Walking Stick-Spear

[Gordon]

After I bough a good round cross section "live stock cane" for a walking stick for the bad hip and knee at tractor supply, I learned my scout troop was going to The Great Smokey Mountains to rent a cabin for a week and would be doing a bit of hiking. Back in the early 1900's a walking staff was an importing piece of recommended scouting gear which seemed to fall in disuse during the late 1950's. At an Adult training class in around 2013 (Yes Wood Badge) a number of the folks had hiking staffs and they seemed useful.

So I went back to Tractor Supply and found basically the same thing I was using as a walking stick but long enough to use for a shepards crook in the Christmas plays. I use it for walking on un improved ground and such. I can not imagine it being less useful that a martial arts Bo Stave for self defense. I even used it on steep sections of trail to hook a tree up hill and pull myself up the shaft. or turn and give a kid a "hand" by extending the crook to him. Might not get away with AWDA onto planes and such with a stick that long though.

-kBob

I went to Mexico Dec 2019-jan 2020 and carried my polished and oiled "live stock cane" on the air planes and thru some pretty shady places in deep Oahaca and Jalisco States . Never felt under gunned and would have used it no matter what the odds or opposing weapons (to take their gun if necessary) . Of course I took a couple years Hapkido before the trip , I am pretty arthritically challenged at 74 ! You can do it ! Just suck up the pain and do it ! Lucky I learned the techniques in 2018-2019 as when I returned to US in Late Jan 2020 my Dojo closed in March , still closed !
Anyway a stock cane is the bomb ! I used one on animals for many years, controlling large nasty 300 pound pigs and goats and sheep and even 600 pound young steers. People seemed a breeze in my training which would injure an enemy . STOCK CANE !!! My advice to all oldsters that need help !

 

[CapnMac]

that is why it's very important for my design to ensure the point is unexposed & disguised into the staff at all times except when it's needed.

The tricky part there is that many jurisdictions specifically prohibit concealed blades in canes and staffs (while allowing sheathed carry on a belt).

And, really, the business of "here, wait a sec, while I pull this out" is a very real thing. On top of that, the blade does not offer much more than the staff/cane does. You need to strike as hard with the one as the other.

You are not gaining much in "deterrence" either, you might gain the length of the blade more stand-off distance. But, you are, legally, brandishing at that point (NPI) If a threat exists, you are meant to act upon that, not engage in fencing or the like.

Just my 2¢

 

[Mosin77]

The tricky part there is that many jurisdictions specifically prohibit concealed blades in canes and staffs (while allowing sheathed carry on a belt).

And, really, the business of "here, wait a sec, while I pull this out" is a very real thing. On top of that, the blade does not offer much more than the staff/cane does. You need to strike as hard with the one as the other.

You are not gaining much in "deterrence" either, you might gain the length of the blade more stand-off distance. But, you are, legally, brandishing at that point (NPI) If a threat exists, you are meant to act upon that, not engage in fencing or the like.

Just my 2¢

I think the practicality of such a thing against 2 legged aggressors is very slim. But I can definitely see the use of a spear, even if it “requires some assembly” against 4 legged predators, or if you find yourself having to dispatch a wounded or trapped animal.

Carrying an open or sheathed permanent spear does raise some interesting questions though. Even if it’s just a leather sheath over the blade, would that technically make the thing “concealed?” Obviously not, but... how might a ranger or judge feel about that question, if you’re using it in lieu of a firearm in a jurisdiction that prohibits those? Knives and walking sticks are a little more clear cut in terms of what is and is not legal.

 

[JShirley]

Cap,

I have repeatedly discouraged users from changing a perfectly effective, legal tool like a cane or walking stick into an improvised (and usually illegal) weapon with hidden blades or injected metal.

However, a spear, even a short one, is a level of effectivess up from a staff. A killing or maiming jab against an attacking small to midsize (~150 lbs) animal requires much less effort than a blunt force impact with the same effect, while also keeping the weapon between the threat and the defender. As you know, mounting a bayonet is fast, and open carry of a belt knife while out hiking is legal most places. Something on the order of this, attached to a 1" micarta staff, would allow a user to go from a walking stick to a short spear in barely more time than it takes to present a handgun from concealment- and people who have encountered nuisance/dangerous wildlife report being paced or visibly stalked, most of the time. I'll take an extra 5" or more of sharp steel vs just a staff (and I promise I have more stick training hours under my belt than most members have shooting hours) when confronting any furry thing, every time.

John

 

[Thunderchicken]

I have a Cold Steel Leaf Spear that I have cut down to about 5'5". It makes it handier for me to use, and I think if I modified it further with a metal tip to protect the shaft for walking and made a large leather slip to cover the head to both protect the point and sort of "smooth out" the weapony feel of the spear, I would be left with a sturdy hiking staff that would not only help me traverse the paths but would require nothing more than a quick tug of the leather "sock" to yield a formidable weapon.

I am not a tremendous hiker so maybe that’s why I wonder how easily the “quick tug on the sock” could happen when you tripped and fell down a bank or something. I looked at that Cold Steel Leaf Spear and I guess I wouldn’t want to fall on it. However, I did not think anything was going to make me want a spear, and it looks pretty interesting. By which I mean “cool,” of course.

 

[Fiv3r]

I am not a tremendous hiker so maybe that’s why I wonder how easily the “quick tug on the sock” could happen when you tripped and fell down a bank or something. I looked at that Cold Steel Leaf Spear and I guess I wouldn’t want to fall on it. However, I did not think anything was going to make me want a spear, and it looks pretty interesting. By which I mean “cool,” of course.

Don't fall down an embankment. 30 years of walking up and down various foothills and small mountains, and I have never worried about what is in my hands nor fallen pell mell down a slope bad enough to worry about stabbing myself.

It's simple, walk with the spear like a staff 99.999% of the time using the bottom of the spear as a walking staff. If you ever find yourself face to face with a bad guy or beastie, yank off the cover on your spear point.

 

[kBob]

Umm... how hard would it be to spend maybe $6 for the stock end cap/bayonet lug for a Mauser 98, cut off the metal you do not need and attach it to the bottom end of your cane or hiking staff and carry a K98 bayonet of whatever style or mod you like?

I suppose you MIGHT get in trouble for a weighted cane and I would likely end up bashing my shin and or ankle with the mount every day at some point , but it would be do able and cheap if you already have a K98 bayonet or three laying about from the decades of show trolling.

I did have some luck in NOLO by tapping my cane on the ground in front of some bucks threatening the wife ( and they noticed and left) , but honestly I think a cane or staff is most effective in a fight when the attacker first thinks of it as a weapon as he looks up from the ground trying to figure out why he hurts so bad and why some things don't seem to work right.

I just don't see taking my attention away from the threat long enough to deploy a bayonet or spear point, a good idea in what could be the only time I have to stop an attack.

I get the impression that most folks have not been in many bad scrapes. I never noticed the back ground music swelling up before a fight or any fast changing close up shots of folks getting weapons ready. Most fights I have been in were "dance with the lady you brung" or whatever is to hand affairs and bore no resemblance to the scene in Three Musketer's where the home owner advises the Cardinals men to "Just wait and see" how effective his wheel lock is once he loads it!

There.... I made a workable bayonet mount suggestion AND expressed a contrary opinion... so now every one can feel good... or hate me equally .. or whatever... guess I'll just wander on my way singing to myself "... so I Koshed him wid me Shillaghli, and mashed his poor head in to mush, mush mush mush..."

-kBob

 

[JShirley]

Bob, I have made this suggestion a couple of times now. It would make more sense to mount the lug near the top of the stick, rather than the base. If you wound some cord just underneath the lug, it wouldn't even be very noticeable.

 

[kBob]

Suddenly last night I recalled the Step brothers from across the street in my youth (pre and early teens) they did not walk the woods as often as I but when they did they used heavy broom handles for walking staffs. Initially they decided it would be good to have something pointy/stabby involved so they drilled a hole in one end centered and paralell to the stick and then drove in a "Barn pole nail" a nail big around as a pencil and a good ten inches long. They sawed off the head and sharpened what was left on a bench grinder, turning the piece to get a sharp point on the end of five or six inches of steel.

one of them worried about having that point out there when not needed took another section of broom stick and drilled it with a hole large enough to slip over the steel point, cut it an inch longer than the exposed point and used it as a cover when walking that he could pull off when confronted with a rabid Raccoon.

He stopped using this end cap when they determined a barbed point was better for the occassional frog gigging and such. they used a wire "jeweler's saw' to cut a third of the way into their spike near the tip then mad a cut forward enough from there that they pried the newly produced flap of metal outward to make a barb.

They were both older than me and within a year found far worse habits and pursuits than wandering the woods and swamps to take up their time.

Another kid in the neighborhood remarked that their "spears" looked more like trash sticks for picking up paper on the school house lawn like the janitors used.

-kBob

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Brasstacker.com lists an adapter that allows you to attach a Mosin-Nagant bayonet to a length of 3/4" EMT conduit.

I personally like the idea of a walking stick setup to accept a Cold Steel Bushman, with a quick-attach system to keep it in place.

 

[hso]

https://brassstacker.com/mosin-nagant/Mosin-Nagant-9130-Bayonet-Adapter-MN-BA.html

 

[Dave Markowitz]

IMO, this video by Dave McIntyre (winner of Alone season 2) on the Cold Steel Bushman is worth watching.

 

[jahwarrior]

Following.

 

[rust collector]

I used to laugh at the fools who would buy a cheap spear from Lynn Thompson. Little did I know I was laughing at 68 year old me, who just ordered one from Midway as part of my birthday buy.

 

[kBob]

That Brassstacker has done it! the blow gun boys can now fix bayonets before going over the top!

-kBob

 

[Kleanbore]

And, really, the business of "here, wait a sec, while I pull this out" is a very real thing

Heh!

 

[Speedo66]

IMO, this video by Dave McIntyre (winner of Alone season 2) on the Cold Steel Bushman is worth watching.

Maybe the new owner will revive the Mini Bushman Cold Steel dropped.

I see people talking about wanting one, but I guess that's always the way when something's gone.

 

[jahwarrior]

Maybe the new owner will revive the Mini Bushman Cold Steel dropped.

I see people talking about wanting one, but I guess that's always the way when something's gone.

I have all four iterations of the Bushman, the original is still my favorite one.