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The staff or "stave" is an important part of a Pathfinder's equipment, especially when hiking or camping. It is six feet (or 1.74 meters) in length. Sometimes it carries at its top or on one side a carved head or figure of the Patrol animal or bird of its owner. If someone in your Scouting group is interested in metalwork, you can also make hiking staff medallions to commemorate shared events or individual achievements. Such staves become prized souvenirs of your Scouting days.
Preferably, an Pathfinder hikes out into the woods to select and secure their staff, having first obtained the necessary permission; it should be a stout straight wood, about 1 1/2" (or 3.5 or 4 cm's) in diameter.
Suitable woods are hickory, ash, oak, iron wood (or "muscle wood"), and good grades of elm, sugar maple, wild cherry, yellow birch, mountain ash, and Saskatoon.
The staff was adopted by the Founder, Lord Baden-Powell, because of its usefulness during one of his early military campaigns in the jungle country of West Africa. He used it for testing the depths of swamp holes and dark streams; for guarding his face when pushing through heavy bush; for feeling his way in the dark; and for carrying bundles over his shoulder when wading a stream.
Pathfinders have found many other uses for the staff. It can be especially useful when used with other staffs as poles for making an emergency shelter; for signaling; for improvising a flagpole; for building a light bridge; as handles for an improvised stretcher; for the forming a barrier to control crowds, and for jumping ditches.
The staff should be carried slung over and behind the right shoulder. The thong is passed through two small holes about 10" (or 26 cm's) apart in the upper third of the staff, so placed that the staff clears the ground by several centimeters. The thong is secured by small stop-knots.
Making Your Hiking Stave
1. Select and cut straight, 6 foot sapling, approximately 1 1/2" diameter at thick end (Ash, Maple, and Birch, are good)
2. Store in cool dry spot for 3-4 weeks.
3. Trim to 5' 6" length.
4. Remove bark. The second 12" may be left on with bark for a better grip.
5. Trim knots and smooth.
6. Mark at 12" intervals beginning at top (the thick end).
7. Mark top 6" at 1" intervals (thin end)
8. Decorate top with Troop, Patrol, or personal symbols.
9. Treat with oil stain or preservative.
10. Cover bottom end with metal or rubber chair glide or crutch tip.
11. Take stave to camp, hikes, and weekly meetings.
See Also:
More on Making Scout Staves
Practical Uses for Scout Staves
Traditional Scout Staves
Carving Scout Staff Totems
Making Metal Stave Medallions
Scout Stave Positions & Drill
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