Walking stick

A walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing whilst walking. It may be used as a defensive or offensive weapon, and may conceal a knife or sword as in a swordstick. Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes, leading to their being collected.

Walking sticks, also called trekking poles, pilgrim's staffs, hiking poles or hiking sticks, are used by hikers for a wide variety of purposes: to clear spiderwebs, part thick bushes or grass obscuring the trail; as a support when going uphill or a brake when going downhill; as a balance point when crossing streams, swamps or other rough terrain; to feel for obstacles in the path; to test mud and puddles for depth; and as a defense against wild animals. A walking stick can be improvised from nearby felled wood. More ornate sticks are made for avid hikers, and are often adorned with small trinkets or medallions depicting "conquered" territory.

Accessories

• The most common accessory, before or after purchase or manufacture, is a hand strap, to prevent loss of the stick should the hand release its grip. These are often threaded through a hole drilled into the stick rather than tied around.
• A clip-on frame or similar device can be used to stand a stick against the top of a table.
• In cold climates, a metallic cleat may be added to the foot of the cane. This dramatically increases traction on ice. The device is usually designed so it can be easily flipped to the side to prevent damage to indoor flooring.
• Different handles are available to match grips of varying sizes.
• Rubber ferrules give extra traction on most surfaces.
• Nordic walking (ski walking) poles are extremely popular in Europe. Walking with two poles in the correct length radically reduces the stress to the knees, hips and back. These special poles come with straps resembling a fingerless glove, durable metal tips for off-road and removable rubber tips for pavement and other hard surfaces.

Ecclesiastical use

Orthodox protodeacon holding a walking stick. Portrait by Ilya Repin, 1877 (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).

In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some of the Oriental Orthodox Churches an ecclesiastical walking stick is used by bishops, archimandrites and hegumens (abbots) when walking outside. It is usually made of dark wood and is straight, rather than having a curved handle. The walking stick used by bishops and archimandrites is normally adorned with a silver grip at the top and a metal ferrule at the tip. The walking stick used by an hegumen or hegumenia (abbess) is normally of plain wood, unadorned.

The walking stick is not used in any liturgical context, except to the extent that when a bishop is formally received at the beginning of the service, he will carry it as he walks into the church. An altar server will usually take it from him when he enters the narthex and return it to him when he leaves at the end of the service.

Types of walking sticks

Slik-Stick - A modern walking stick pioneering Trevor Baylis wind up technology to power a distress alarm and safety lights.

Ashplant — an Irish walking stick made from the ash tree

Devil's walking stick — Made from Hercules plant.

Shooting stick — It can fold out into a single-legged seat.

Supplejack — Made from a tropical American vine, also serves as a cane.

Penang lawyer — Made from Asian Palm.

Makila (or makhila) — Basque walking stick or Staff

Kebbie — Scottish walking stick

Whangee — Asian, made of bamboo, also a riding crop.

Malacca — Malay stick made of Palm.

Pike Staff — Pointed at the end for slippery surfaces.

Waddy — Australian walking stick or club.

See also

• Cane (walking)
• Nordic walking
• Trekking pole
• Danda
• Swordstick
• Pace stick

External links

• Walking-Stick Papers (Robert Cortes Holliday, 1918) – Project Gutenberg ebook
• Self-Defence with a Walking Stick (Pearson’s Magazine, January 1901)
• History of English Walking Sticks
• Suggested cane technique
• How to measure a walking stick
• YouTube film of walking stick manufacture
• Handcrafted Walking Sticks
• Nordic Walking Poles
• Information about the different handles