Safe and somewhat PC/HC acceptable looking cane tips

[rickevans]

I have a couple walking canes that I use when out and about the country side , especially on uneven ground. Many of them are fashioned after the Blackthorne cane from the UK. A nice knobby wood burl and a proper sized shhot for a shaft.

The rubber slip-on tips are ugly and certainly not even close to looking PC/HC.  

Any ideas? Was looking at a brass tip, or poured pewter or...

Also a small rubber washer for the  tip, secured with a small wood screw and/or some modern epoxy.  

Looking for stability on slick flooring other than the big ugly rubber ones...

[2 Locks]

Never tried anything like that, but here's a half baked idea:

Go  to the hardware store & get some of those clear but soft furniture "underfeet".  I have no idea what they are really called, but get the type that are meant to keep your couch from slipping around on your hardwood floor.  Cut one to just under the diameter of your cane.  Find a flat head screw & washer combination (think low profile), that is maybe half that diameter again.  Screw the non-slip thing on real tight, trying to recess the screw washer below the level of the non-slip as you crush it.

  I warned you about the half baked thing.

[Andy54Hawken]

I glued and pinned a copper pipe/tube end cap on my walking stick.
Best of luck in your search,
Andy

[rickevans]

Both fine ideas. I will try the flat washer/funiture "foot" method and see how it lasts.

[ridjrunr]

How bout a turned horn tip and a thick piece of leather cemented on the bottom?

[Ironhand]

How about cast Pewter?. Works for nose caps and should be pretty permanent. You could add the furniture pad is you wanted.

[Rev]

My stick has a cast pewter tip...
I found it in a very old house about 30 years ago. It is a very heavy wood, more of a Shillelagh really...

[Longhunter]

Here's a couple of my walking sticks. The top one I made from a broken 83# osage bow that was made for me in 1981. It has an elk burl for a handle and a rubber arrow blunt on the tip.





The old antique cane has a piece of cork glued to the bottom

[rickevans]

Fine ideas. I really like the poured pewter look.  Tried Two Locks idea and it works well!

[Kermit]

Rick, I've got a couple of sticks that I picked up in Scotland on different trips. Mine were used in The Highlands by sheepmen. Both came with brass caps, one with a steel or iron spike protruding about 3/4". The one with the spike I use on raw ground, and the other I found a modern cane tip for that is a tight slip-on. That one gets used when I need to be polite to someone's floor or on hard surfaces in town. Safety is the first consideration. If you need to rely on it, better to be secure than PC!!!

And look here:
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.a ... ,250,43243
http://wupensticks.com/index19.html

[Capt. Jas.]

Brass sleeve and a carriage bolt up thru the bottom and dressed down. Rubber tip over top when needed inside on fine surfaces.

[Frank]

I hike a lot and make an occasional walking stick. My favorite sticks are ones I find around a beaver pond that have been cut and stripped by Mr Beaver and are ready to go. I usually cut a short piece of copper tubing and after fitting it to the end of the stick, I secure it with a pin. I have also used the brass from a 12 gauge shotgun cartridge and it works equally as good.  Regards  Frank

[rickevans]

Great ideas, thanks all. I may just have to tote a rubber tip in my pocket for use when indoors.  The pewter tips are real nice, seem to last and are "sticky" enough outside.

[Hanshi]

This is one of my canes; I have three, all identical.  I keep one in my truck and the other two by the door.  I rarely go anywhere without this one; I need it to get around without falling down.  I NORMALLY take NO cane when I go into the hunting woods, however.  Yes I fall occasionally but I've allowed for that by only hunting in the woods where I have a thick layer of leaves.  I've also gone to lengths to assure absolute safety - as far as any safety is absolute.  I must have the rubber non-slip tips for my own safety, clunky or not.

The canes were chosen long ago but not for their efficacy in helping with walking; that was secondary.  They were chosen as weapons and that's how I trained with them.  They are strong oak, cut to length but a major difference from other canes is the hook.  It is large enough to fit around most necks and the tip of the hook is cut at an angle that makes it a wonderful pain compliance device.  It is basically nothing more than a livestock staff cut to length.  With this cane I can lock joints, throw, attack pressure points and of course strike.

[rickevans]

Dang. And here I just use mine to whack the occassional un-restrained dog when he gets too "friendly".

Just kidding Hanshi...I started using one after an ankle break a couple years back. I have one that is pretty heavy with a wide crook, just for the reasons you state...old guys rule.