A few years ago a friend of mine got his hands on some young willow trees (his father-in-law had planted and subsequently killed them). They were long, mostly straight, and just the right size for walking sticks. He stripped the bark off and gave me a few of them. So far we have used two to make walking sticks, one for me and one for my daughter. We sanded them down smooth, and she stained/varnished hers. I drilled a hole near the top and used a piece of paracord to make a strap. I also used cord to create a hand grip (memories of my Navy days). On the bottom I pre-drilled them and then inserted a machine head screw to improve durability and traction (also works for adding traction to boots). I never intended mine to be a replacement for my hiking poles, so I made it extra long (about 5’) like a staff, so it would provide me more reach for things like a support pole for my tarp, stream crossings, etc.

So far they have worked well. They are light and strong (I can get mine to flex a bit if I put all my weight on it). For backpacking I still prefer my adjustable poles, but I have used this for day hikes.

Dave (the turtle) Wilkes