Walking stick hawks

[John Hawk]

These are a little spin-off on hawks. No one bullies up on Grandpa anymore.

[John Hawk]

Interesting, Mr. Boggs. I have some Ukrainian ancestry. Perhaps there's a genetic link to my inspiration to make these. Thanks,  John  (DBA  Dark Side Forge)

[Stormcrow]

Rather like that first one.  :)

[Charles R. Stevens]

I've seen shepards axes made from modified shingling axe heads

[VaughnT]

I would absolutely love to make one of those.  Draw down the cheeks a bit for a stronger joint between the two parts.... maybe an antler or bone cap on the top.  Yea, another project on the list!

[Frosty]

I like it, seems a popular item throughout history. Seems folk had reason. So, is Grandma tough enough she doesn't need one?

 

Well done all round.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Willis]

Check out any site for Polish Weapons from the Medieval period. These walking stick hawks were used by the Polish nobles of that period to beat the peasants with should they fail to pay their taxes. In fact the church outlawed the ax style head because the peasants were often killed. Instead they suggested a hammer type head so you could still punish the peasants rather than kill them. The nobles dont get paid,the church dont get paid.

This is of course only one of many stories you can find for the evolution of this type of 'walking stick'

[divermike]

I have been making walking sticks for years, it never occurred to me to do one of these, but now......

[Gergely]

Here are some things which nowadays are being called "fokos" around here, Hungary.

The first pic shows a bunch made by a blacksmiths in Northeastern-Hungary. The 2. pic shows a permanent trend: brass or copper is likely used to make fokos-es. (The big axe is an other thing, not considered as fokos.)

 

The fokos [fockosh or fawckawsh] itself is a Hungarian word, it means "poll-y"/"poll-ish" or "butt-y"/"butt-ish" - as it has longer poll/butt than an axe.

 

Best wishes

 

Gergely

 

 

 

 

BTW: I work on my first fokos right now.

[Willis]

I enjoy making these, but folks around here just wont buy them. Apparently it appears to be too much of a weapon. 

I bill them as 'swamp sticks'. We have a lot of national forest and protected wetlands around here and anything from snakes to alligators can come out of nowhere on some of these hiking trails trails. The first one I sold was to a little old lady who had trouble with her neighbors rot weiler as she walked the neighborhood.

[EtownAndrew]

I enjoy making these, but folks around here just wont buy them. Apparently it appears to be too much of a weapon. 

I bill them as 'swamp sticks'. We have a lot of national forest and protected wetlands around here and anything from snakes to alligators can come out of nowhere on some of these hiking trails trails. The first one I sold was to a little old lady who had trouble with her neighbors rot weiler as she walked the neighborhood.

I bet you would get lots of looks at them but I can see that someone would hesitate to buy one. However, I bet my brother in law would love to add one to his collection of walking sticks.