Where do you get impact-grade hickory?1 1/16th" diameter impact grade hickory, for when shooting will get you in trouble. They can't get close, and if their arms and legs no longer work, they are no longer a threat to you. As a fat old man, Col. Rex Applegate ran into two muggers in a grocery store parking lot and put them both in the hospital with his cane. Do a video search of cane self-defense if unfamiliar with just what can be done with one. As a stick fighter since the early 70s, I know, and pugil stick training in Basic was rather funny with opponents lasting between 1 and 3 seconds, to the utter disgust of the round browns. 5 coats of hand-rubbed tung oil with a week between coats and month full cure followed by 3 daily coats of polyurethane with month cure for all weather companionship, and right handy on ice, you betcha, especially with a folding ice spike tip.
Despite supplied linked photo appearances, the blanks are bulbous ended at crook since bend is somewhat flattened during forming and the two finished ones of mine show varying degrees of fatness left, as well as crook length, I like the longer for arm/leg traps, cutting hook the opposite angle direction leaves more bulb on inside where it shows more. This is the only supplier I know who has hickory with crook left rounded at all, and suspect same blank maker supplies the expensive Canemaster with blanks they use. This is a supplier of hand wielded training weapons, and I also recommend their supplied very sturdy tips/blunts and that you order spares. Wood varies as mine show, I have received also some of partial and full heartwood, you take what you get, as these are ordered from maker, I prefer sapwood for resiliency, even though heartwood harder/heavier. You can order in bulk for $25ea from this page...if you lose/forget links, woodenswords is easy to remember and canes found under European weapons in dropdown menu.
Thanks!Despite supplied linked photo appearances, the blanks are bulbous ended at crook since bend is somewhat flattened during forming and the two finished ones of mine show varying degrees of fatness left, as well as crook length, I like the longer for arm/leg traps, cutting hook the opposite angle direction leaves more bulb on inside where it shows more. This is the only supplier I know who has hickory with crook left rounded at all, and suspect same blank maker supplies the expensive Canemaster with blanks they use. This is a supplier of hand wielded training weapons, and I also recommend their supplied very sturdy tips/blunts and that you order spares. Wood varies as mine show, I have received also some of partial and full heartwood, you take what you get, as these are ordered from maker, I prefer sapwood for resiliency, even though heartwood harder/heavier. You can order in bulk for $25ea from this page...if you lose/forget links, woodenswords is easy to remember and canes found under European weapons in dropdown menu.
or order just one for $35 with this link..
Will add that the crook advantage over straight sticks, past the traps possible with a crook, is simply that of daily carry and what to do with the thing, where a straight stick must be held under arm when two hands needed, where it clears shelves and table tops quite effectively, or propped somewhere where it inevitably clatters to floor...while the crook allows hanging over arm or from anything else handy...same as a gun, it does you no good left at home or in car....while you can take this anywhere to include courthouses, air travel, etc, and nobody can even ask why according to the Disability and HIPA Acts...some localities restrict straight sticks, while zero restrict crooked canes.
PS- proper length....with arms hanging naturally, hold a yardstick against side and note end of arm bone on out/backside of wrist, and where it measures at end of bone at notch in wrist. That is the perfect length for purely support on flat ground, cane measured from outside/top of crook butted against a flat surface, ditto with what you measure down the shaft. The world is not flat, and so I recommend adding 1" to that measurement for curbs/steps and added reach for self defense, and 2" if primarily steeper terrain. Be aware shorter handles best and even 1" extra quite noticeable, everything a compromise. Use cane with crook pointing forward and shaft in line with arm for no wobble, but primarily do so because cane much faster from that position in any strike, from crotch shot to arm breaker.
I think a good stick is second only to a gun, and even that depends upon distance, as within cane distance the end of a 33-36" cane far faster than most any non-world-class draw of gun or knife, and broken arms notoriously bad for drawing either of those. Being Shaka Zulued in face or breadbasket generally wrecks fast draws as well. I can never keep ones I make as folk, particularly women walking at the park, love the things, and like having them for those evening grocery store trips. One of these days I might actually sell one, but mainly I just like seeing folk not helpless, and many of those folk will never get around to carrying guns. Europe and the Far East both have long traditions of peasants disarmed by warlords and who developed fine stick skills second to none, just think of Robin Hood, Little John and Friar Tuck, not to mention the Irish stick fighting schools...I hope this inspires other folk to go getcha sum. A very easy project you can actually use.
