If you don't need a cane is there any concern it might make it appear that you are an easier "mark".

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
I'm looking at something from Cain Masters in hickory. Being a woodworker, I'm familiar with the properties of hickory -- you almost have to treat it as if it were a metal.

Go with the upgrade to heartwood hickory. A bit darker and heavier.

^ ^ ^ ^ I did, I just ordered one. These things ain't cheap!

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
How closely do the nice TSA folks look at canes? Anyone ever have any trouble getting them onboard without checking?

Asking for a friend...

You need a cane to keep you stable; kinda defeats the purpose if they make you check it in.
I’ve traveled international with a cane. At the gate in the US, I stand near the front seats to stretch my legs and someone comes over and let’s me know I have priority boarding. Overseas, they see the cane and they make me sit on a wheelchair which they push around. Priority boarding also on the way back and stops in between.

Nobody batted an eye. I did also wear a knee brace at the time but it was inside my pants and not showing. Youdon’t have to play act; just don’t be twirling your cane and doing fencing moves with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportshooter:
This morning, my training partner mentioned that Mark Shuey, the owner of the Canemaster business, has stopped putting his company logo on the canes he sells. Rumor has it that TSA took his cane away from him after they noticed sharp points and aggressive ridges on it.
I don’t know if that is true, but I can make do with a plain looking cane if a little alteration takes away my geezer cloak of invisibility.

I went the other way. I positively identified my cane as a medical device.



I told him I’d be going through TSA and he made the fangs less aggressive. I have no point of comparison but the ones on mine are sharp enough as pressure points.

When I tried to rip my foot off last year, I started using a cane as soon as I could hobble again. I've since discovered that a solid hickory cane is a seriously useful tool to have with. It's quite excellent that the idiots at TSA let me continue to use it. They always ask me if they can check it out and scan it. I tell them they can either grab me a wheel chair or help me through their scanner. They usually hand me a cane they keep behind the scanner, and without much further scrutiny we're through the checkpoint. I've never had them not run it through the scanner. No problems with me. It's easier to get through the security shit show with a cane than with the wheel chair. Even an airport wheel chair with an airport employee pushing you will require the TSA knuckducks to either require a miraculous healing or a close and personal massage in order to get through the farse of a checkpoint.

For a walking/hiking stick in the woods, I made up a fiberglass broom handle with a rubber crutch tip. Works great. And it is quite stout.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:

^ ^ ^ ^ I did, I just ordered one. These things ain't cheap!

I have one of their "training" models. Sturdy, businesslike, and not expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportshooter:Also note that aluminum canes just don’t offer the satisfying heft of hickory and might be a dead giveaway that the carrier of it has had no training.

Not all aluminum canes. I have one of these...

https://www.kabar.com/products/product.jsp?item=9406

Hard to see but there are two checkered bands, for hand holds, around the shaft of the cane. This is pretty hefty and also has an aggressive crook.

I don't use it often, but when I have to walk any distance (i.e. gun shows) it helps me with my balance.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

Man, I admire your courage Pizza Bob. Carrying something that sturdy will probably get you charged with aggravated self defense, excessive resistance and attempted survival.

This looks interesting.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/6...fb%3A644401879&frs=1

Cocus hardwood for $35.95 shipped

I don't have a self defense cane per se. Don't know how these would hold up as tactical tools.

All fritz handled. Top to bottom: bubinga - tiger maple; natural hickory; maple.

But as walking canes they are superb.

Being Irish I prefer a Shillelagh. Properly wielded they pack a whallop and properly sized they make good canes. I have the one brought over by my grandfather and three by Liam Kealy of Wicklow, Ireland, third generation master stickmaker.

Are the cane master combat canes FSA or HSA items?

I don’t need a cane but I was considering buying one of these to take on my walk: Irish Walking Stick Genuine Blackthorn Made in Ireland https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A..._api_i_1aDRCbMFKN1KR

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

I don’t need a cane but I was considering buying one of these to take on my walk: Irish Walking Stick Genuine Blackthorn Made in Ireland https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A..._api_i_1aDRCbMFKN1KR

The reviews on this are not great. I get the feeling that this is crap, made for the tourist-type gift shops. Fully 30% of the reviews are negative, one and two stars. You can not order a specific length, it will be somewhere between 33" and 37". Likewise, the knob style can not be specified. These are not stocked by the seller, they are drop-shipped from Ireland.

For fifty bucks, if I were in the market for something like this, I would look elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
I'm looking at something from Cain Masters in hickory. Being a woodworker, I'm familiar with the properties of hickory -- you almost have to treat it as if it were a metal.

Go with the upgrade to heartwood hickory. A bit darker and heavier.

I'm checking these out as of late. It's getting to a point these days where I can use a good cane for mobility issues. I've asked in a previous thread a year or so ago but hesitated. The days have arrived where it may now be more of a need rather than use the walker I received during rehab years ago to teach me to walk again. Thanks for the thread!

bald1, those canes are absolutely beautiful! I would guess that in a fight they might break where the handle is attached to the cane. Keeping that in mind, I think you could still do some damage with them.
Rod

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
I'm checking these out as of late. It's getting to a point these days where I can use a good cane for mobility issues. I've asked in a previous thread a year or so ago but hesitated. The days have arrived where it may now be more of a need rather than use the walker I received during rehab years ago to teach me to walk again. Thanks for the thread!

Prior to my right knee developing osteoarthritis (bone-on-bone, no cartilage remaining), I have had a long standing issue with my left leg due to sciatica. The sciatica is ultimately only curable by a dangerous operation on the spine, where a bone spur is abrading the sciatic nerve at the vertebra, and the surgery would have to go through the abdomen. DOUBLE NOPE. So, I've been using my Canemasters cane for about 4 years now to relieve the weight on the left leg (cane on the right side). The right knee issue cropping up (over the past 2 years) left me with two weak legs.
 
Tired of having two crippled legs, two weeks ago I had TKA (total knee arthroscopy, or replacement). I used the walker for the first week. The walker is very nice in that it supports both legs. But the right knee is healing so well (I push all of the PT exercises) that I started hopping around without the walker, and realized I could go back to just using a cane to assist my left leg. Note, in healing the right leg, the cane would ordinarily be used on the left side, but in my case, my left leg needs more support than my new right knee, so I continue to use the cane on the right side. Two weeks post-op, my overall mobility has improved 100%. I'll continue to need the cane, but having a good leg on the right makes all the difference in the world.

quote:

Originally posted by P210:
Being Irish I prefer a Shillelagh. Properly wielded they pack a whallop and properly sized they make good canes. I have the one brought over by my grandfather and three by Liam Kealy of Wicklow, Ireland, third generation master stickmaker.

^^^^^
I was just going to suggest one from these guys: https://www.oldeshillelagh.com/classic-34-36

I’m not sure a “loaded” Shillelagh would make it through TSA but for everywhere else, it would make a great stick (cane). I have one of their loaded cudgels at my office.

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