How big is your Pole, and can you send me a pic?

mentalnurse

Full Member
Apr 4, 2007
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ashton-in-makerfield,wigan
i use a stick/ staff when ever i go walking here is me (in the middle) with one i made myself.
017.jpg


and just some others i have made and use.
05012009674.jpg
 

Bimble

Forager
Jul 2, 2008
157
0
Stafford, England
Geez, that’s a pretty sharp point on that stick mentalnurse. Mind your foot!!!

Took this pic of my current staff acting as a pot hanger yesterday. Though elaborate for me, its not as fancy as yours.

It was so parky out there (-4C with a wind) even a robin came in for a warm. I felt sorry for the little blighter puffed up like a tennis ball, so used the staff to dig over a frozen patch of duff when I left. He chowed down gratefully on its numerous frozen inhabitants.

Use 101: Winter Bird Feeder

P1000827C.jpg
 

Chinkapin

Settler
Jan 5, 2009
746
1
83
Kansas USA
mentalnurse, how did you fasten the "Y" shaped wood to the top of the staff? I'm referring to the 2nd tallest staff in your picture. Also, what is the twisted material that is just below the "Y"? Is this wood?
 

launditch1

Maker Plus and Trader
Nov 17, 2008
1,741
0
Eceni county.
The unusual twist on the stick you refer to was caused by honeysuckle twisting around the stem as it grew,constricting it,causing it to swell out.And i fix the Y's on the top of sticks using a length of round steel bar.Sorry about the hijack!
 

malcolmc

Forager
Jun 10, 2006
246
4
73
Wiltshire
www.webwessex.co.uk
Still using my original 5’ 6” (1.67m) scout stave in ash. It’s had slight modifications over the years. Very useful for keeping overgrown brambles off kit as I walk along. Recently had the local constabulary ask me to explain why I was carrying such a big stick, on a footpath in the middle of a wood. :confused:
 

Shambling Shaman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 1, 2006
3,859
6
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In The Wild
www.mindsetcentral.com
Like it...
launditch1 - thanks for that link....:D off in to the woods tomorrow..

I did find a nice bit of Oak (had to come out as it was damaging a wall and starting to block a stairway)
My question is this (as per link) I am going to leave the staff till 1st March before i strip the bark off - are there any tips for this, eg. work on the fiddly bits first then the main bits?
Any tips/advice welcome.
 

jojo

Need to contact Admin...
Aug 16, 2006
2,630
4
England's most easterly point
Still using my original 5’ 6” (1.67m) scout stave in ash. It’s had slight modifications over the years. Very useful for keeping overgrown brambles off kit as I walk along. Recently had the local constabulary ask me to explain why I was carrying such a big stick, on a footpath in the middle of a wood. :confused:

What were they doing there then? Squeaking their big boots in the woods?? Honestly,don't they have real proper criminals to capture? Mind you, you must have looked like some terrible, dangerous, evil...herm...man of the wood :D Sasquash maybe...:cool:
 

launditch1

Maker Plus and Trader
Nov 17, 2008
1,741
0
Eceni county.
I did find a nice bit of Oak (had to come out as it was damaging a wall and starting to block a stairway)
My question is this (as per link) I am going to leave the staff till 1st March before i strip the bark off - are there any tips for this, eg. work on the fiddly bits first then the main bits?
Any tips/advice welcome.

Hi.Pesonally,i would strip the bark off now.It might have dried out a bit too much by march and you would have a job to remove it then.I remove the bark on mine using an old shop knife(curved blade)then i wittle off the fiddly bits around where branches came out.
 

Shambling Shaman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 1, 2006
3,859
6
55
In The Wild
www.mindsetcentral.com
Hi.Pesonally,i would strip the bark off now.It might have dried out a bit too much by march and you would have a job to remove it then.I remove the bark on mine using an old shop knife(curved blade)then i wittle off the fiddly bits around where branches came out.

Thanks, was going to use my khukuri. On the link you posted

Cut in winter
If you cut a sapling in spring or summer, it will be full of sap. This will make it heavy and more important will tend to cause it to warp as it dries out. The best time to cut a staff is in winter. When you cut a staff, you can easily strip off the bark with any kind of knife. Our experience is that if you store the staff without stripping the bark for a period of a few months, it improves its durability. But the removal of the bark is then more difficult.

Thats why I was going to leave it till March (My birth day is in March) as a project, If you think its as well to strip now will most likely do it this weekend.
 

drewdunnrespect

On a new journey
Aug 29, 2007
4,788
2
teesside
www.drewdunnrespect.com
since were talking about poles i will take a photo of mine that i made at bushmoot 2008
which ruffly comes to my for head and i am six foot, also dont know what type of tree it comes from unfortunatly. It has a leather handle and has carved face on it.
i also burnt in using a blue flame power lighter "drewdunnrespect bushmmoot 2008"
so its reasonable but nothing of your standards but then again it was a first attempt and i will probally have another go at some point
bushcraft&
 

Chance

Nomad
May 10, 2006
486
4
58
Aberdeenshire
Use 1: chop-socky
We get to wave sticks around at each other in our Aikido class. I was too tight for fork out £10 for a hand-carved red oak Jo, and whittled a length of larch from the garden.

Use 2: drain-clearing
Larch doesn't have the weight of oak, so I shod the stick with stainless doorstops at a cost of about £20. Teacher says I can't use it any more with this modification, so its main use is clearing ice from the gutters.

Use 3: lightbulb-bashing
Occasionally, it gets waved around at home in a half-hearted kata practice.
 

Chance

Nomad
May 10, 2006
486
4
58
Aberdeenshire
I used the self-tapper that came with the doorstop, woodglue to hide any ineptitude, then filed the wood down locally to match the OD of the stainless.
Because it's a butt, not a ferrule, if anything it's more likely to promote splitting (although it's surviving so far).

It's an illustration of the "nothing fancy" school of shed-bodgery; as well as how not to save money by D-ing IY.
 

malcolmc

Forager
Jun 10, 2006
246
4
73
Wiltshire
www.webwessex.co.uk
What were they doing there then? .../QUOTE]

It was in a clearing beyond the reach of most of joe public, usually I have the place to myself and it’s a favorite place to stop for a bite. Our friends in blue were exercising their dogs there and having a lunch break themselves. I’ve stopped carrying my knife and axe when I’m near home (I feel uncomfortable with that) but I refuse to give up using a walking stave when I’m walking. :D
 

Ruvio

Nomad
i've just started making my own

got 4 woods, a good length of oak, elder, willow and pine, gonna carve em down over the next few weeks, into still, rather beautiful huge lumps of polished wood....
all around....lets say chest height

will kepp you all updated i'm sure
 

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