page_title: Walking stick
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Walking stick / Types
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Spazierstocksammlung auf Herrensitz Els Calderers (Mallorca)
context_page_description: A walking stick or walking cane is a device used primarily to aid walking, provide postural stability or support, or assist in maintaining a good posture, but some designs also serve as a fashion accessory, or are used for self-defense.
  Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes and some have become collector's items. People with disabilities may use some kinds of walking sticks as a crutch. The walking stick has also historically been known to be used as a defensive or offensive weapon and may conceal a knife or sword – as in a swordstick.
  Hikers use walking sticks, also known as trekking poles, pilgrim's staffs, hiking poles, or hiking sticks, for a wide variety of purposes: to clear spider webs or to part thick bushes or grass obscuring their trail; as a support when going uphill or as a brake when going downhill; as a balance point when crossing streams, swamps, or other rough terrain; to feel for obstacles in the path; to test mud and puddles for depth; to enhance the cadence of striding, and as a defence against wild animals.
context_section_description: Ashplant
  an Irish walking stick made from the ash tree.
  Blackthorn
  an Irish walking stick, or shillelagh, made from the blackthorn (Prunus spinosa).
  Devil's walking stick
  Made from Hercules plant.
  Shooting stick
  It can fold out into a single-legged seat.
  Supplejack
  Made from a tropical American vine, also serves as a cane.
  Penang lawyer
  Made from Licuala. After the bark was removed with only a piece of glass, the stick was straightened by fire and polished. The fictional Dr. Mortimer owned one of these in The Hound of the Baskervilles. So did Fitzroy Simpson, the main suspect in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" (1892), whose lead weighted stick was initially assumed to be the murder weapon.
  Makila (or makhila)
  Basque walking stick or staff, usually made from medlar wood. It often features a gold or silver foot and handle, which may conceal a steel blade. The Makila's elaborate engravings are actually carved into the living wood, then allowed to heal before harvesting.
  Kebbie
  a rough Scottish walking stick, similar to an Irish shillelagh, with a hooked head.
  Whangee
  Asian, made of bamboo, also a riding crop. Such a stick was owned by Charlie Chaplin's character The Tramp.
  Malacca
  Malay stick made of rattan palms.
  Pike Staff
  Pointed at the end for slippery surfaces.
  Scout staff
  Tall stick traditionally carried by Boy Scouts, which has a number of uses in an emergency
  Waddy
  Australian Aboriginal walking stick or war club, about one metre in length, sometimes with a stone head affixed with string and beeswax.
  Ziegenhainer
  Knotty German stick, made from European cornel, also used as a melee weapon by a duellist's second. The spiral groove caused by a parasitic vine was often imitated by its maker if not present.
caption: A collection of various styles of walking sticks on display at the ethnology museum Els Calderers rural manor, Sant Joan, Mallorca
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