View Full Version : Light hiking pole
desdemona
01-31-2008, 17:10
I just am looking for a single pole. Perhaps even wood. Light weight. I have found a few pages but decided to post here as you all have great ideas.
(Actually saw a guy out with what he said was a yucca pole. I think that that is actually not technically correct and it is century plant, but still the concept is about the same.)
--des
Some of my best hiking poles have been sticks I have found while hiking in the woods. Until about five year's ago that is the only thing we used:)
scavenger
01-31-2008, 19:59
(Actually saw a guy out with what he said was a yucca pole. I think that that is actually not technically correct and it is century plant, but still the concept is about the same.)
Yuccas make a flower stalk like century plant.. Light and stiff but might snap easier than a hardwood.
Wise Old Owl
01-31-2008, 22:17
I just am looking for a single pole. Perhaps even wood. Light weight. I have found a few pages but decided to post here as you all have great ideas.
(Actually saw a guy out with what he said was a yucca pole. I think that that is actually not technically correct and it is century plant, but still the concept is about the same.)
--des
http://www.luxurylite.com/ look at the middle picture
Do a search for Bamboo, it’s fairly strong and light.
desdemona
02-02-2008, 04:42
Thanks for the great responses. Maybe bamboo?
I wish I found sticks lying around but there aren't any. I'm an immigrant around here. :-)
--des
Alder saplings are strong and light. The one I used on the AT weighed 9 ounces. My current model weighs 12 ounces because I installed a commerial hand grip and strap from Komperbell.
I have used similar sticks that were as light as 7 ounces. Alder has little or no commercial value, and is available free in alder thickets all through the north. But I've found it is amazingly strong for its weight. I've used mine scores of time to knock off dead branches that block my path while bushwhacking.
Look for a sapling ranging between three-quarters of an inch and one inch in diameter. Peel off the bark and let it dry in the sun for a couple of weeks. I tend not to use a strap, but if you want one drill a hole and insert a piece of raw hide. A crutch tip will improve traction on rocks, and prevent wear.
A wooden stick will double as a monopod for your camera. Just saw the top off flat, drill a seven-sixteenth hole and epoxie in a 1/4-20 hex head screw.
You can cover the camera mount with a round wooden drawer pull with an epoxied in 1/4-20 hexhead nut. Hold the nut in with a screw until the glue sets.
Weary
I carried 2 small saplings I found on the trail
desdemona
02-02-2008, 15:11
Alder saplings are strong and light. The one I used on the AT weighed 9 ounces. My current model weighs 12 ounces because I installed a commerial hand grip and strap from Komperbell.
I have used similar sticks that were as light as 7 ounces. Alder has little or no commercial value, and is available free in alder thickets all through the north. But I've found it is amazingly strong for its weight. I've used mine scores of time to knock off dead branches that block my path while bushwhacking.
Look for a sapling ranging between three-quarters of an inch and one inch in diameter. Peel off the bark and let it dry in the sun for a couple of weeks. I tend not to use a strap, but if you want one drill a hole and insert a piece of raw hide. A crutch tip will improve traction on rocks, and prevent wear.
A wooden stick will double as a monopod for your camera. Just saw the top off flat, drill a seven-sixteenth hole and epoxie in a 1/4-20 hex head screw.
You can cover the camera mount with a round wooden drawer pull with an epoxied in 1/4-20 hexhead nut. Hold the nut in with a screw until the glue sets.
Weary
These are good ideas but as you see by the address, I am not really hiking the AT trail (wish I could some time). But anyway, trees of that sort aren't common. Come spring and summer I hope to hike on the crest
elevation is 9000-12000 feet something like that), there it is a different climate zone and there are lots of trees.
You have excellent ideas for a camera mount which you should post somewhere else if you haven't already-- so they don't get lost.
--des
These are good ideas but as you see by the address, I am not really hiking the AT trail (wish I could some time). But anyway, trees of that sort aren't common. Come spring and summer I hope to hike on the crest
elevation is 9000-12000 feet something like that), there it is a different climate zone and there are lots of trees.
You have excellent ideas for a camera mount which you should post somewhere else if you haven't already-- so they don't get lost.--des
Your best bet is to experiment with whatever wood might be available. I found my first stick 17 years ago on the trail, where it had been cut by volunteers clearing a new side trail to the bottom of a pretty waterfall. But over the years I've experimented with a variety of saplings that looked promising.
Saplings are better than milled wood. First they have natural bends and curves that make for a more natural looking stick and natural hand grips. More importantly, the grain hasn't been cut on a sapling so it is inherently stronger than the same wood milled.
I've wandered wild areas over much of the United States. I see growth I'd like to experiment with all over. The key is to choose a sapling of the right size. Most commercial wooden hiking sticks are way to heavy. They are designed more to impress tourists than to aid hikers.
I've posted somewhat more detailed thoughts on how to create a monopod in the past. Maybe I should turn it into a brief article.
Weary
Just for comparison with the 6.6 oz Luxury Lite 48" single piece as a benchmark.
Using this as a reference:
http://www.calibamboo.com/bamboopoles.html
A 48" 1 inch diameter bamboo pole would weigh about 9.6oz
A 48" 1 inch diameter solid softwood pole would weigh about 11 oz
A softwood sapling could be selected to give you a natural taper without cutting growth rings, and that might get you down to 9 or 10 oz and comparable radiation of gyration to something lighter, perhaps not as light as the Luxury light, but close. It might also not be as strong, but it would be replaceable, and if you did break it you could toss it without littering.
I'ld go for something longer though. You could always cut it down.
Blissful
02-02-2008, 21:26
I just am looking for a single pole. Perhaps even wood. Light weight. I have found a few pages but decided to post here as you all have great ideas.
(Actually saw a guy out with what he said was a yucca pole. I think that that is actually not technically correct and it is century plant, but still the concept is about the same.)
--des
You find good stuff on the trail. My son Paul Bunyan had his hiking stick he found on the trail (though heavy) from VA border to Katahdin.
Grits, a hiker we met in the Whites, made his poles out of saplings and even had handles and rubber tips on them.
A hiking pole stretching from Virginia to Katahdin.
Sounds like something Paul Bunyan would carry. :)