Hiking Staff

The hiking staff or walking stick is an important part of a hiker's equipment. They help take the load off your knees and help you maneuver down particularly steep descents.

Though the length of hiking staffs can very quite greatly, the recommended height is six feet or roughly, 1.74 meters, long. A hiking staff could simply be a plain stick, the kind that you break off branches while on the trail, or it could high-tech with such sophisticated features as telescopic paraphernalia and adjustable.

Depending thus on the kind of hiking staff you have, price can range from ten dollars to somewhere around a hundred. However, if you want a real bargain, then head on to the woods and select and secure your hiking staff.

It should be a stout straight wood. Its diameter about 1 1/2 inches, or 3.5-4 centimeters. Any type of wood may be used for making your own hiking staff, however, the most suitable woods are hickory, ash, oak, and iron wood (or "muscle wood"). You may also use good grades of elm, sugar maple, wild cherry, yellow birch, mountain ash, and Saskatoon for your hiking staff.

The hiking staff is a great gear to own. You can use it to test the depths of swamp holes and dark streams, or use it for guarding your face when pushing through heavy bush. The hiking staff may also be used for feeling your way in the dark and for carrying bundles over your shoulder when wading a stream.

Other hikers have found other uses for the hiking staff. The hiking staff can be used as poles for making emergency shelter, for signaling, for improvising a flagpole, for building a light bridge, and as handles for an improvised stretcher. Not only that, but you can also make use of your hiking staff for the forming of a barrier to control crowds, as well as for jumping ditches.

How to Make a Hiking Staff

Here is a simple guide to help you make your own hiking staff before you hit the trail:

* First, select and cut straight a 6-foot sapling that is approximately 1/2" diameter at its thick end.
* Next, store the sapling in a cool dry spot. Wait for 3-4 weeks before taking it out again.
* Trim the stick to 5'6" length.
* Then, carefully remove the bark. The bark over the second 12" may be left alone to provide you with better grip of your hiking staff.
* Afterwards, trim the knots until the stick feels smooth.
* Then, mark at 12" intervals beginning at top (the thick end).
* Mark top 6" at 1" intervals.
* Then, finally, treat with oil stain or preservative.

This procedure for making a hiking staff is, of course, is rather elaborate for a mere walking stick that you use for added support. But it's rather nice hiking around places carrying a nice looking walking stick that doesn't look remotely like something you just picked up from the woods.

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