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Wouldn't it be nice if your walking stick served double duty as a chair? This walking stick functions just as well as a stationary resting device as well as it does as a mobility enabler.
Trying to find a place to rest on the trail can be a challenge; especially when the woods are wet.
Carrying a camp chair in your pack seems like an unnecessary luxury, however, if the hiking stick you were planning on carrying anyway could serve as a lounge chair, you just might want to indulge.
This Instructable describes the steps for making a convertible walking stick with an accessory seat. At a height of 6 feet when fully assembled, the walking stick is really more of a Hiking Staff however, the 3 piece design makes it easy to transport and allows it to convert into a seat.
But there's more...
This is the first in a series of Instructables demonstrating the versatility of this Hiking Staff. Subscribe if you don't want to miss the next two sequel Instructables:
- Decorative and functional copper shod finial staff ends with storage
- Staff-top provision for an illuminating torch
Trying to find a place to rest on the trail can be a challenge; especially when the woods are wet.
Carrying a camp chair in your pack seems like an unnecessary luxury, however, if the hiking stick you were planning on carrying anyway could serve as a lounge chair, you just might want to indulge.
This Instructable describes the steps for making a convertible walking stick with an accessory seat. At a height of 6 feet when fully assembled, the walking stick is really more of a Hiking Staff however, the 3 piece design makes it easy to transport and allows it to convert into a seat.
But there's more...
This is the first in a series of Instructables demonstrating the versatility of this Hiking Staff. Subscribe if you don't want to miss the next two sequel Instructables:
- Decorative and functional copper shod finial staff ends with storage
- Staff-top provision for an illuminating torch
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Signing UpStep 1Staff Size
Walking Stick Material:
(3) 1” diameter hard wood dowels (each 2 feet in length). I used oak for this project.
A grip near the top of a taller staff allows it to extend well downhill while the body remains upright during a descent.
The only negative I have found with a Hiking Staff is the inevitable accusation of sheep herding or the resemblance to Moses (which happens despite the lack of beard credentials) .
(3) 1” diameter hard wood dowels (each 2 feet in length). I used oak for this project.
1: Cut (3) three dowels 24 inches long. These will be referred to as the Upper Section, Lower Section & Middle Section.
Most of the new high tech walking sticks on the market today are the short (Trek) ski pole variety. Personally, I prefer a taller staff when hiking. For me, the trail challenge is not so much the uphill incline, as it is the descent; especially while carrying a pack.A grip near the top of a taller staff allows it to extend well downhill while the body remains upright during a descent.
The only negative I have found with a Hiking Staff is the inevitable accusation of sheep herding or the resemblance to Moses (which happens despite the lack of beard credentials) .
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(Wow, can I write 2" any more in this post??)
Hi !!
I love it! It is more than good for a farmer and a sheppard(?) like me !
I made a chair like this some years ago but it was only able to sit on it. That was it.
This is REALLY good. Thank you.
I ran into 2 little problems. First, my cable was not long enough to go around my triangle. Second, I am not able to figure out how to put 3 1" dowels into a 2" diameter ring. My kindly neighbor tried to help me with this project. After I went and got a longer cable, I'm still not able to get the 3 dowels into that 2" ring. And the only rings I could find were brassed colored steel ones that I got at Hobby Lobby. I don't trust them to hold any weitght. I still think it's a really cool idea, and I'd love to finish this project. Thanks!
Make sure you use a ring that has the ends welded together or, as you suspect, it won't hold enough weight.
Load the first dowel through the ring. Align the ring in the notch. Load the second dowel and make sure the ring is aligned in both notches. Next load the third dowel.
Per the pictures below I tipped the third dowel up to allow the flared end of the fitting to pass through the ring. (make sure the female fitting is the last one through the ring - it has a smaller flare on the end).
If you are still having trouble, try making the notches deeper in each dowel. You also can file down the flare on the female fitting so it doesn't have to be "levered" through the ring.
Hope this helps.
Post a photo when you are done. I would like to see how it turns out. Especially the cloth seat part. I am not skilled at sewing and I'd like to see what someone with sewing talent can do.
I hope Kindly Neighbor and I can finish this. What a hoot that would be. Thanks again.
is there a way to combine the funtions of all 3 staffs into one staff
and still have it be portable/easy to break down
For the rope for the seat i bought some string from the hardware store and macrame'd a rope to go through the cotter pins and joined the two ends together by doing anothe rset of macrame over the top of both. I also messed up and didn't read as in depth as i should and used 3/4 to 3/4 copper fittings instead of the reduced thread size you recommended. To get around the ring not fitting over i had to dremel deeper cuts in each sections to accomodate for the larger fitting passing through the ring.
thanks for the instructable
I've made a few staffs before, from red oak ("black jack oak" around here). I decorated them with copper inlay made from 12 & 14 gauge romex wire epoxied in place. The inlays acted as a ruler with foot and inch markings, but I think it could be fun to do a metric one, also. I've seen one that was set up as a balance scale: hang the object to be weighed on one end, and slide a loop up the staff until it's level. The location of the fulcrum indicates the weight (the counter-weight is the body of the staff). You have to carefully calibrate the scale, but works a treat.
I've seen others that incorporated: range/height finder, flute, led lights in the head-piece and foot probe, concealed storage or blade, sundial, compass, blowgun, martial arts weapons, etc...
Most of these were incorporated in a length of wood that was rather unwieldy, rustic, and fixed to their purpose. Much like a portrait on an unflattering canvas. You have given us a great canvas to work on, now. A modular system of staff construction that doesn't need a freaking machine shop to use. I love it!
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