Hickory for Hiking Sticks
  Appalachian Hickory refers to specific varieties of Hickory from the central Appalachians with properties suitable for high strength applications - its strength exceeds all native and exotic species. Common kiln dried hickory for general woodwork, is not as desirable for hiking sticks as the slowly air dried stock that Kingfisher acquires from small family owned mills. The wood is either bone white or light reddish in color. It has a graceful grain structure and a smooth texture. It's safe, strong, attractive and comes from a well managed domestic source. Kingfisher Appalachian Hickory is graded for overall qualities of soundness and differences in density that occurs within the species.
Kingfisher WoodWorks LLC
  
kingfisher bird in flight
closeup of end of hiking stick
(premium hand cut)
 
Strength of Wood
Kingfisher started making wooden martial art practice swords and staffs in 1986. Coming from a martial art background and knowing that these products require tremendous strength and shock resistance, we searched out hundreds and hundreds of native and exotic hardwoods for the demanding and unusual requirements of wooden sticks used in heavy paired sparring. Anyone researching the properties of wood can easily find data on the strength and hardness of wood. What we discovered early on is that the technical literature is oriented to the reaction of wood to slowly applied loads, not sudden impacts and suddenly applied stresses. Virtually of the published data is misleading in this regard. We found that wood species noted for strength shattering upon lower than expected sudden impact. Many of our initial products were produced and tested by laborious trial and error but after a few years, we developed a specialized test for sudden impact. The truth slowly unfolded. In fact, there are very few wood selections that serve well for stressful dynamic situations that a hiking stick or a self defense stick might encounter.

Hundreds of wood species tested

These samples are cut to uniform cross sectional dimension of 3/8 x 3/8" and subjected to an impact ram with known energy transmission at gradually increasing intensity until the sample breaks. The tests span a period of more than 10 years where we tested practically every commercially available hardwood and many very rare exotics as well.

3/8" x 3/8" samples with raw data

20 samples. Actual shock strength is shown in the graph below

hundreds of wood samples
impact test results wood samples
Close ups of Appalachian air dried hickory samples
 
The one at the bottom suffered an astounding 12.34 ft-lb of impact shock energy (it didn't actually break!). Comparing this to Cherry, Walnut or Oak, it is over 4 times as strong
  
closeups of test pieces
The graph on the left shows the species of wood from the 21 samples shown above and strength results. It's clear why we favor Appalachian Hickory for our Hiking Sticks and our Martial Art Sticks. Note test piece #7, Common Hickory. Not all Hickories are alike!
 
Wood Quality Grades in Standard and Premium Upgrade Hiking Sticks
 
Hickory for Standard Hiking Stick

Appalachian Hickory Quality Grade Level 5:

Grade level 5 hickory is used for the standard hiking stick. It may have color variations as shown. The standard hiking stick, grade level 5 would be a good choice for the hiker seeking a very high quality all wood hiking stick with pleasing smooth sanded finish.

  

 

Hickory for Premium Upgrade Hiking Stick

Appalachian Hickory Quality Grade Level 6:

The premium upgrade refers to two things: Firstly, the quality of the wood is upgraded to Grade level 6. The wood may still have color variations but grade L6 is denser, stronger and has a tighter grain, hence a smoother grain. Secondly, the premium hiking stick is all hand cut. No sandpaper is used. This gives the staff a subtle textural feel due to the thousands of tiny facets due to the action of hand plane, spokeshave and drawknife. The premium upgrade would be a good choice for hikers seeking a very high quality all hand cut hiking stick and don't mind a bit more weight. (note - although these hiking sticks at about 22 oz are somewhat heavier than aluminum poles, they are slender and while giving a good feeling of presence, they are not at all too heavy for long hikes.)

 
©2007 kingfisherwoodworks.com
We do not allow reprinting our content in any form without advance written permission.