Walking stick vs cane

[06]

Trained a bit in open hand and staffs. As I grow older the walking sticks seem more inviting every day it seems. Went to two staffs for hiking/back packing a few years ago and it really helps--especially going down hill. The old knees just are not what they used to be. Anything can be used to defend oneself with in a pinch. Be it a broom handle or even a spoon/fork/etc. Having the fortitude and training to use it makes the difference. Have found that walking away solves a lot of problems. Hard for one person to fuss much with anyone.

 

[streak]

The thickest HD had was 3/4" it was really cheap so I got a few until I find some thicker stuff.

I will investigate how I can customize the stick more by maybe filing, burning, varnishing etc. and then adding a rubberized foot and maybe a round knob on top.

 

[St8LineGunsmith]

I have to have a cane, I cannot walk across my own house without one
a cane provides better support and stability than a walking stick
walking sticks are for people who are not physically handicapped
and just provides a little more stability on uneven terrain.
send me all the canes you want I will make good use of them

 

[Deltaboy1984]

The cane and a walking stick are sometimes interchangable some times. If it has a handle I call it a cane and if it has a ball I call it a walking stick. The Longer ones I call a hiking staff.

 

[..nameless..]

Hello all.
I was following your thread with some interest.
I happen to make canes, all with martial capability.
I also make some clubs and knives and such that you might be interested in seeing.
Sometimes thay might be for sale.
I have sold some on eBay.

The address over at photobucket is;
s2.photobucket.com/albums/y29/Beelzebubba101/

I carry various canes and staqffs depending on my mood.
I have a dymondwood boken 'wooden sword' that i put a ferule on the end and love to have by my side.
I also have a couple of Dymondwood staffs of about 49" x 1 1/4" and 1 1/2". I sunk appropriately sized hardened flange bolts in each end. It can, of course, be used either end down.
A rasp roughened a few appropriate spots on each for grip.

I walk with them so close to my body that they are relatively invisible to those around me. Whatever stick that I carry, it is so close to my side that even the 'occuous' is innocuous, unless I want it otherwise.

I also work out with them all over the house; in hallways and bathrooms, even closets!!
I have a 5' and 6' that can spin and be used in very cramped spaces with a modicum of practice.
A 3' cane can be used anywhere! In the tightest of positions, also, with some practice.

The Dyamondwood is hard and heavy, a good workout just walking with them!
Not anything on this planet can stand before them!

You are welcome to visit my... unique... work. Please, enjoy!
There's stix and axes and tomahawk and various hand held weaponry of various materials; wood, iron, steel... forged, carved...

I've enjoyed following some of the intelligent conversations. Perhaps I can add a little something here and there.
Nice to be here.
peace

 

[JShirley]

Dymondwood is strong, but it can be broken with a really powerful strike. Makes a noise like a gunshot.

Canvas micarta works even better, perhaps because it's slightly flexible. Canvas micarta is also rough enough to not stick to your hands and burn you while sliding over the surface, like any super-slick finish- like Dymondwood- can.

Welcome to the forum.

John

 

[..nameless..]

Thanx for the welcome.
There is no wood, metal, composite, etc... that will not break given sufficient thwak, or material defect...
I am a big guy (big enough to break Tonka toys!) and I find the Dymondwood to be of sufficient overkill that I am unconcerned of it's ever failing in any real life, or fantasy, situation.
I do know of D-wood quality differences.
I got the bokken from Bugei Trading Co, back when they sold them.
They dtopped selling them once there was, for whatever reason, a drop in quality (manufacturing changes, and they were splitting on impact. This one doesnt, yet.

There is no real world martial situation that will break a 1 1/4"-1 1/2" D-wood pole with hardened steel protection on the (weaker) ends.

Yes, there are other materials with other excellent qualities, and I use them.
I do like the weight of the D-wood... not anything can stand before it! But, as I said, I am a big guy, and weight is a very personal factor.

I don't find any real practicality of comparing excellent materials into the stratosphere of materials engineering.
There are too many 'real' factors that cannot be as 'easily' quantified to also consider, without obsessing over a point or two of hardness or flexibility. Although I seem to do that on occasion...
It all works, in one context or another.

Besides, I paid $60. bux for that Bugei bokken 20 or so years ago, and it has thwakked it's share. I'm hardly going out to beat it against a rock to hear the cool snap.
It's all in the flow.

You are right about the 'stickiness' of the polished surface. Sometimes that is a 'good' thing. I do roughen the surface, such as the handle third of the bokken and a central and ends of the poles.
It works well for me. The usual grips are great on the hands (roughened gently) and smooth transitions.
The two surface textures seem to keep the hands dry enough.
Always tinkering...

Bye the bye, where and for ?$ can one find canvas micarta poles of sufficient diameter? Weight in comparison? Any comparative test stats?
I liked the Micarta for knife scales, on occasion, but the physical characteristics for a superior knife scale is not necessarily the same for a pole for carry and thwaking!

Again, thx for the welcome
see you around
peace
n

 

[hso]

Dymondwood is a layered wood/plastic composite formed under pressure. Strength tends to be different in different orientations. It has the strength of the plastic, but when it fails it snaps much like hard plastic. Canvas/linen micarta being woven fabric and resin/epoxy composite (as opposed to paper micarta) is strong in many directions (expecially so if wound) and will take greater effort to break. As John pointed out is will flex a bit before failing, but the woven fabric helps prevent it from failing as readily.

 

[..nameless..]

Ok, I took my vintage beautiful Dymondwood bokken and thwaked it good against a sufficiently hard surface.
Nothing!
So I thwaked it again at the weakest point for impact, a few inches behind the tip.
It broke, rather like a piece of real rosewood, snap and split off.
It was beautiful and whats left will be a 'shorter stick' with no such weak point.
As beautiful as it was, without the beauty of superior function, the 'beauty' just wasn't that deep.
And i had a ferrule on and everything... sigh...

I also hated to test a forged knife to destruction as it took such time and energy to make.
But silly ego whining aside, I learned much from the various destructive testing of my products and the next generation is always improving.

Most commonly i use aged hickory (hell to carve!) and oak... got a manzanita stick in the works, but it is a hard and brittle. Beautiful (like rosewood when taken at the 'grey and weathered' stage), though, and a larger diameter.

In my experience, for bokken, I'd stick to kata with the D-wood.
If you practice with bokken, using it for staff/jo means that it is always at hand!
Thank's for the... inspiration... to do what needed to be done.
Now I Know!
"It's Dragon tested!" said Boopsie!

A larger diameter can counterbalance the brittle weaknesses, but weight is a serious factor if you aren't Godzilla!
It's great for a good strength-building workout, though.

Where can I find linen micarta poles 1 1/4" by at least 4'?

peace

 

[JShirley]

It's hard finding micarta rods (search for "phenolic") longer than 4'. And expensive, frankly. My original hand-made "indestructibo" I foolishly sold, for $250 IIRC, back in 2001. I'd pay $400 in a heartbeat to have it back.

Linen- "LE"- is extremely strong. It actually seems to exceed canvas micarta in impact strength, but the weave is tighter/finer. Canvas micarta ("C/CE") has a courser weave that actually makes for better sliding/drifting over the rod.

The two most favored targets with folks I used to train with were dead trees and old duffel bags filled with rags. I knew one young black belt who had supposedly broken over $1000 worth of wooden weapons, not deliberately, but just training.

I believe that "weakest spot" you describe in a bokken is actually the "sweet spot", the area that a good practitioner wants to use to strike his target- deeply enough that a small weave or dodge won't cause him to miss, yet shallow enough that he's not over-extending.

John

 

[..nameless..]

I believe that "weakest spot" you describe in a bokken is actually the "sweet spot",

~~~ That is true!
I use 'weak spot' in the sense of materials harmonic nodes, where the weight and balance on either side of the 'node' is such that, like Ella shattering a glass with her voice, that 'harmonic' is just right for shattering a 'brittle' device. In a sign wave, it would be where the waves cross the 'y' (horizontal) axis.
As far as cutting, with that weight/harmonic distribution, that would be a 'sweet spot' to 'cut through'!
But a bad idea to hit something unyielding, such as table top... Trust me! heh

Two different Perspectives of the same One Reality!
That is how a person can be beautiful and ugly at the same time.
Perspective! *__-


the area that a good practitioner wants to use to strike his target- deeply enough that a small weave or dodge won't cause him to miss, yet shallow enough that he's not over-extending.

~~~ Yes indeed!


Ok, so if I could afford linen micarta, that means that I have too much money!

At that $ range, a titanium rod or pipe has it's appeal!
It's all compromises and juxtapositions...