Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

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letumgo
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Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by letumgo » Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:08 pm

Last April I got out fishing with Chris Stewart (Tenkarabum) and he had a nice wading staff, that he had made himself. After watching him use his wading staff, I wanted one of my own. As I watched Chris fish, he carefully used his wading in some very cold fast water, and used his staff to transition from a kneeling stealth position, without loosing balance. At the time, I had asked Chris many questions about how he had made the staff and squirreled away some ideas so I could make my own.

I finally got around to making mine this weekend. A quick trip to Walmart and the local Ace Hardware store, allowed me to gather the necessary materials (camouflage parachute cord, broom handle, 7/8" diameter black rubber feet for chair legs, and a carabiner clip). Total cost of materials was around $18 bucks (plus some elbow grease).

Here is are some photos of my finished wading staff. The colors (green camo rope wrap, black hardware and rubber foot) were picked to maintain a stealthy approach.

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The top of the staff is about even with the top of my shoulder.
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The bottom of the rope grip is about 3" below the bottom of my hand, when my elbow is flexed at a 90° bend. Chris recommends running a bead of superglue around the top and bottom edge of the rope grip, to ensure it does not slip over a period of prolonged use.
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The rope is wrapped very tightly around the staff, forming a comfortable grip which prevents your hand from slipping, even when they are wet from fishing, or when the handle has been in the water.
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Top End - Rubber protector and loop for carabiner
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Bottom End
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I'm pretty sure the handle is made of teak wood. The label on the handle indicate that it was wood from Indonesia. When I cut off the threaded end (broom handle) the wood had a nice uniform grain. It feels nice and solid, without being overly heavy.
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Lesson Learned:
I found a simple way of making the wraps. To start I formed a long loop, to hold the caribiner at the top end. The rope is doubled back on itself and runs the full length under the grip wraps. The wraps are then started at the bottom end and wrapped upwards towards the top of the staff. I temporarily taped the loop to the top end with masking tape. This helped keep the loop from swinging around and getting tangled with the rope during the wrapping process.

After struggling for a while, I found a simple way to make secure wraps. I held the staff handle horizontal (parallel to the floor) and stood on the rope with one foot. I then had both hands free, to twist the staff and ensure the wraps nested tightly against one another. I could adjust the tension by simply lifting upwards on the staff, while holding the rope in place under the bottom of my foot. The wraps are formed very similar to the way you would make wraps on a fishing pole.
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JohnP
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by JohnP » Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:35 pm

Nice work, Ray! You could sell those. My wife bought me a folding wading staff a couple of years ago. I used to be very sure-footed, but I have had some balance problems the past couple of years. I took a couple of pretty nasty spills, but fortunately, I was on the bank at the time.
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by letumgo » Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:50 pm

John - I've taken some bad falls myself, on a number of occasions. In fact my last spill was while fishing with Chris in Roscoe. I smashed my knee pretty good after slipping on some ice. I've gotten by without a wading staff for years, but I've had some dangerous close calls. As I get older it will be nice to use a wading staff.

Crazy, but I think it would cost more to ship one of these, than it does to make one.

I just realized the staff is also a nice height to serve as a monopod when taking photos. Cool beans!
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by daringduffer » Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:05 pm

Ray,
I have been using one of these on the bottom end of my wading staff for years

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It gives a very safe grip both on the river bottom and on slimy ground.

dd
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by DUBBN » Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:26 pm

Very cool. I am thinking I need to start thinking about a staff.
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by hankaye » Sun Jun 01, 2014 8:23 pm

Ray, Howdy;

Something else to pick your brain about while in Mt.

Trivia ... the Para cord is also called 550 cord. Each of the 5 inner core
lines are rated at 50# test as is the outer cover (although I want to say 100#'s),
in survival school we used the inner cords for fishing line and other means of
acquiring food and other fine things (sutures).

hank
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"Every day I beat my own previous record for number
of consecutive days I've stayed alive." George Carlin
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by letumgo » Sun Jun 01, 2014 8:40 pm

Hank - Funny you should mention that. I had a short length left over from my trimmed ends and I decided to pull out some of the center strands to see what they were made of. The strands could each be unraveled and they separated down into a white floss like strands. It looks like nice material for an under body (white foundation layer under light colored silk). Neat!
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by redsedge » Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:17 pm

Very cool post, Ray. I have been using folding wading staffs for years and they have saved my butt more than once. My main complaints about them, however, are that they tend to flex a little more than I would like, can get stuck in the riverbed and disassemble right when you most need them and tend to be a bit noisy in the stream which hardly helps a stealthy approach. I solved the disassembly problem by switching to a staff that locks into the open position, but the noise and flex problems are still there. I like the idea of a rubber-tipped wooden staff and am going to build one like yours. I have seen broom handle staffs that have a screw eye attached to the top with which to attach a cord, but your (Chris's) idea is by far classier. BTW, that Chris is a smart man - I fished with him once and the first thing he did when we approached the stream was to search out a decent piece of branch to use as a staff (he was traveling light.)
Cheers,
Jim
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by DOUGSDEN » Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:25 pm

Ray,
Absolutely gorgeous staff! This thought just crossed my mind! From the 23rd Psalms...."My rod and my staff they comfort me". We know a flyrod is always a great joy and comfort whenever we use it! Now, your staff can comfort you too!
Feelin' a little biblical at times,
Moses
Fish when you can, not when you should! Anything short of this is just a disaster.
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Re: Teak Wading Staff (DIY Project)

Post by ronr » Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:39 pm

Ray.. bringing up a past topic, but so glad you created it. I'm on my second version of this DIY. I broke my first one yesterday. I wasn't wading when I broke it, but I learned this stick is not designed to lever large timbers out of a trail. It had served me well and not a moments hesitation to make a new one since the Ace Hardware still sold the broom stick and I salvaged the paracord from the first stick So thanks for another great SBS project from the mind of Letumgo!
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