How Many are Now Carrying a Cane?

Thanks to various sports injuries (football mainly) in my misspent youth, motorcycle wrecks, etc, my knees have not lasted as long as the rest of me. I guess I have good days and bad days, but it seems like it's more bad days than good days lately... I grew up on a ranch and it was common to have a hickory cane for working cattle in the corrals back then... These days, the "hot shot" electric prods are a bit more common, I suspect... Having had a motorcycle wreck which caused a compound fracture in one of my legs, its subsequent separation from the rest of my body, and then its reattachment by the doctors at the VA, I used that hickory cane a lot after my time (2 years) on crutches. One day, we were working some cattle and one of them managed to break that cane. I had had them break my crutches before also. My solution to the broken cane though was to take a brand new hickory maul handle, round it a bit, and give it a very slight taper so that I could put the rubber tips that you see for chair legs on it. I used the darkest stain that I could find, but with hickory, that just gave me a golden brown color. I then epoxied a solid brass eagle head for the handle of it and put few coats of tung oil on it. It's been 30+ years, but I still have that cane. It survived many cows trying to take me out. On good days, I only need it for climbing stairs. The TSA doesn't allow me to carry a small pocket knife on a plane, but I can carry a big honkin' hickory club... Works for me, I guess... For other places, I carry a .45...

Wood v carbon fiber v metal

OK, another question about materials for canes.

Keep in mind that at least for now, I want this a (one or more) cane as much (if not more) for martial arts/sd as for walking assistance. (But someday, I may need one more for the latter.)

I'm still trying to sort out which are the optimal materials for this beast. I've asked above about various woods (and it seems that ash and crabapple get the highest marks, with hickory running high as well).

But how does carbon fiber stack up against wood? Ads claim that they're lightweight but "strong", and indeed, they indicate on the ads that they will be adequate for support for people up to 300 lb.

They're also quite attractive. I found this 'burl green' one that is striking, even though I'm not sure how I would like that derby handle for either walking or defense (never used one), but they don't come fashioned as a "knob stick", which is what I think I prefer.

So, again, how does carbon fiber stack up against wood like ash?

In particular, could a hard strike break one - as in sheering in cross section - more easily than the other?

And where does metal fit into the scale? I presume most metal canes are some kind of alloy, but I haven't really looked at them yet.

Someone say metal cane?

https://artistryintitanium.com/-Nuke__Titanium_Cane.php

^ For a mere $2,250.00.

I'll take two.

I like hickory, red oak or ash. Ag store or Supply store standard Stock Canes are tough as nails and if you break one hitting someone with it they are not going to get up very soon. I have seen one cane made from 3/4 rebar now that is a solid cane.

me said:

But how does carbon fiber stack up against wood?

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Here's one opinion on carbon fiber from a friend who is not participating in this thread.

Carbon fiber isn't used in any fighting sticks so that right there should provide the answer,
but in particular carbon fiber lacks needed mass for impact defensive tools
and CF rods snap when nicked and side loaded.

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What about canes with concealed knives in the handle, anyone have one of those?

Sword canes: very illegal (at least in most states, if not all), bad idea.

We don't discuss them here except to say, very illegal, bad idea.
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ABE (added by edit): After writing that, I had second thoughts about what I wrote.

So I searched. Found this thread (most recent of several here) about sword canes.

Check out Hso's post #5.

And while you're there, check out JShirley's post #12 about making a cane from a phenolic rod.

I went for a chiropractic consult this morning and it appears that I have a pinched nerve in my L3 that causing me some pretty severe pain in my back, Rt hip and Rt knee... Hopefully I can get it all corrected and carry a cane out of preference, instead of need...

Prayers for you !

If you are considering building your own cane and you are wanting it for defensive purposes also, you need to consider the weight of the material, not just the strength of it. If it is too light, and you are hitting someone with it, you are not imparting that much energy into them. If it is too heavy (e.g. solid steel bar), you are not able to move it quick enough and they are more likely to be able to dodge it.

Also, with some materials, you might find that they have great strength in compression, but not that great in shear. It doesn't do you much good if you hit someone with your cane and it breaks in half.

I figure that since maul handles were made from hickory that they would be strong enough for any type of hitting that I might need to do with my cane. And with a cost of about $10, it's fairly cheap to boot. The only thing that I would change if I had a chance would be to have a hole drilled all the way though it and a metal rod inserted lengthwise in it with the ends threaded so that the brass head of the cane could be attached more securely than is currently possible with just the neck being epoxied onto the shaft of the cane. Drilling a 36" hole perfectly in the center of a wooden shaft is not something that I am equipped to do though, so I just re-epoxy it every 15-20 years when it feels like it is starting to get loose. I've never had the head come off, but I have felt a very slight wobble in it when tells me that it's time break out the epoxy and tighten it up a bit.

Plus, there's something about the look of a stained wooden cane that you will not find in the resin or metal canes.

Canes are also great tools for extending your reach for items on the top shelves at stores. Preferably things that do not break if you miss catching it when it drops towards you though. I find it especially useful when at Wal-Mart and needing to reach the 2-liter soft drinks that are stacked so tight that they won't slide forward.

BRad704 said:

I went for a chiropractic consult this morning and it appears that I have a pinched nerve in my L3 that causing me some pretty severe pain in my back, Rt hip and Rt knee... Hopefully I can get it all corrected and carry a cane out of preference, instead of need...

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And if you had gone to a psychiatrist, he would have said that it was a mental problem. It seems that each "specialist" diagnoses symptoms as conditions that they are able to treat (i.e. make money at). I'm not saying that your doctor is not right, I'm just saying that I take anything they say with a grain of salt.

Collin; what if you used a shorter length of threaded rod that only required a 3" or 4" hole drilled which would still provide a solid and permanent base for the brass head. You might have problems at airports and such with a full length rod inserted.

I have a maul handle that I might redo into a cane.

Canes and walking sticks are the most underestimated weapon available to everyone and can be carried anywhere provided no rebar, knives or other weapons hidden. I like a straight hickory grain or a "stock cane" available anywhere. In my opinion only the best close quarter legal weapon available to anyone.

K96771 said:

what if you used a shorter length of threaded rod that only required a 3" or 4" hole drilled which would still provide a solid and permanent base for the brass head. You might have problems at airports and such with a full length rod inserted.

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I do not think that it would provide as much strength as one that went the entire length which would allow you to put the entire length of the shaft of the cane in tension. You could then have a brass end piece that accepted the rubber tip, but on the inside of the end piece, you could have a nut (or it could have female threads) so that you physically had a connection between the head and tip of the cane that did not rely on a glue.

If you could combine this with piece of 1/8" wall thickness brass tubing of about 4" long attached to the brass head for the cane so that the rod ran inside of this and was welded into the center of the cane head, you would end up with a very secure head on the cane.

Blackthorn needs no brass.
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Added by edit. I wrote that too close to bed time, and didn't read the previous post carefully, missing the point.

Interesting idea. I want to think about that more ... trying to visualize it.

I do love how the numbers of people carrying a cane is creeping up on the survey!

Carl.

I thought I'd mention that in my years on THR, I rarely visited Non-Firearm Weapons until recently. I ran into a rather wacky guy not long ago while walking my dog late at night and it made me think that I needed to carry something, and being in NJ, a cane made sense. Well, here we are about a month later and I not only now have three canes, but also two more flashlights and another pocket knife. Oh, and I'm making lanyards for everything!

Somebody stop me

K96771 said:

and being in NJ, a cane made sense

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If I was in NJ, I would still carry a .45... I don't visit the NYC / NJ area often, but when I do, I carry... I looked at the 2nd Amendment awhile back, just to make sure and there was nothing in it that stated that you had to surrender it upon crossing the NJ state line...

Nematocyst said:

Interesting idea. I want to think about that more ... trying to visualize it.

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Something like this:

http://www.spambob.net/collinleon/cane-design.jpg



Just a quick and dirty drawing that I whipped up in Visio to give you an idea of what I'm talking about...

Yeah, that helps.

And it makes sense.

You got a good idea there!

I like reading the posts on canes.

I'm a mere almost 53 years old, but have severe artritis in my hips and lower back. Unfortunately, a cane or two doesn't give me the stability that I want when I walk, so I use a walker. That doesn't mean that I don't use a cane, though.

A cane is very helpful for retrieving objects that roll under the table or are too far away for me to walk to.

I started using a cane two years ago part time, then more and more as time went on. I fell a few times, and graduated to a walker, which I highly recommend to those that need a safer way to get around. You can still hook a cane to the walker just in case.

I think everyone should have a cane...they are that handy. It is like a third arm for me.
It doesn't take long for people to get used to seeing you with a cane...and you to not care what they think.

My blackthorn is a serious walloping rod...very heavy duty, like a galvanized pipe. I have a canemaster, without the sharpened crook, and a Nasco elephant cane. I really like all my canes, but my Nasco could be another inch or so longer. Very nice, especially if sanded down smooth and finished with tung oil or whatever. The crook is easily opened up by getting a pot of water boiling, and putting the crook in the water as it boils. Mine took 10 minutes to open up on it's own with no further help from me. Very heavy duty. No sawing it down necessary.

Appreciate your cane!

Kerry

I have a custom made Brass headed cane, a feed store stock cane, a cold steel Blackthorn cane, a brass headed swagger stick styled cane , and a junk store cane that I am working on refinishing.