DIY Network

DIY People: Hiking Sticks

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DIYer Jerry King is an expert wood carver who creates and teaches students how to create extraordinary hiking sticks. Before he gets started with the carving process, Jerry has to remove the bark. The next step is to actually start carving the walking stick. As this close-up proves, Jerry's designs are detailed, intricate and unique. Here's Jerry with one of his favorite creations, a Honeysuckle Snake walking stick.

"If you don't want to cut yourself ... don't put any body part in front of the sharp blade." That's the simple but good advice that wood carver Jerry King first gives students taking his carving class at the John C. Campbell Folk Art School in Brasstown, North Carolina. One of the classes Jerry teaches is how to make and carve hiking staffs. And he is well qualified in this area.


"My father got me started in wood carving," explains Jerry, "when I was eight years old. He was an electrician but he could make several things with just a pocketknife. Every spring he would make whistles from small Poplar tree limbs and he taught me how to make a whistle the same way." Jerry, however, did not limit his wood carving interests to just making whistles.


"I built a passive solar house, built my own saw-mill, I make banjos and I make walking staffs." he says. "I'm doing the same thing my ancestors did but with a little more modern conveniences."


"Wood carving is pleasing to me," Jerry says. "It's the same as fishing for some folks, I guess. And building banjos is very rewarding, especially when you hear someone else play them," he laughs.


Jerry particularly enjoys making hiking sticks or walking staffs, as they are sometimes called. "It's very relaxing," he explains. "I can sit down and work on a hiking stick and be completely relaxed. And when I'm finished, I end up with something that I can keep and be proud of."


"Wood carving is probably one of the most simple things you can do," Jerry says. "All you need is a small saw, a pocket knife and a stick. Some pruning shears do help to get the small limbs off." As for a source of sticks, Jerry suggest that if you don't have property with trees you can cut, consider a lumber yard waste lot or some place that growing trees are usually cut anyway, such as near power lines.


Jerry's favorite trees for carving are Sourwood and Poplar. "Both of those are very common and easy to come by," he says. "Sourwood is a very dense, hard wood and Poplar is just a little softer." For projects that require intricate carving, Jerry sometimes uses White Pine. "It's soft and fairly strong after it dries," he explains. But he recommends using it for decorative purposes only and not for making a staff that you actually intend to use for hiking.


"Most of my carved sticks pertain to either farm animals or something I find in nature," Jerry says. "Birds, snakes or whatever I happen to see." One common element to all of Jerry's hiking sticks is safety. "There are good ways to carve and bad ways to carve," he cautions. "And learning the safe way is very important."


For those interested in learning to carve, Jerry suggests taking a class. "If you don't want to go that route," he explains, "then get yourself a pocket knife, cut down a small sapling and start whittling to see if you like it. The great thing about whittling is that you only have the expense of a pocketknife. And then, if you find you like it, you can go further."