Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedars
... The stick idea isnt a bad one, but for me, the jingling of bells would bum me out. But I like to listen to the forest. For snake it would be helpful though. You poke the stick around ahead of you as your walking, almost in the same fashion a blind person uses a cane. Most snakes will slither away. Most rattlers will warn with the rattle first. As I understand it, most snake bites are from someone stepping on/too close to the snake where it felt it had to strike to protect itself. The poking stick gives them a warning.
|
I love stick staff stuff talk!
The jingling does bum if overdone. Strickly an option for high-likelihood of bear encounter; it just gives the cougars a little more time to hide 'til you pass so they can attack you from behind.
Absolutely agree with your poking techniques and applications you describe for snakes.
Note to newbies:
Do not poke the snake!
Another advantage of a long staff is that you can grasp it at the level of your heart and this reduces the swelling in the hands one experiences on long hikes. Use the staff in both hands, that is to say for a while in the right hand and for a while in the left hand and so on.
The long staff affords another advantage when crossing streams that a shorter stick goes lacking; both giving a means to measure a depth to several feet as well as a means to gain support in it.
With a long staff, one is able to vault narrow ditches, creeks, and swales.
