a leash one morning and she and her dog were attacked by 2 dogs in her driveway. My son in law heard her scream and went out the front door grabbing the stick as he went by.
The attack was over quickly. Daughter, dog, and stick were unharmed.
I’ve got some Osage orange planks that have cured in the barn for 15 years. thought about making a laminated walking stick and alternating grain for strength in all directions.

rust collector said:

That extra point at the bottom seems like it would be very useful. Now I am on the hunt for something similar.

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It's a fork in what I use for the top. Darn good grabber for stuff just out of reach in the back of the truck.

mope540 said “I like happy endings. Those dogs tasted some rock hard black locust....ouch. I bet they won't be coming back.”
Son in law was not long out of army ranger and special forces at the time. Daughter was a little emotionally traumatized but said the alpha dog in the attack limped away in rough condition. It was a big dog and was never seen again in the neighborhood. She suspects he killed or crippled it and SIL didn’t care if he did.
My wife (68 years old but a tough little Norwegian) carries her stick when she walks alone. I made hers out of ash which is also a very good wood for staffs.

rust collector said:

Must be a perspective thing. That looked like the smaller end in the photo. A useful feature at either end.

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It is the smaller end. I just like the fork at the top as it makes a nice thumb rest grip. I originally cut it with the fork to use for snakes and turning over leaves and such as we were mushroom hunting at the time. It's turned into one of my prized posessions over the years. Been a lot of places with me.

I have long used a cane sold by Cold Steel that is made to be both serviceable and defensive. Made out of some kind of resin. It seems to be indestructible. I LOVE dogs and have long had small ones. Have had many run ins with morons and their loose dogs. Would hate to have to shoot a dog when its not the dogs fault. I have found just having the stick has persuaded many dogs to hold back. Couple times I had to wack one good who then did also decide they really did not want to make a happy meal out of my dog. Any good walking stick can be a great deterrent.

Boattale said:

I need to cut another one that is a little shorter.

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So I went looking yesterday afternoon and found a very nice piece of apple that was part of last January's pruning job. Nice and straight. Seems quite sturdy. It's a bit larger in diameter than my hickory stick which will be fine as it will leave me plenty to work with while cleaning it up for duty.

Dogs are a real -- and potentially deadly -- threat. The only time I've drawn a handgun was against a very large, very aggressive, loose dog that charged me from across the street, IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD! I made a very quick draw, by some miracle, and had the gun in low ready with the laser hitting the pavement several feet in front of me before the animal reached me. With this "trump card" in hand, I relaxed the finger that is over the laser, hid it behind my thigh, extended my left hand and began yelling "BAD DOG! GO HOME!" while trying to appear as tall and intimidating as possible. Thank the Lord, it worked, and the owner called the dog home and yelled “Sorry!” I let it go, not wanting an enemy in my own neighborhood, in a house I pass very frequently. Never saw the dog before or since, but without that .357, I might have been in very bad trouble. I might have tried to retreat, which would have probably encouraged further attack from the dog.

Back on subject, I carry a hickory stock cane, bought in a feed store. It's very heavy duty and goes with me on every walk now. I did the horn mod like one of the low-profile Cane Masters canes, just because. I want more options than the lethal one, and the cane is a great option to de-escalate, as dogs seem to recognize the threat of a stick. I really, really don’t want to hurt a dog.

My cane is not nearly as purty as y'all's (I am jealous!), and it makes me want to start looking for a suitable piece of pecan wood 'round here (very similar to hickory).

All my best,
Dirty Bob

Bumping my head out in the shed today I found some sticks that I must have cut 5 years ago. Living out here in the boondocks the loose dog problem isn't the same as you town/city folk have. That said one of these staffs would be perfect.
They're dogwood...

Hickory. Rowan. Blackthorn. Oak. Hazel.

love me sticks

I actually want to go cut an ironwood sapling in my area and work it over.

I have made several out of sassafras trees, pretty solid, Given them to several of my wife’s friends…