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Thread: Wading Staff

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    409

    Default Wading Staff

    Just read an account by a new tenkara angler who on his first trip with his brand new rod slipped, fell and broke the rod on a rock. One of the nice things about tenkara is that your other hand is free - to use a wading staff. I don't know if having a staff would have prevented his fall, but mine has prevented me from falling many, many times.

    A wading staff doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be expensive. I make them frequently because they are cheaper to make than they are to check as baggage. A shovel or hoe handle, available at any big box home improvement or farm implement store, along with a bit of parachute cord makes a dandy wading staff that is both strong and quiet.

    The biggest advantage that a wooden, non-folding wading staff has over the folding aluminum ones is not the stealth factor, though, it is that it will not be folded and holstered on your belt when you start to fall. I don't care how fast a draw you are, when you have started to fall you will not have time to deploy your staff before it is too late. And funny as it may sound, you don't always know you are going to fall ahead of time!

    Most people with the folding staffs only seem to use them in deep, fast current, but consider this: The rocks are just as slick under 2" of water as they are under 2' of water. If you slip and fall in knee deep water you'll get wet. If you slip and fall in ankle deep water you can break rods - or bones.
    Tenkara Bum

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Bloomington, Indiana
    Posts
    133

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    I too use a wooden staff with a wrapped handle. As I have grown old, my balance and strength have significantly diminished, and my staff, which I formerly viewed as an occasional wading aid, is now a full-time wading (and hiking on rough ground) necessity.

    My current staff is a piece of found wood (from the banks of the Beaverhead in Montana) whose bark looks like cherry wood. I drilled a hole through it at the top so I could add a short length of para cord as a tether; when I am using both hands in the stream, I can release the staff, and it, tethered to my belt, floats beside me, ready when needed.

    I attach the tether to the staff by a loop-to-loop and remove it when hiking.

    For me, my staff reminds me of that old AMEX-card slogan, "Don't leave home without it."
    Last edited by Paul Arnold; 11-25-2012 at 05:11 AM.

  3. #3

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    Yeah,I don't get too far without it reminding me,always looking down.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Highlands Ranch, CO
    Posts
    27

    Default

    I got several wading staffs that I haven't been using but should - a point I will make during this Winter or at the latest next Spring.

    The question I have though, what is the "right" size of wading staff, i.e. what is the right length compared to one's physique? Are there any guidelines just like there are for ski poles?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Bloomington, Indiana
    Posts
    133

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    Because I use mine for hiking as well as for wading, my handle is located so that when I grasp the staff my forearm is horizontal when the staff is vertical and its tip is resting on the ground. Some may prefer a longer staff for wading, but I do not.

  6. #6

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    Having used a cane or staff for long walking I agree with horizontal forearm.What ever is comfortable

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by CM_Stewart View Post
    The biggest advantage that a wooden, non-folding wading staff has over the folding aluminum ones is not the stealth factor, though, it is that it will not be folded and holstered on your belt when you start to fall. I don't care how fast a draw you are, when you have started to fall you will not have time to deploy your staff before it is too late. And funny as it may sound, you don't always know you are going to fall ahead of time!

    Most people with the folding staffs only seem to use them in deep, fast current, but consider this: The rocks are just as slick under 2" of water as they are under 2' of water. If you slip and fall in knee deep water you'll get wet. If you slip and fall in ankle deep water you can break rods - or bones.
    That's a very good point and why I make a conscience effort to keep my folding staff (Simms) deployed until I am safely back at camp.
    Trout don't speak Latin.

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