How We Do Things

The staff has long been a symbol of leadership, and Baden-Powell himself considered the staff to be an important piece of scouting equipment:

The Spirit of the Staff

A staff is a basic tool. For thousands of years, the walking stick has been symbol, weapon, record, and support for the tired feet and legs of the wanderer. Even today, on the trail or in camp, it has a hundred uses.

For centuries, labourers used the staff to support loads and defend themselves against man and beast. Egyptian hieroglyphics picture travelers with sticks in hand. The Bible is full of references to staffs. The ancient Druids, who believed each copse had its own living spirit, apologized to a tree before cutting it for a staff. Banned from owning conventional weapons, the poor of many countries traditionally turned to the staff for protection.

The staff is also a symbol of authority and power. Moses used his to part the sea and to get water from a rock. In Egypt, the staff and the shorter rod were the Pharaoh's symbols of office. Today, the mace, an ornate and stylized version of a staff, symbolizes the power of parliament. At the same time, the staff, especially a staff with a crook, has always represented the humble shepherd. Truly, this is a stick for all men.

As a weapon, a stick or cudgel was once a match for the sword, at least in legend. The McBride also says that "unless a person is trained to know the spirit of the staff, it is just a stick."

Record keeping is one of the oldest uses for a staff. The ancient Norse used a notched stick called a skor to keep track of numerical information, and the word stuck around to become today's "score". Some native American peoples carried coup sticks decorated with carvings and feathers to commemorate victories in battle.

On the Trail
People tend to personalize their walking sticks. Frequently, they are ornately carved.

Decorated or not, a staff belongs on the trail. "A hiking stick helps make the miles glide by, It swings comfortably in your hand, offering balance and a rhythm to your gait."

In dense overgrowth, use the staff to push aside brush and cobwebs and to prevent branches from whipping into your face. If the trail is wide enough, slip it behind your hips and hoist your pack to give your back a break. You can lift up underbrush to search for berries or pry up logs and rocks to satisfy your curiosity about what's underneath. When it's time for a rest, put your pack on the ground and brace it with the staff for an on-the-spot easy chair.

On more adventurous terrain, the walking stick is even more useful. It is a handy balance aid when crossing log bridges. Used as a brace to lean on, it can be a life-and-sprained-ankle-saver on hills, rocky ground, and slippery- bottomed streams. Marked with a measuring scale (zero at the bottom), it is useful for measuring water depth and the size of specimens. And, it's much safer to poke into holes and behind rocks with a staff rather than your hand.

A staff is handy in many emergency situations, as well. Two staves make a quick litter or stretcher. One can be a reaching aid for a comrade struggling in the water. It will support you if you fall through ice. You can use it as a crutch if necessary, or make it into a mast for a sail on a canoe. Whenever it saves you the time of having to find and cut a pole, you will appreciate having it handy.

In camp, especially above treeline, the staff can become a makeshift ridgepole or tentpole. It is instantly available for lifting hot pots off the fire or propping up a billy of tea. With a few staves, you can produce a flagpole or a camp gadget. Weighted with rocks, snow, or dirt, it becomes a "deadman" to replace those lost tent pegs.

A staff is fun to play with, too. In winter, slide it along the snow in a game of Snowsnakes. In summer, hurl it like a javelin or build it into a pioneering project. And for sheer relaxation on a rainy day or quiet evening, there is little more pleasant than sitting under a tree or tarp and carving a staff.

My favourite hiking stick was one I started with when I first left home. Carved on top with the head of a bearded woodsman, it recorded my climbs and hikes, went with me on my honeymoon, saw my move into the country, and was hurled into the air at the birth of my first son. Over the years, such a staff becomes very much a part of your life. When our pup chewed it half through, I was sorely tempted to use it on the mutt and, when it broke shortly after, I felt I had lost a friend. Perhaps those old Druids were right. A staff is more than just a piece of wood. There is a spirit to it.

The Woodland Walking Staff Handbooklet: An Excerpt

Introduction: On the Importance of a Hiking Staff Uphill, downhill, flat; if it's broken, the terrain marred by rocks or debris such as blowdowns, hazards such as slippery surfaces or fast-flowing streams, a staff that can support your full weight can be invaluable. This is especially true if you're carrying a heavy backpack, where the likelihood of losing your balance and then falling increases with every step. Imagine, stepping over deadfalls and blow downs that are at waist level or better, shoving branches and brush aside when navigating thick vegetation without additional support. Over an ice field, a hiking staff will distribute your weight more equitably, reducing the risk of falling through. And if you do fall through, the odds of escaping are increased dramatically. Eskimos have long used what they refer to as Oonoks (hunting poles) to help them travel the Arctic ice fields. The Oonok would serve the Eskimo as an anchor, holding the hunter's weight over a wider area and allowing him to crawl, or squirm to safety. This technique, developed over thousands of years, saves Eskimo lives every year and it can save yours too. In bog country, swamp, muskeg or other spongy ground, falling into deep, hidden pot-holes poses an extreme hazard. In such cases, the hiking staff will act as a probe, allowing you to circumvent these areas. Also, a hiking staff will allow you to pole-vault the pot-holes you discover and other mounds and obstructions you could not otherwise cross.

The Woodland Walking Staff Handbooklet is a handbooklet about a unique walking staff designed by a publishing company called, PACIFIC QUILLWORKS.

The hiking staff, stick, stave, fingerstick.

In telling of the origin of the staff, Sir Robert Baden-Powell says:

"It was in Ashanti, on the West Coast of Africa where my particular job was to organize and command a corps of native Scouts and Pioneers."

"We were accordingly working two or three days in advance of the main body of European Troops and in the densest primeval jungle and forest, without roads or paths of any kind to guard us. "

"In order to circumvent the enemy much of our advance had to be carried out by night, which meant difficulties at nearly every step among fallen timber, boggy streams, tussocks of reeds and bushes, etc. "

"Without a staff, one could not have got along at all."

To sit upon. As a flag-pole. As a punt pole. As a measuring rod. As an upright folr a hike tent. As a ridge pole for a hike tent. To carry anything over the shoulder. To carry anything slung between two. With one or more others, to carry logs. As a turning post for a race. Lashed to trees, as a hitching rail. As a lever. As a ski-pole. To signal with. To align anything. As a vaulting pole. As a signal flagstaff. A tripod to hold a kettle. To find North by the Sun at noon. As emergency football goal posts. As a long split for the body or leg. The Uses are uncountable.

To replace a broken pitchfork handle. A fishing rod. Mast for a canoe. Temporary splits. As a broom handle. To make a teepee. To make a light bridge. Handle of a trek cart. To beat out a prairie fire. As a weighing "balance". To practice lashings on. To test the depth of water. Spar for small sailing boat. As a leveling rod for surveying. To feel your way with in the dark. To hold in hands for physical training exercises. Framework for a brushwood windbreak. As a help in hill or mountain climbing. Two, as frame of improvised stretcher. For carrying, crossing dangerous ice. Several, lashed together, as a flagstaff. To discover the nature of a river bottom. For feeling way over marshy ground. Throwing to a drowning person at the end of a rope. To hang clothes on to dry, placed between bushes or trees. As a means of defence against wild animal or vicious domestic animals. Anywhere your feet will take you. Across mountains, fields, and prairies.

Grab a sapling and off you go! Again Hargrave said in 1917,

"Put your Sign on it - brand your Mark on it, and make it a record of your life - and if you lose it, if you break it, if you don't carry it - you're a - you're a - a - MUMBLEBUMP!"

Staff
Personally, I have found it an invaluable assistant when traversing mountains or boulder-strewn country and especially in night work in forest or bush. Also, by carving on it various signs recording his achievements, the staff gradually becomes a record as well as a treasured companion to the Prince.

The staff is useful for all sorts of things, such as making a stretcher, keeping back a crowd, jumping over a ditch, testing the depth of a river, keeping in touch with the rest of your Patrol in the dark. You can help another Scout over a high wall if you hold your staff horizontally between your hands and make a step for him; he can then give you a hand from above. Several staffs can be used for building a light bridge, a hut or a flag staff.

There are many other uses for the staff. In fact, you will soon find that if you don't have your staff with you, you will always be wanting it.