>>1498338>Anybody here actually use these?Yes. For tough terrain, they're extremely useful. On the trail, I usually carry my staff over the shoulder.
>If so, do you prefer wood or those telescopic aluminium ones?Wood. Aluminium is to light. If you've got a some weight above your hand, the stick will swing on it's own and require almost no strength, whereas those light aluminium sticks need to be moved actively and tire your arms much quicker. Also, the wooden staffs and sticks can be used as weapons, which is necessary here (germany) - to many fuckers here can't be bothered to train or leash their dogs. Since I don't like carrying my gun (open carry isn't completely legal here, so I'd have to either wear a long jacket or carry IWB, both of which suck imo) and carrying cold weapon large enough to deal with dogs with is even more bothersome I just put a slightly larger than usual point on my staff. Works quite well.
>What are the best woods to use?In europe, hazel, ash and blackthorn are traditionally used.
Basically, you can use everything that won't break or bend easily and isn't to heavy. If you do not know much about wood, anything that's used to shaft striking tools or weapons is suitable.
>where did you find and cut your Stickfriend?My neighbout wanted to throw a long ash shafted garden tool away because the head had broken of. I scavenged the shaft.
>how did you make your Stickfriend useful and aesthetic?Polished it, treated it with hot beeswax and added a steel point to one end (for soft ground) and a steel endcap (for hard ground that would blunt the point) to the other. That's only useful for actual hiking sticks though - on a hunting stick, you should leave one end uncapped as the steel caps will make noise at the most inopportune moments.
>Any stories where your Stickfriend proved their worth?yes, nothing interesting though. just the usual walking up steep inclines and fighting off agressive dogs.
