Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - Valley of Fires Recreation Area, Carrizozo NM

Hickory walking stick, November 9, 2011

Brass walking stick tip, November 9, 2011

Hickory walking stick

I've been on the lookout for the perfect stick to make a walking stick for a long long time and this wonderful old hickory flail handle caught my attention amongst the stuff I've been getting rid of.

So I brought it along on this winter's journey to see what I could make of it.

It's so old (maybe 150 years) and so beautifully made I could't bring myself to alter it in any way and I hope I don't bang it up too much on the trail. Last week I turned a brass tip to fit over and protect the hand whittled fitting at the end that was used to attach the flail head. Then a couple of days ago I braided the handle in vegetable tanned kangaroo. The hand strap is a repurposed cord I had lying about but I'm not really satisfied with it. It's a little too slender - I think I'll braid a thicker one, maybe of eight strands instead of four, and try that.

Prusik Knot

That's a Prusik Knot fastening the strap to the braided handle. The Prusik Knot holds firmly when under tension, but loosens easily when free of tension so the strap can be moved up and down the handle. I borrowed the idea from Kingfisher Woodworks hiking stick lanyard.

Night camp

Site 11 - Valley of Fires Recreation Area, Carrizozo NM

• This is a quiet, well maintained BLM campground with paved sites, some with electric & water
• There is good biking on the park roads
• Good Verizon cell phone service
• Good Verizon EVDO service
• Find other references to Valley of Fires
• List the nights I've camped here
• Go to Valley of Fires website
• Get a BLM map
• Check the weather