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The far right is my main staff. It is slim second growth holly, about 65” long tapering from 7/8 to 1 1/8”. I peeled it and finished with BLO. Regrettably it turned dark almost immediately. It is straight, clear and incredibly strong for its size and weight. There is a small crack, check forming on the tip. It was cut in Rockville Maryland ten years ago and being in the military it followed me around the world. I bought a Leigh High bronze tip to put on the tip, but haven’t gotten it done. The second from the right is a Douglas fir branch eight years old and rubbed with BLO with simple rubber tip. Simple and effective. Third from the right is a piece of driftwood no finish, no tip. These three sit in the garage and get used and abused by guest who want a staff while hiking in the local parks.

The short one with the y is about a year old alder branch.

The shortest with tapers cut is a 12 year old Douglas fir branch. I scraped and sanded it after aging and rubbed it with BLO. Boiled Lindseed Oil drys to a honey color and wears on fir very well. This caught my eye in local park service trimming. While drying it checked and ended up a little short when I trimmed it. It was 1 1/8” on the slim end and 1 7/8” on the thick end and about 35” long. I started fitting o a hames handle on it and a tip, but it is so thick it’s ugly. I’ll keep on fiddling with it, but I wish Id left it alone.

Finally check out the handle on the far left. That’s a branch trimmed out of a live oak in my mom’s yard in Virginia after hurricane Hugo. I’ve had it a while.