Haven't progressed very far in finding a cane, because I got overwhelmed with some big changes at work this week.
Well, ok, let me say that differently: I've decided to quit my job and move on to another one. Since I'm the boss, that's turning out to be a little more time consuming than I'd prefer; reinventing myself professionally in a time of economic collapse (did I write that?) is not quite what I'd intended to be doing this year. But
que sera and
ce la vi (Spanish & French for "whatever"). It's what I get for going into business for myself. (WT ... was I thinking?)
So, I'm pretty busy, and will be for a while. There will be times in coming months when I'm not around here much.
But I digress.
In lieu of a cane for now - not entirely sure i'm ready for one just yet - I've pulled out my backpacking walking stick and started using it for long walks and training hikes in town.
Now, admittedly, my "stick" is a high tech piece of mountaineering wizard gear. It's a
Black Diamond Alpine CF Flintlock, aka "trekking pole".
Trekking poles are often used in pairs. Not me. I use a single; only own one. I admit I don't use mine as so much to "trek" - I walk a lot faster without a pole on level ground - but as a stabilizer third leg when on uneven terrain, especially going down slope.
It works better for me, a backpacker who does class 4 (off trail scrambling) than a fixed length pole. I can collapse this one (three telescoping sections) and put it on the side of my day or multi-day packs. It also serves as a tarp pole for ultralight.
So, what I learned years ago while messing around in camp, it can be a formidable weapon. The bottom tip is carbide & about 1-2 mm in diameter. Using a thrust like one would use with a cane, I can drive it firmly into a log with the consistency of a human abdomen or the space between ribs. If it hits ribs - or any other bones - it's going to do considerable damage.
And the pole is very tough & sturdy. Here's a paragraph from that review above about the telescoping locking mechanism, the flintlock:
Here's the kicker; at no point in time has the Flicklock mechanism slipped to date! I've had considerable weight on these poles while descending troublesome terrain and not once have I felt as if the poles were unstable, or that I couldn't put more weight on them for fear of failure. These poles are rock solid! I've got to be honest, I've tried everything I can think of to try and get these poles to slip. I even did a little experiment where I stood on a scale and distributed 2/3 of my weight to the poles. That's 75 lbs (34 kg) per pole without even the slightest inkling that they were going to give.
Thus, when you thrust with it, it's like you've got a piece of hardwood in your hand that has a tiny carbide tip at the end.
And of course, it's totally legal, and raises no eye brows. I regularly walk past police cars who notice me.
I hope to never need it as a weapon, but I'll confess to feeling a bit safer when it's in tow, especially while walking around the river banks in town where homeless are camping.
And my kali stick - er, backup dog stick (for both 2- and 4-legged dogs) is strapped to my pack reachable by a backward grab. Ah, yes, even safer still.
PS: Apologies to Deltaboy and others for a temporary cane thread hijack to discuss a trekking pole (tp). I'm not trying to convert the topic here. Maybe there's already a thread devoted to that - tp's as weapons. (And hey, if there's not, maybe I'll start one.
) My main point here was, I learned that a technique that I learned by accident on camping trips with my tp - thrusting - is a common cane technique.