On Jun 15, 6:38 am, "George" wrote:
"Arch" wrote in message

...

I never see trekking poles (walking poles) mentioned by woodturners.
Probably not popular here in flat S.Florida as in Europe, but are they
widely used elsewhere? The ones I've seen are made of aluminum shafts
and molded rubber heads, but could there (or already is) be a market for
custom trekking poles with special touches of turned wood to rival the
amazing prices custom turned wood croquet mallets and pool cues sell
for?

You see a lot more Poles trekking around Europe now than you used to....

Well Arch here's a novel idea. As a young'un in rural England it was
customary to endure 4 - 5 mile evening walks after "tea". Usually
Grandfather was in attendance and out would come his well sharpened
pocket knife and after some considerable deliberation he would plunge
into a roadside thicket and after a few minutes, return with a
suitable walking pole. He would hand it over along with the knife and
encourage me to carve some decorations on the pole. Usually the next
spring the poles were found in the vegetable garden as supports for
runner beans or peas. So the tradition would carry on each year. I
have a couple of similar walking poles that have a sentimental
connection to a wilderness experience and are now a nice souvenir.
No lathe work involved but a nice way to get the young 'uns safely
using a sharp tool.
Another walking activity was the making of twig whistles, usually from
hazel nut (filbert) shrubs in the hedgerows. Again more knife work.
I guess we had a more simpler lifestyle back then.
Thanks for dredging up the memories!
Pete