How to Make Your Own Hiking Stick
Walking sticks make hiking more fun. Also called hiking poles or hiking staffs, they let your arms get into the act, so you cover ground more easily. Even better, they help you keep your balance, which means that heavy pack will stay on your back instead of tumbling down some deep ravine — and maybe taking you with it! Here’s how to create your own walking stick or hiking pole.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- A straight tree or tree branch that’s 1-1⁄2 to 2 inches thick at its big end, and 55 to 65 inches long (DO NOT CUT ANY TREE; see Step 1.)
- A 1-inch-long piece of 3⁄4-inch diameter copper water pipe
- Five-minute epoxy glue
- A small saw to trim the stick to its final length
- A sharp pocketknife
- A spokeshave and a wood-burning tool (both optional)
- Adult help and/or supervision
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
Step 1: Cut your wood to length, making sure both ends are free of splits.
You can use dead, dry wood, but it’s hard to carve and makes a weak walking stick. If possible, use fresh wood; hardwood from deciduous (leafy) trees is better than evergreen softwood because it is less gummy.
To choose the right size, stand with your arms at your side and the stick should be about 6 or 8 inches taller than your elbow. Pick an even longer stick if you’ll be tackling steep terrain. If you’re really just planning on walking with your stick, a shorter one will do.
Note: Scouts never cut just any live tree! Take wood only from approved sources, such as a conservation project that thins out a timber stand or trail-building and trail-improvement projects.
Step 2: Using your pocketknife, whittle the bark from your stick, revealing the bright wood beneath. This job takes patience, especially when you are working around knots. Keep at it. You may discover your stick has an inner layer of bark, as well. Carve it away too, or your stick will darken as it dries.
Step 3: Now is the time to carve a head for your stick, if you want one. Using a pencil, draw on the nose, eyes and mouth, then slowly and carefully use the tip of your knife to bring out the details. If you rush this part of your work, you risk slipping and cutting yourself.
Step 4: To protect the bottom end of your walking stick from splintering, whittle it down until the piece of copper pipe slips snugly onto it. Secure the pipe permanently with five-minute epoxy.
Step 5: Your walking stick is now ready for immediate use. However, if you’d like to carve it to a smoother finish and apply a protective coat, you’ll need to let it dry indoors for about a month. Use sandpaper or a spokeshave (if you have one) to make its surface even smoother.
Step 6: Optional: Add your personal mark to the walking stick using a wood-burning tool. When you have the stick carved to your satisfaction, apply a stain or other such finish and a protective coat of polyurethane.
Take your walking stick with you on all your hikes. Whenever you pick it up, the stick will remind you of your past outdoor adventures and make you wonder what excitement lies ahead.
What kind of finish is recommended?
Old used wood garden tools rakes, shovels,hoes.
You buy replacements handles
my hiking stick turned out great!!! it is nice and smooth and i didnt need to sand it. under the bark there were some cool patterns too. no…. not worm marks. thank you boys life!
Great instructions, thanks! Still not sure exactly what type of wood i should use. What about a limb from a Mimosa tree?
I would suggest not removing the bark until the wood is dry. I’ve had many a peeled pole crack and split as it was drying without the bark on to keep it sound.
I live in a place where bamboo is all over it grows very quickly and makes a decent tough stick
A copper tip makes no sense to me because it could slide over a rock, especially a rock under water, and cause the traveler to lose their balance and fall.
I would not recommend a copper cover on the bottom because it could slide when walking in a rock bed, concrete or mountain trail with rocks.
The copper piece is not a cap, but, rather a sleeve. The bottom, or striking area, of the pole is still wood. The ring of metal just keeps the bottom of the staff from splitting apart.
What YEAR IS IT?
the copper is so you don’t damage the end of the staff it dose not cover the end of the wood its just around the end of the wood
How do you treat your stick if it has bug holes.
Lolol
you can fill the holes with wood putty, push in real hard, then sand it lightly.
I didn’t read the other comments but I have used wooden closet rod stock from the hardware store. Cheating perhaps but no risk of poison ivy from going off trail. Also many parks have been picked clean from folks gathering firewood. While there grab a rubber cup that one might place on chair leg ends. This way the end is protected and will give grip on hard surfaces.
A nice addition is to wrap the pole with paracord as a grip and also handy if you need cordage on the trail.
Not all of our Bears and Webelos are quit mature to use a knife for whittling. So we use the alterative to a stick from the woods, it is an hardwood mop handle $5 at your local hardware store. Not so easy with using a wood burning tool but in do time it works. Markings from bottom up every 6″ mark the stick. Good to use for depths of water, length of fish and so much more.
Good article, thanks.
Use parachute cord to make a grip. What i did for my stick was take about 2 yards and wrapped the handle where I hold it in a samurai style, using a SMALL amount of glue to hold each end down. This way, not only do you add a nice style, but in an emergency you can pull off the cord and use it. (I used 300 pound rated parachute cord)
With knee surgeries coming, and two hips that have only enjoyed 6 years of my last 60, I need to be a bit careful. My DIY walking staff project will be a success thx to the comments and info received today.
…… til later – 😉
Around the upper area, where you would be gripping the stick, you can wrap 5/50 cording or the like for extra grip in the wet and a cool look as it can come in many colors. Start by trailing an end down from the top and secure it with hot glue or super glue. Then start wrapping from the top of where you want the grip, covering the tail and holding it in place. Then tie it off on the bottom, secure it with a little more hot glue and there you go.
I got my dad to drill a hole on top of the walking stick and a plug with my whistle so it was easy to attach both of them
i just use a pocket knife a lighter a peice of sand paper. then i crate a really nice walking stick.
hospitals often have spare crutch tips (at least mine did) that are easy to use to stop the end of your stick from splitting. Also if you can peel the bark off a sapling instead of cutting, it ads a much smoother look. Hope this helps!
I took my stick to a drugstore and found a crutch tip that fit it perfectly instead of the pipe.
My boys use honeysuckle. It is invasive and branches large enough can be found in surprising places. You might also check with people that have overgrown properties to see if they have any wood you can take.
Thank you my cub has been wanting to make one I just wasn’t sure how. Now we can get started.
I like to do my wood burning at camp with a good magnifying glass. No electricity needed.
If you can’t find the copper pipe a bottle cap can do just fine
I found and whittled a great walking stick at Webelos Woods last year, I havent thought about wood burning yet, though I did carve my intitials into it
A Good wood to use is Willow. However, you can obtain a pretty descend piece of wood from a broom stick.
I suggest not using copper pipe. The hollow end will dig into the soil leaving ugly marks, and isn’t very leave no trace friendly. Instead, use a rubber furniture leg tip. Costs less than a copper pipe piece, and is very low impact on trails.
If using an open ended piece of pipe, make it end flush with the end of the stick and it will not dig in the ground any more than any other end piece. The stick can not split because it is compressed by the pipe.
¿how I can give that curved?
This is a neat article and it got me thinking about making my own walking stick or staff (a staff is bigger)… However, it would have been nice if they specified what kind of wood is good to use. I am using sycamore.
I highly recommend birch.
where could you get the copper pipe?
Hey ctc10, if you go to a hardware store like ACE hardware or Lowe’s, they have copper piping for a couple dollars. Hope that helps!
Pretty much any home improvement store will carry copper pipe. Also keep an eye out for pieces of copper pipe they sell specifically for ending a pipe. They are usually about a foot long and one is closed off in the shape of a cone. This could work better than any old regular piece if pipe because it would not dig into the ground as much and won’t get anything stuck in it.
Use a 3/4″ copper coupling, it’s under $1.00
Or hickory saplings.
This is an awesome project!!! used it to introduce my Wolves to some wood working skills…!!! they and I had a blast making the walking sticks…
INTERESTING
I like to use recycled eucalyptus from our airport perimeter line. Works great! Very strong, and smells good too. Has an attractive grain structure when sanded and finished.
I find that using a 3/4 inch copper pipe cap is better for the end, this completely covers the end as it is only open on the side that attaches to the stick. And if this is too short for your liking, pipe first and then cap.
I get my walking stick basics from the piles of branches when people trim their trees. Free is as cheap as it gets
that’s where I found my stick.
That is awesome! I am going to try it!
it is really good i think i might do loads and sell them it is a good way to make you would not think it would be that easy
🙂 🙂 🙂
I never had to do any of that other stuff, I just cut a small tree down with long hard branches. Hey, it worked for me!
It must be the feeling that celebities receive in a crowded room, everyones eyes following you across the room, complements of admiration are everywhere and then to say “I made it”. It’s my homemade staff, It was made with LOVE and each person, wishing they could own such a stick. Something happens when your fingers grasp a stick, it becomes a nature thing, gives comfort on the trail as far as the eye can see, and then take you home
a walkin stick give me confidence and a feeling of having security,if approached by a preditor. Its also wonderful for clearing the trail of spider webs and poking around in places you ought not be stickin your hands in. Its like a third hand on the trail
if you find a small sapling you can use the roots as decoration on top
Geocaching rocks!!!
I use to read about 15 blogs a day, but because my time is nowlimited, I only can read 1 or 2 now. And this is one of them…Great post!
Walking sticks are so much fun for the kids, in our troop each kid picked a color, eg yellow for sun, brown for earth, etc painted each color on each stick, plus the sign for each, when we finished everyone had a stick with all the colors, but their color was on top, kids loved doing this.of course dont forget add the feathers and beads, or whatever they want.
You may be able to chop down a small evasive tree (or, a tree that acts like a weed and eventually kills other trees), but it is probably better to use a branch that has already been cut.
I made mine 3 years ago. It is awesome! it was from a branch from my tree and
the tree is some type of tupelo tree and it is a awesome tree!
The handle is bent to the left and I made a leather slip cover to go over the handle.
sincerly, love guns
I made my own when I was at a Scout Camp. They really do come in handy! I carved my name and the date into it. Also, I put some other things. You can also use it not only on hikes, but many other places.
I made a couple of walking sticks using branches. I also have found that doing to a hardware store and buying dowels also work well as they are perfectly round and come in all types of wood. from there it’s up to your imagination as to what you want to put on it. I placed a small compas/ thermomiter on mine as well as used 550 cord (parachute cord) to make a hand grip. On another I tried my hand at ingraving. and staining the walking stick.
I LOVE THIS!!!!!
Whoop de doo! I get to make a hiking stick tonight. Thanks for providing this information! Peace out!
I like to use a round latching as a grip/handle. It keeps your hand from slipping and getting splinters, and it is a fairly simple knot. Also, I take the metal badges you could get at camps and nails them on. It makes a good souviner.
On my walkingstaff, I use a round lashing as a grip. Also, I use the medal thingys you can buy at camp, and nail them on. It makes a good souvineer. BTW, I named mine Nathan. ;^D
show how to make desigs and make it shorter!!!!!~
I made one a long time ago. I found a dying small tree that had a vine growing around and around and around it – it has a great natural curly appearance – I get lots of comments about it. After peeling the bark and sanding it I let it dry for several months and then applied a light wood stain and several coats of varnish. I also put a rubber tip on the end to keep the wood from wearing. I have had this for over 30 years now and it still serves me well.
I burn my name with a magnifying glass, since I can’t use a burning tool.
ha this is really good
yesterday i made my own walkin stick it was fantastic!
A walking stick can serve as a great memento of a Scouting adventure, especially if it is made of a wood native to the area visited. A natural hiking stick can also be used to teach new Scouts about respecting the outdoors – since no Scout or Cub Scout would ever cut a live tree for a walking staff. That would go against the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Guidelines. One of the best comments I heard from my Pack this past summer was: “these hiking sticks are great, and even better, they were FREE!”
Another way to attach a strap is to use a Klemheist knot (Google it). This has the advantage of being adjustable and removable. It also keeps you from having to drill, nail, staple or otherwise damaging your stick. Yes, it even works with webbing.
If you drill a small hole just above the “handle”, on your stick, then pull a peice of thong or cord (doubled up of course), with a piece of wire, through the hole; then tie a large knot on the loose end, then put some Elmers glue in the hole and pull the knot partway through so that the glue and thong set in place, you should have no problems putting a strap or handle on your stick. Walking sticks are part of the Woodcarving Merit Badge course that we teach at our Council summer camp each year, this trick works for us.
A great place to find sticks for walking sticks is beaver huts/dams. Be careful when walking around them. You can also find sticks pushed up on shore around the huts. The beavers already strip the bark off and you can find some really great starter walking sticks!
use a coping saw to take off the branches and then sand then.
My cub scout troop made walking sticks and they loved them, we used turkey and duck feathers from a local farm. we also carved arrow heads and used leather and laced woden beads. my troop loved this and we plan on doing one each year for our new comers.
Anybody have any ideas about the best way to attach a wrist strap to the stick. I was thinking about just screwing a loop of webbing to it but would be intersted in any better ideas.
I haven’t made one of these myself, but my mom’s friend gave me one that I could carve on at our school craft fair. This project looks really fun and I can’t wait to d it myself. There are plenty of trees in my backyard, so I think it’s going to be pretty easy to get a tree branch. Also, I might consider wood-burning my walking stick, because I have already done that with my dad. Awesome idea! 🙂 😉
I go tenting with my family all the time and my walking sticks are just kinda picked up on the way and end up being fire wood on askadent
I made a walking stick before, but I never thought of using copper to protect it from splitting.
It looks really cool I am going to try it! Hey you may never know when you will need it on a hiking trip?
yeah i need this in troop
That was really helpful, thanks for doing that!
We did these with our troop at Scout Camp last summer. They are totally awesome for Scoutmasters. Kids are busy! Kids are Quiet! Kids are using their knives for a worthwhile project! Who could ask for anything more!
Rudi, Either somebody will come and teach you about it, as in for my Troop there was a little Session of using the hatchet. And when we went to Summer Camp they had it where they were teaching the whole Totin’ Chit, same as Fireman Chit. If nobody comes from your Troop tell your Scoutmaster, maybe he can resolve it, maybe a new volunteer to teach yall that.
Our Scoutmaster brought a bunch of dried walking sticks to Summer Camp. After we earned our Totin’ Chit, we got to carve on them. It was fun.
sweet!!!!!!
dude i want to get my totin chip but ill probaly do it at home does anyone no how to get it (everyone says some guy will do it but he never comes to meetings
(: sweet.
can u say how to carve a birds head too?:-)
🙂 🙂 🙂 awesome idea. neat.
Please keep on showing these projects. I love them! 🙂
you could attach an arrowhead to it and make a spear.
geocaching is when people have boxes that they hide with stuff in them like a notebook, toy cars, and little stuff like that.they get the coordinates on a GPS and put them on a website and you get your own GPS, punch in the coordinates, and go find it. it’s like a high-tech game of hide and go seek.
Yo-shi, what is geocaching?
That’s a cool project!
Geocaching rules Yo-shi!!!
Dude I can’t wait until I get a totin’ chip now!
Hmmm….would be great for geocaching, with a Signal head on the top. Thanks BL!