Making Use Of A Good Walking Stick

I am all about being able to manufacture items that we need in the field. Crafting. The ability to do so, in my mind anyway, is the blood that pumps through the woodcrafting – bushcrafting –wildcrafting veins and arteries. 

The ability to do so … the skills to do so … do not pop out of a hand cranked box like a Jack-In-The-Box to lend a hand on an unscheduled day when we are suddenly surprised and shocked by the proverbial sky falling on us. It takes time to learn skills. It takes devotion to task to develop skills to the point that our skills will stand by us. Rain or shine … on a simple weekend outing or in a genuine crisis situation … we have what we need in our skills tool box to engage the situation.

There is an adage floated around in this community that goes “the more you know … the less you need.”

There is a lot of truth contained in those eight words. There is, at the same time, also some dangerously thin ice laid down by the Bushcraft Bravado of more than a few folks that I’ve heard insist that the 10-C’s, or, worse yet, the 5-C’s are all you need in a physical kit in order to survive as long as you know what you are doing.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Personally, I want the ice beneath my feet to be as thick as I can possibly make it. I want a few aces tucked up my sleeve … whether I’m out for a pleasant weekend or discover myself in a genuine survival situation. Why go unprepared to begin with?

One of the things that I’ve emphasized, both in classes and conversations with individuals, is the very first tool … the very first survival tool to manufacture in a woodland crisis situation is a good stout walking stick. A good stick serves multiple purposes. A good stick is a tool that serves us well.

Helping us negotiate rough terrain, assisting us in water crossings, harassing thick vegetation to disclose vipers waiting for unsuspecting victims, whopping said poisonous snakes as the first step in making a meal of them, and assisting us in making shelter are a few useful purposes.

A good stout walking stick can be sharpened, fire hardened on one end, and used as a spear for both hunting and personal protection.

It can also be tapered on one end to receive a nice little gig for frogs, fish, and snakes.

This little gig is one of those aces.

The first thing I did with the ones we carry in our kits was to throw the little threaded screw and nut in the trash. Who carries a small drill bit and drill in their kit? Not me. Rather than using the provided fastener to attach the gig, I added a piece of tarred bank line to ours to lash the gig onto a shaft.

Once the end of the stick has been tapered for the gig to fit, cut a groove into the stick a half inch or so above the gig. Taper the side of the groove away from the gig and leave the side closest to the gig a sharp ninety-degree angle. The lashing, once securely tied, will not slip past the groove and leave you watching dinner taking off with your gig.

The points on these little gigs are sharp.

To carry it safely in our kits I made masks for them out of stiff plastic … I think I cut them out of a coffee can … then wrapped them with duct tape. The lashing holds the mask securely on the gig while it rides in our kits.

Added Note:

A good green stick delivers a lot more whop to a snake with less chance of breaking than a dry stick.