How to Construct a Staff for Hiking
This simple guide will help you to make your own hiking staff before you hit the road:
• First of all, pick and cut a straight 6-foot sapling that is approximately ½” round at the broadest end.
• Then, put the sapling in a cool dry place. Wait for 3 or 4 weeks before doing anything further with the fresh wood.
• Cut the stick to 5’6” long.
• Then, remove the bark carefully. The bark over the second 12” may be left alone to provide you with a better hold on your hiking staff.
• Next, trim off any knots until the stick feels fairly smooth.
• Mark at 1 foot intervals beginning at the top (the thicker end).
• Mark out the top 6” at 1” spaces.
• Finally, treat all of it with oil stain or preservative.
These steps are, of course, rather excessive for a simple walking stick that you employ for a little extr support. But kind of nice hiking around places carrying an interesting looking stick that’s a cut above something you just put together from an old branch in the woods.
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