BIT: Walking stick

[Guncrazy]

I choose to raise this thread from the dead to note that the following work is available free on Kindle today (don't know why or for how long).

Broadsword and Singlestick: With Chapters On Quarter-Staff, Bayonet, Cudgel, Shillelagh, Walking-Stick, Umbrella, and Other Weapons of Self-Defense, by R.G. Allanson-Winn.

Still available today. Thanks, Ken!

[Guncrazy]

By the way, I do have the Ka-Bar self-defense cane. It's strong, but heavy. Been wondering if I might be better off with something that is slightly less tough, but lighter, so that it's easier and faster to swing around. Any thoughts on this, and/or suggestions?

[Weetabix]

My father was born in the little town of Bois D'Arc, Missouri in 1910. I had to look it up to discover that it is named after Osage Orange, which somebody planted in the area a long time ago. Learn something every day.

Years ago I had a friend and roommate from Iowa who was always talking up the amazing properties of something called a hedge apple. Supposedly the tree it grew on was pretty cool, too.

Same thing. Bois d'arc, Osage orange, hedge apple. My kids called them brain trees because the hedge apples look like little green brains about the size of a soft ball.

[Greg]

My father was born in the little town of Bois D'Arc, Missouri in 1910. I had to look it up to discover that it is named after Osage Orange, which somebody planted in the area a long time ago. Learn something every day.

Years ago I had a friend and roommate from Iowa who was always talking up the amazing properties of something called a hedge apple. Supposedly the tree it grew on was pretty cool, too.

Same thing. Bois d'arc, Osage orange, hedge apple. My kids called them brain trees because the hedge apples look like little green brains about the size of a soft ball.

Well sure. Thus the laughing smiley, and why a city-boy Easterner knows about that particular tree. And yes, we put some hedge apples (he brought some back with him from a visit to see his parents) under the furniture, and it did seem to discourage the spiders.

[HTRN]

One of the lots nearby had a couple Osage Orange trees in it..

[Netpackrat]

One of the lots nearby had a couple Osage Orange trees in it..

Had?

[Greg]

One of the lots nearby had a couple Osage Orange trees in it..

Had?

If I had a few acres and a few decades to experiment, I'd be really interested in coppicing Osage orange. If you can get long, straight poles out of it....

[Darrell]

Interesting read on the stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

When I was a kid the elderly lady down on the corner from us had some of the trees in her yard--I remember the "brain" fruits, of course. Unsurprisingly, it's for sale on ebay, including walking stick candidates.

ETA: A guy can go on a pretty good wikiwander from the above page, including learning about the Osage Nation, who once populated much of my old stomping grounds in Missouri, and the Osage River, which hosts the Truman Reservoir and Lake of the Ozarks. We didn't fish LOTO that I recall, but we did fish Stockton and Pomme De Terre a lot, which feed into the Osage.

[308Mike]

Trust me, once you start using a walking stick, you WILL be thankful for some kind of angle portion at the head, so you can hang the stick, prop it on the counter, hook it on a handle, protrusion, or something else which helps keep your walking stick off the ground. That's why I LOVE my Cold Steel City Stick but I have a older head (they have removable heads - for the most part), and while they have had some unique metal heads, it appears they have stopped making the one I have (Pistol Grip), which I can hook on counter tops in restrooms, etc., etc. And the head is quite heavy and solid - and why they stopped making them is beyond me.

If I'd known they were going to do so, I might have bought a few replacement heads before they were discontinued. Even so, once you have the correct threading, you can screw ANY head onto your City Stick, that fits your hand and how you use your City Stick Walking Stick from Cold Steel.

It's unfortunate that I can no longer purchase the same head for my walking stick as I had when I initially purchased it. Perhaps it was too functional and some agency complained because they lost a court case. I DON'T KNOW, but what I do know is that I haven't been able to purchase replacement heads for my Cold Steel City Stick (in Pistol Grip style).

But the stick itself is AWESOME!!! YMMV!!!

[Old Grafton]

Around here (and I'm sure in many other places) it's quite common to find hedgerows of osage along current and former fencelines. The highly rot-resistant wood makes excellent fenceposts. Additionally the green wood having any bark on it will often grow roots and form another tree. The spiky bastards have really nasty thorns and rows of 'em close together will usually discourage even a pissed-off bull. My mom swore the monkeyballs kept the spiders out of the basement but I just figured my eyesight was better than hers because my basement bedroom definitely had a fair share of those fookers.