Hand make your own wood walking and hiking sticks

When walking or hiking trails with a single walking stick, hiking staff or pole can give you an extra point of stability. If you are in the desert it even gives you added protection against snakes. Many people travel with their walking sticks so a two part stick is convenient. When creating your own wood walking stick or hiking staff think about making a comfortable grip, use strong light wood, and even mount a compass. Inserting a compass into a walking stick you make is easy!

If you hike in wet climates you should consider the type of finish you use on your walking stick project. When making your hiking stick put several layers of shellac (natural resin) or other clear coating on the wood to protect it from the elements. If possible stay with natural resin finishes instead of marine poly based ones which add weight to your walking and hiking stick projects. In between coats lightly sand the stick with fine steel wool when making your walking stick.

When you cross streams rubber bottom walking sticks are a hazard due to slippage. It's much better to have a pointed metal tip for better support on slippery rocks and on loose gravel areas. Rubber bottoms walking sticks are good for cement trails and level dirt trails. Just like football players, spikes give you traction when you need it while hiking with your own made wood walking sticks.

Scout hiking stick making project

     Creating your own hiking stick is a scout tradition. Here is an another idea of a possible new tradition for hiking stick making for your scout troupe or competition between states. Why not have a group hiking stick making pass around walking stick project.  Many wood carvers create projects where each persons puts their own individual style on the project.

    This is how it works when doing a hiking stick making group project. First, select around 3 to 10 people who want to make a scout hiking stick. Each person is assigned a portion of the hiking stick to add their own personal touch. The catch is that you will need one hiking stick blank for each member who contributes to the project.

    If you have 5 scouts making a hiking stick then you need 5 hiking sticks. Each person is assigned one section on EACH of the 5 walking sticks. If you are doing the hiking stick making project between 3..5 troupes then assign each troop one section and the put the EXACT same design on each of the walking sticks. This way after  all the sticks are passed around they will all have the same design on each stick.  This way each troupe or person who participates in the project will have a group made walking stick to call their own. In the end, each troupe or individual scout will enjoy a group walking stick making project and get design ideas from others for other walking stick making scouts areas.

   We recommend starting with simple designed and progress with more complicated walking stick making techniques. Start a project with troupe emblem. Get a group of scout masters from your state to commit to adding their emblem suing the same techniques (paint, stain, drawer, or wood carve). Each troupe is assigned a section and a completion date. Each group gets one stick of the same type and does the design. Then mail/pass the stick to the next group until the walking stick making project is completed.