Here is something to think about/consider

[country gent]

Heres a little something to think about, for those times a firearm isnt allowed or quite appropriate.
Back in the day a walking stick or cane was a part of a gentleman's attire. It was always there.
A heavy cane made from hardwood isnt hardly noticed when out and about. A nice well finished cane.can not only be a fashion statement but a solid self defense tool. A cane with a shaft 1 3/8" diameter at the top tapering down to 3/4"at the tip with a ball style or other handle (I dont care for the hook styles), males for a formidable stick that no one notices.

Courts, post offices, schools, and other banned buildings arnt going to take away your walking stick. Remember they have to be friendly to the handicapped ;-).

When I was mobile my walking stick was made from walnut to the above shaft dimensions with a 2 1/2" ball handle just behind the shaft. A with a polished oil finish. Looked good and didnt stand out for its other uses. Brings a new meaning to concealed in plain sight.

[1eyedjack]

At 70 years of age a cane can be a welcome aid to mobility and a classy cane just look so distinguished too

[beemer]

I make a cane occasionally, sometimes I glue something like walnut between two strips of curly maple and turn on a wood lathe. I like some type of T handle, if I do a ball I put a thong below the head to hang it on my arm.

I'm almost 71, not in really bad shape but a cane is sometimes a help. Last year I carried one on a airline flight, sometimes I was allowed to board first because I carried a cane. One reason I took it was that you are allowed nothing on a plane and anything is better than nothing.

[arclight]

Irish stick fighting is making a comeback:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d43qH9w5Dow

There is also the traditional quarterstaff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfPYN3ZwWH8

And the Filipino variety, although the sticks are not quite cane length:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90N-e_uYvUI

These techniques were used for thousands of years by farmers who couldn't afford or were prohibited from having swords. And they are still very effective.

[fixit]

At 61, I've had a couple of episodes requiring a cane, mostly because I abused body my when young..... At any rate, I have in recent times taken to carving staffs and walking sticks out of osage, among other woods. My point is, if I have my stick with me and I have to protect myself, I'm going to hurt the assailant, which is the point! Btw, I work for a British company, and we aren't allowed to have canes to walk with.... They might be used as weapons!

[BLAHUT]

I have needed a cane or staff to walk with since 2006, when I can get out in the woods and find diamond willow, makes for a beautiful stick and is all natural, Have had it looked at, closely by police, homeland or guards, have never been refused entry, be it court, school, airline or anywhere else.

[megasupermagnum]

At 61, I've had a couple of episodes requiring a cane, mostly because I abused my when young..... At any rate, I have in recent times taken to carving staffs and walking sticks out of osage, among other woods. My point is, if I have my stick with me and I have to protect myself, I'm going to hurt the, which is the point! Btw, I work for a British company, and we aren't allowed to have canes to walk with.... They might be used as weapons!

If you allow your employer to view your medical disability record, and they will not make a reasonable accommodation, they are required by law to allow the use of a cane. That is assuming you have been to a doctor who has seen whatever ailment you have. That's the Americans with disabilities act. British company or not, if they are in the USA they are not allowed to deny you a cane, or wheel chair, or scooter, or anything else.

[pmer]

President Jackson used his cane to thwart a assassination attempt. The assassins guns misfired and he took a serious beating by the cane wielding Jackson.

[country gent]

My ball handled canes are a version of the Irish shillelagh, which was made from blackthorn.

My canes shafts start out as 4 3/4" X 3/4" X 36" pieces glued into a square with the grain reversed 1 1/2" x 1 1/2". It is then turned to a taper on the wood lathe or set in a fixture and block planed to a octagon. When to shape they are sanded to a very fine grit and then the oil finish with the first few coats being wet sanded in. The handle is then made and fitted up to the shaft.

When setting the length stand upright and measure from wrist watch to floor. This gets very close for a upright position.

[GhostHawk]

I was browsing through the BudK catalog one day when a "Steampunk sword cane" caught my eye.

Now the sword part arrived with square edges. It has made progress toward an actual edged tool but it is not there yet.

The cane itself is made of some kind of metal with a fancy head, in front of the thumb is a rather nice hook.
It would work quite well to beat someone to death with. The handle end is fairly heavy and I suspect you could break someones head with it fairly easily. I'd say 2 or 3 blows should do it.

It has the advantage of being low cost. Metal, so a quick wipe and it could be discarded in any significant body of water. Making it that much harder to place you at the scene with the murder weapon in hand.

[ascast]

This is all good stuff as I m starting to have leg/mobility issues. I have a small collection of canes from Grandfathers. One has a serpent carved around it and contains a large dagger in the handle. hmm foods for thought

[Thumbcocker]

Check your local concealed weapon laws. In some places a sword or knife cane is a felony.

[MrWolf]

My ball handled canes are a version of the Irish shillelagh, which was made from blackthorn.

My canes shafts start out as 4 3/4" X 3/4" X 36" pieces glued into a square with the grain reversed 1 1/2" x 1 1/2". It is then turned to a taper on the wood lathe or set in a fixture and block planed to a octagon. When to shape they are sanded to a very fine grit and then the oil finish with the first few coats being wet sanded in. The handle is then made and fitted up to the shaft.

When setting the length stand upright and measure from wrist watch to floor. This gets very close for a upright position.

Thanks for the specs. I am finally making progress in cleaning/organizing my garage. I like the idea of having the cane and always thought the nice ones were classy. There are only a few places where I don't carry, signs or not and the cane could make a difference. I am also disabled, so they would have a hard time telling me I couldn't have one. I would not put a blade in mine because I would probably be carrying and to use a blade you have to be really close. I don't have that kind of strength/speed anymore.

Ron

[GregLaROCHE]

When I was a kid, there was an older gentleman who always carried a black umbrella, rain or shine. Once he showed me how he had filed the end to a sharp point. He was worried mostly about stray dogs.

[waksupi]

I've used an Irish blackthorn shillelagh for several years. The thorn stubs that are on them are a nasty weapon, and will leave a wound that doesn't heal for along time.

[Texas by God]

My Alpenstock is shoulder high, made of native Mesquite. It has a little stub for pushing electric fence wire down to cross, and the foot is banded in copper. Amazingly strong and it would thwap a knot on whatever.


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[HWooldridge]

Look up "Hapkido cane techniques". They typically use a shepherd's crook style cane during training but many of the moves don't differentiate between straight or hooked.

[fixit]

The company says if you need a cane, then you should stay home until better, or should seek disability.... Which ain't so easy. Yes, you are correct, there is probably a major Americans with disabilities infraction there!

[fixit]

Also, wheel chair and scooter is ok.... can't be swung like a weapon!

[.429&H110]

At a church security seminar I saw a fine demonstration:
Four wrinkled elderly little old ladies with canes sit by the door.
A BG walks in produces a firearm.
BG is beaten to the floor, a very sorry Bad Guy.
Fortunately our BG had a helmet and padding
even so, he went down, the girls were trained cane-fighters.
(If they ask for volunteers, skip that lesson.)
In all the scenes and scenarios I have never had a shot I would take.
Too many moving people, too many people behind the target.
SHTF happens very fast for "reasonable" self-defense.
Walk softly and carry a big stick.

My cane is moosewood from Moose Mtn, Hanover NH.
AKA mapleleaf viburnum grows second growth from stumps
grows out, then up for a fine knob handle.
Still springy after 40 years.
I broke all the other woods...

[Battis]

I hike alot and I've been using an adjustable metal walking stick for years ($20 for two at Walmart). They're light but strong. You can collapse them to fit in a suitcase. They have a nice pointy end that you can cover when indoors. A walking stick takes 30% of the weight off your knees, plus they're good for balance, especially in snow or mud. And they can do some damage when needed. I bent one over the head of an attacking pittbull a few years ago. Last week, when the dogs were running wild in the field, I placed one next to my forward leg and sure enough, a rough, playful pooch slammed into it and bent it, but my leg was protected.

[Riverpigusmc]

I use a Cold Steel City Stick. Look it up..practically indestructible and will break cinder blocks

[Electrod47]

Wilford Brimley was in a modern TV show in the 80's where his daughter came to live with him, not the other way around. Anyway, I remember a couple instances where he used his cane to overcome attackers. Looked like he knew what he was doing.

[megasupermagnum]

The company says if you need a cane, then you should stay home until better, or should seek disability.... Which ain't so easy. Yes, you are correct, there is probably a major Americans with disabilities infraction there!

Yes, there is. You would have to talk to someone in HR to get a more clear answer, but the company can not tell you to stay home. They are required by law to make a "reasonable accommodation". That does not include making you use short or long term disability insurance if you are cleared by a doctor to work. It's more than an infraction. That's how these massive discrimination lawsuits come about. All of that is dependent on what your doctor has said, and what your job is.

[tinsnips]

My friend makes canes from diamond willow they look great an work great. He has given away over 60 of them .

[pmer]

So I had to Google canes and saw more canes than you can shake a stick at [smilie=l: Sword canes, one with a little telescope that pops out. The one with a hidden flask looked very interesting.

The most use I've had for a curved handle cane here on farm is for dipping it in fuel tanks to check the level but I think I'm coming around to there usefulness.

When trucks come to pickup live stock they always had some type of cane or electric prod to give them a little zap.

[HWooldridge]

When I was a kid, there was an older gentleman who always carried a black umbrella, rain or shine. Once he showed me how he had filed the end to a sharp point. He was worried mostly about stray dogs.

I used to walk every day for exercise and had to fend off dogs on occasion. I carried a 6' piece of bamboo with a 12" steel spike stuck on one end. As I walked, I would fill the spike with plastic trash and aluminum cans from the side of the road. Figured if I was ever stopped by the law, I would say I was cleaning up the roadside, which was not a lie...

[trapper9260]

For me I made a walking stick since a cane will be too short for me since I am tall. I made my out of the maple shoot from a stump of a tree that was cut down. It have a curve in it and it have flexed in it that make it easy for me to walk long time on my feet when I can not sit. It is taper and the large end is I put my hand and it is down to about 7/8" on the bottom that I put a chair stop on it that way it will not slip on me. It can be used for what been stated and I do not have any problems where I go ,when I use it . They take it as what it is a walking stick nothing more .

[fixit]

Had a roommate, when I was much younger, who was an amputee, but he had trained in martial arts, as an amputee, and was very proficient with his cane! He got a job as an usher at a movie theater, and during his time working there, had many interesting encounters with punks who thought they could push him around. It was always entertaining to hear about the shock on their faces when he used his cane to corral some kid who thought this old man (he looked way older than he was) was nothing to worry about!

[lightman]

All of this is so true! A cane or walking stick makes a formidable weapon! When I was a kid we used to have stick fights. It was mostly in good fun but sometimes it got rather heated. I got to be pretty good at it. You could wear a guy out that had a knife. My walking stick was an Oak Hoe handle. The kind made to slip into a ring on the hoe. I don't know if the name is correct or not but we called them grubbing hoes. The convicts that were on the "hoe squad" from the prison used these when cleaning out road ditches. Mine rides perfectly on the ledge behind my truck tool box which is right beside my gas filler on my truck. I try to park far enough away from the gas pump to have manurving room!

I would hate to be a thug and have to go back and tell my buddies that I got whupped by an old man with a cane! :-?

[buckwheatpaul]

Heres a little something to think about, for those times a firearm isnt allowed or quite appropriate.
Back in the day a walking stick or cane was a part of a gentleman's attire. It was always there.
A heavy cane made from hardwood isnt hardly noticed when out and about. A nice well finished cane.can not only be a fashion statement but a solid self defense tool. A cane with a shaft 1 3/8" diameter at the top tapering down to 3/4"at the tip with a ball style or other handle (I dont care for the hook styles), males for a formidable stick that no one notices.

Courts, post offices, schools, and other banned buildings arnt going to take away your walking stick. Remember they have to be friendly to the handicapped ;-).

When I was mobile my walking stick was made from walnut to the above shaft dimensions with a 2 1/2" ball handle just behind the shaft. A with a polished oil finish. Looked good and didnt stand out for its other uses. Brings a new meaning to concealed in plain sight.

A year of so ago I watched some u-tube videos about using a cane as self-defense....had tactics and was a good video....

[facetious]

I don't need a cane but the wife got me one at a garage sale to go with my avatar . It was all slivery and looked like it had been outside for years. ( she doesn't like my avatar).

I sanded it , drilled a 3/8th hole up the middle of the tip as for as I could and coated some wad-cutters with epoxy and glued them in the hole. Almost a half a pound of lead in the tip. A few coats of finish and it almost looks like new.

[abunaitoo]

I have an old one with a brass duck head handle.
Use it sometimes when I go walking.
Sure wouldn't want to hit with it.

[MaryB]

I use a cane fairly often with my torn ACL in both knees/shredded cartilage/bone spurs(my knees are toast). I have several of the Walmart collapsible canes around the house and if I want one that looks nice an ironwood cane that you do NOT want to get hit with. Ironwood is one of the heaviest woods when dry, and HARD. Only had to use it once. Teen was being pushy and tried to force into line in front of me. He shoved me, I whacked him across the shin. He went down crying. His parents tried to press charges, I had a dozen witnesses that said the kid got physical with me before I gave him a rap on the shin. Ended up it cracked the bone. Don't mess with granny in a line! Go to the rear like a normal person!

[Wayne Smith]

If you want to make your cane check out Treeline USA - they have a number of cane making supplies.

[Bmi48219]

…….Btw, I work for a British company, and we aren't allowed to have canes to walk with.... They might be used as weapons!

What does a British company allow you to use for a walking aid?

[historicfirearms]

I never thought about this before. Makes sense now that I think about it. A good cane would make a nice weapon against dogs or people.