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Walking Stick ?
It was a nice day here in East Kentucky today (about 50 degrees & sunny)
So I got my ColdSteel Kukri machete & Ruger MKII pistol & headed out for a walk in the woods. I cut a couple of saplings to make my boys (twins 4yrs old) a walking stick for this spring. Any ideas on dressing up these sticks for the boys ? Sorry no pics of the trip, didn't think to grab the camera:p I've already sanded the sticks down & painted them w/ primer, I also drilled a hole thru the handle end & installed a lanyard loop. What else ?
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Ask Rick, he just made some for his kin.
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you might decorate them with some motif engraved in.
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Maybe attach a steel cap or something of the like to the bottom end so that it doesn't fray out from use.
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If they are into The Hobbit put some Runs on or Harry Potter , Native American then put some feathers on string and inlay some stones
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I tried to find the original post but didn't have any luck....so.....
TT - You can wrap the stick with paracord and use a whipping knot to hold it in place. I wrote a little message on the stick I gave the boys and then covered with paracord. I figured if the time came they needed to use the cord then they could use a little inspiration as well. My boys are grown so I was able to use more paracord than you will with a couple of 4 year olds, but, for an adult, you can use 30 feet of cord toward the bottom and 20 feet of cord at the top. That also makes a great non-slip handle on both ends for helping someone up or down an embankment.
For a hand hold, use a prusik knot from paracord. You can cut a length of cord and remove about an inch of the inner strands from one end. Slip the opposite end inside the braid where you removed the inner strands and heat it. It will fuse together to form a circle. Then you can use a prusik knot and your handhold will always be adjustable. This would be really good for your 4 year olds because they will be able to adjust the knot upward as they grow until they need a larger stick.
I also embedded a button compass in the top end of the stick and placed a rubber foot on the bottom end. You can find the rubber feet at any drug store (cane feet) and they come in different diameters. They are ridged on the inside to help hold them on and keep water out of you can use a bit of glue if you want. I debated whether to use something metal or rubber on the foot and went with rubber because I was afraid metal would slip or slide on rocks.
Hope that helps.
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Carve a few animal tracks tracks in them, kids seem to love that sort of thing and it dresses it up with a nice nature woodsy feel.
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Google (Wood Spirits carvings) I have made a couple just to see if I could do it. Sasafrass is a great wood and looks good. Ash also. Hickory is tough to carve but probably the best. You have plenty of sasafrass where you live, straight and get part of the root also. Woodburning works fine for decoration for the boys and for yourself make one that is the right length for a shooting stick, will help you hold that Ruger for long shots. Lots of free patterns on most sites.
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My son has a walking stick made out of a stick about 2 inches round and 4 feet long that was chewed all up and down by beavers with teeth marks on it, I carved a couple deer tracks and a wolf track on it for him and he loves the thing.
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Isn't that the stick you two found on the trip you posted? You are truly a lucky man.
Family is everything.
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The twins were excited about the sticks so I let them help with the paint.
I shaved the bark off & give it a quick sanding. I drilled a hole about 1" from the top & ran a piece of camo generic para cord thru the hole & made them a lanyard loop to put their hand . I used 3M wide rubber splice tape for the handle material & then covered it with green 3M electrical tape. I took my propane torch & heated the end to make it hard & black . We painted the shaft w/ primer gray then orange, then we candy cane striped it in green & white. the reason for the color is so when we are out & they layone down , I will be ableto find it easier :p I didn,t go all out on these first sticks because by the time these 2 boys get thru with them, they will need new ones next year anyway :rolleyes:
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Sounds like a good time all the way around and something they'll remember doing with dad, no doubt!
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That is great ....A++ DAD
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I just find a nice stick, smooth it down w/ my knife and then keep that. Nothing fancy, because I usually end up breaking it sometime and don't wanna loose a big investment of my time.
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Yeah that's the stick we found when we went out together, good memory Sam. All I did was add the tracks to it heat treat the bottom end about a three inches fading the burning in. Another nice trick for a walking stick is to sand it down and take a thin paint brush and india ink striping it around the shaft all up and down it, then put a nice stain over it and you a curly maple look with old world style. I have made several walking sticks for friends with different carvings on them.
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I have dozens of walking sticks that I have made.
The one I take to all scouting activities that I painted the top 6 inches blaze orange to be seen by my scouts at a distance when I wave it to rally them together.
I carved one last year root end up that looks like the head of an eagle with a suede lace wrapped handle. I finished up the wrap by driving furniture tacks all the way around the top and bottomof the suede wrap.
I made one for my son that while it was still growing, I wrapped it w/ telephone cord so that natural grooves would grow into the wood then suede wrapped the handle. I also drilled a small hole below the handle, inserted a loop of paracord, and attached a couple of small carabiners so he could attach some gear to it.
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