Irish Blackthorn 2, dogs 0...

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

DeTerminator

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
107
Well, it happend again this morning. Another dog incident involving me and my blackthorn while out on a walk. Different neighborhood, different dogs.

This time it happend at 6:20 AM. It was light out by then. Just as I was approaching a house, I saw a guy opening the front door from inside. There were bushes in the way obstructing my view, but as I got closer, two golden retrievers and some small black mutt tore straight toward me, barking their fool heads off. Apparently the owner hadn't noticed me when he let them out. He attempted to call them back, and said that they wouldn't bite. They weren't too quick to run back to him, and I backed away holding my stick pointed them, ready to push away or whack over the head or wherever I could if they got too close. The golden retreivers didn't attempt to get too close when I had my stick pointed right at them. It was like a magic wand. They kept barking, though. The little black mutt was the last of the three to want to push his luck, but he didn't get within reach of me and the blackthorn. Like the last time, it was over in maybe 15 seconds, and I didn't say a word. I was too busy concentrating on the dogs and the stick.

I don't know what it is with me and dogs lately, or why people let them loose when there is a city ordinance making a leash manditory, at least off their property. I'd have to research that. I probably could have them cited for it.

Get yourself a stick if you take a walk somewhere...I'm glad I did, again.
 
Cool story, again. I have been looking at the Blackthorn canes and don't see one with anything particularly usable other than the ball type head. Not sure it would be as useful as a cane versus a club. Thoughts? Could someone point me to a blackthorn that has more a traditional shape??
 
I have carried a gun and a cane or walking stick since I first hurt my right ankle and all the time since I turned 30. I used to be able to out run dogs or I just used my rock throwing skills to keep Dogs from biting me. Since the accident in 06 I am just too messed up to play nice with folks dogs that are running aloose and don't want to play nice. Good for you and that Blackthorn, my Cold Steel and homemade solid brass Hame head cane has done me well over the years. Get some pepper spray too!:D
 
The ball root handle is a compromise between a walking stick and a club. It works reasonably well when walking, or leaning on, but you cannot hook it around your arm, which you can do with a crooked cane. Can’t hang it on the hat rack either.

These are the best Blackthorn canes I have come across, and there are straight handle grip types which I am certain will work just outstandingly as a support.

http://www.oldeshillelagh.com/
 
For those, like me, that need a ball head to support their weight, you can always drill a hole near the top and thread a leather thong through it. Mine came that way. The thong is just big enough to easily get my hand through so it can dangle from my wrist or forearm. Makes it convenient to hang the stick on a peg, etc.

Jeff
 
22 rim-rife and AOK,

My blackthorn came from here: http://www.lollysmith.com/wlstac.html
They don't seem to have much up for sale right now, but they're expecting more to arrive in a couple weeks.

The one that I own has the handle at about a 30 degree angle. It worked good for walking until I had to really put a lot of weight on it, and it would dig into my hand. I moved on to a crook handle after that, which was much more comfortable to use. The crook really was my favorite if I needed a cane to support my weight a lot, and the blackthorn was put aside at the time my left hip got too bad. Then, I used my canemaster crook. Plus, like SlamFire1 mentioned, the crook is extremely handy for grabbing things, like pulling a door closed without having to walk over to it, and hooking on the arm (or neck!) when needing to use both hands. Maybe, too, pulling something toward you that rolled under the table.

I have the hame-handled BubbaStik, but found that I preferred a crook or the angled blackthorn. The hame was heavy for extended walks, and had to be grabbed "whole-handedly", instead of lightly, as can be done with a crook. I almost bought a knob-handled blackthorn from the site http://www.oldeshillelagh.com/ that SlamFire posted, but I was on my way to recovery by then, and couldn't justify buying it.

Now-a-days, I don't often need to use a cane to walk with for pain reasons. Today I did for about 10 minutes into my one- hour walk. I debated whether to cut it short when I felt some pain in my left leg where they cut off the head of the femur and pounded in the new titanium joint. The pain disappeared, and I was good to go, with carrying it horizontal, or touching it down to the pavement occasionally and goofing around with it.

So, I guess it would depend on how much weight you have to put on your stick when you walk, and how far you walk with it, as far as what handle configuration you'd be best trying out. Maybe a couple different ones would be the answer, like it was for me. For now, I only use my blackthorn for outdoor walks, and my Canemaster turns the knobs on my boombox that's on the washing machine behind me when I'm at the kitchen table! :)
 
Is the head of the Cold Steel 'blackthorn' made of real wood?
Click to expand...

It is polypropylene and each looks just like the other that comes out of the mold. They are of consistent size, shape, weight and color and no part of them is made of wood.

CS said:
Cold Steel made the effort to obtain and sell authentic Blackthorn sticks over fifteen years ago, but the venture turned out to be disappointing, and not because the sticks didn’t sell well. It was because Blackthorn is difficult to come by and, since it’s grown and not manufactured, it is somewhat inconsistent in quality.

Cold Steel’s recent forays into injected molded polypropylene products has yielded some impressive results and now we have produced a new polypropylene Blackthorn that has all of the advantages of real Blackthorn and none of its pitfalls.
Click to expand...
 
It sounds like in both cases the dogs were just putting on a show for their master to let him know that they were doing their job of guarding the place. I am glad you did not have to hit one of them but if you ever do, try to confine your first strike to the flanks, that is the muscles on the sides of the hips and shoulders and stay off the head and spine, at least for the first swing. Most dogs are all bark and no bite and will generally back down is you stand your ground.
 
Owen, thanks for your response and opinion... I appreciate it! The last thing that I want to do is hurt someone's pet. I just want to keep them away by using the cane's length, and try to push them away with jabs, get away safe, and hope that's enough. I don't know what they are capable of or are trained to do. What the owner does about what they have experienced with what just happened, I leave that up to them. Hopefully, they'll consider what might happen if I indeed need to inflict a more persuasive action on their pet. This is the HighRoad, after all :)
 
Last edited:
Owen correct I killed a pit ,when he popped out of a blind spot on an alley I was walking on due to the summer heat 6 years ago. He spooked me and I slammed the solid brass ball hamed cane into his head and killed him. Time had allowed me to feel some pity but IMO he left me no choice but to strike or get bit.
 
When I come home in the evening my dogs often run up and down the fence line barking at some phantom menace just to let me know that they are on the job and protecting the relm. They also had a barking fit Saturday when I went out to meet the postman. He said that they normally don't bark like that when he stops at our mail box. I said it is because I am normaly not here when the mail runs.
 
Update...

I placed an order with Sabre Red last night for their Magnum Pepper Spray, 1.8 oz.

I feel better already, knowing that I will have a back-up to my cane. I've had no further dog encounters lately, and I've been riding my bike more instead of walking. The pepper spray can go with me on a bicycle ride, too. There's always the dog's owner entering into the equation as far as defense requirements, also. Maybe spraying their dog, and the owner not being too happy with that. I did take an early morning walk in the dark the other day, and had a dog sound off from a block away. It was in a fenced enclosure, so no big deal. I walked past this German Shephard before, so I had no worries. I just don't like him waking up his owners at 3 in the morning. Normally, I come from the other direction, and he doesn't see me coming from so far away, if at all, and doesn't always bark.
 
DeTerminator, maybe I'm in the minority, others will let me know, but I'd say if you already have one less lethal weapon that doesn't work, I'd go with a more lethal option. Knife or gun.
 
A knife for dog is a poor choice since you're at contact for use. Range is your friend with dogs.

Stick and spray are far better, as he's chosen.

If you have a route, take dog treats on the route and hand them out liberally. Once the dogs expect the treat you can actually take a moment to work a little dog training in and make them be quiet and sit to get the treat. It won't take any time to have them sitting and begging for you.
 
Dog treats...

HSO,

That's a very good suggestion about the dog treats! My former mail carrier used to do that, or so I was told by my current mail deliverer. I had a 120 lb. American Bulldog that he was deathly afraid of. If I had him tied with a rope to the porch, and he saw it, he would not come down the block to deliver mail, even though the mailbox was 80 feet down the driveway. Anyway, he told me he wouldn't. My current mailman isn't that skittish around dogs, but, alas, ol' Yogi isn't around these days, either. He did tell me that the giving dog treats freely on the route worked good for Dennis, the former mailman.

Took an early walk today, and was greeted unexpectedly around 6 AM by a little white poodle, not on a leash, outside of a residence. Apparently, a lot of people reason that no one is around outside their house at that time of day, and just let their pets run freely. It was a very meek little critter, and didn't try anything...no barking or leaving it's yard. I said, "hi, little guy", and started walking away. A couple steps later, it looked like it was getting closer, so I pointed the blackthorn at it, and said "stay", gruffly, and kept walking. It stayed there, looking at me as I went down the sidewalk. I kept checking on it as I walked, but it stayed there, and just looked at me the whole while.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Irish Blackthorn 1, dogs 0...
2
Replies
37
Views
2K
Owen Sparks
O
Zaydok Allen
  • Locked
Blackthorn Walking Stick
2 3 4 5
Replies
108
Views
12K
Zaydok Allen
Zaydok Allen
T
  • Locked
Umbrella??
Replies
8
Views
2K
twoblink
T
C
  • Locked
Lollysmith blackthorn stick longterm review
Replies
3
Views
965
Deltaboy1984
Deltaboy1984
A
  • Locked
Irish stick fighting
2
Replies
46
Views
4K
Deltaboy1984
Deltaboy1984
Back
Top