Thumbsticks
Thumbsticks
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Click on any image for further details and pictures. | Price (in pounds sterling) | Click below | |
124 | A ram's horn and dog-rose thumbstick. Slim but strong. | SOLD |
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120 | An antler thumbstick/monopod. The head is removable, enabling the ash shank to be used as a camera support. | SOLD |
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117 | A thumbstick with antler head on a very attractive cherry wood shank. | SOLD |
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114 | A natural ash thumbstick, tipped with roe deer antler coronets. | SOLD |
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110 | A natural black cherry thumbstick, tipped with cow horn. | SOLD |
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089 | An antler and golden hazel thumbstick. | SOLD |
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082 | A wading thumbstick. Sycamore head on a turned birds-eye maple shank. | SOLD (a commissioned work) |
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068 | A thumbstick. Antler head on a rugged silver/gold hazel shank. | SOLD |
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065 | An elegant and comfortable thumbstick. A natural sycamore fork mounted on a dog-rose shank. | SOLD |
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062 | Another unusual thumbstick: the head consists of two antler tines mounted on a black buffalo horn base. Silver/gold hazel shank. | SOLD |
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042 | Thumbstick: Rowan head on a stripped hazel shank. | SOLD |
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021 | Freestlyle thumbstick: Single-tined antler head on a hazel shank. Not a proper thumbstick as it lacks the normal V-shaped head, but it's held in much the same way. | SOLD |
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051 | A most unusual thumbstick: muntjac deer antlers on a burr elm base, mounted on a long, slim stripped willow shank. | SOLD |
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043 | Thumbstick: Rowan head on a stripped and stained ash shank. | SOLD |
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041 | Thumbstick: Rowan head on a thicker stripped willow shank. | SOLD |
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039 | Prizewinning thumbstick: Rowan head on a stripped willow shank. | SOLD |
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036 | Thumbstick: Walnut head on a mottled silver/gold hazel shank. | SOLD |
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033 | Thumbstick: Buffalo horn head on a blackthorn shank, with embellishments. Made to the requirements of a lady client. | SOLD (a commissioned work) |
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020 | Thumbstick: 3-tined antler head on a very long partially-stripped ash shank. | SOLD |
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018 | Thumbstick: Antler and Karanda head on a long twisty hazel shank. | SOLD |
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010 | Thumbstick: Kvangkol (an African hardwood) head on a short twisty hazel shank. | SOLD |
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Home | Sticks For Sale | Antler Sticks | Collectors' Sticks | Horn Sticks | Market Sticks & Crooks | "Womble" Sticks | One-Piece Sticks | Other Sticks | Work in hand | Stick FAQ | About Stickmaking Materials | Custom Sticks Price Guide | Feedback from customers & visitors | Contact me | Useful links | |||
About thumbsticks...
The thumbstick is essentially a hiker's tool. It has a long shank and is topped by a "Y"-shaped head. It is normally gripped with the thumb in the notch at just below shoulder height. The length of the stick is handy for probing boggy ground and scrambling over rough terrain, while the V shape is useful for lifting aside brambles and other obstructions, as well as supporting a long camera lens, binoculars or gun barrel.
The traditional thumbstick is made in one piece from a suitably forked hazel, blackthorn or ash stem. This, however, rarely produces a really satisfactory stick. Firstly, it is difficult to find a natural fork which just fits the thumb comfortably; and secondly, such a stick will be thinner at the top than it is at the bottom. This unbalances the stick, and unless you are very lucky you will find the stick wants to swing at a slower rate than your stride, making hard work of what should fall into a natural rhythm. Most thumbsticks that I've seen of this type have had chunks whittled out of the Y in an attempt to make it fit the thumb (usually unsuccessfully). It can sometimes be done right, but in most cases the stick was never in my opinion suitable for a thumbstick in the first place.
The alternative is to fashion a stick the "right way round" using a conventional shank with a separate Y-shaped head, which may be cut from horn or hardwood, or from suitably-shaped tines of a deer antler. One day I'll find a suitable stem to make a one-piece thumbstick that works. In the meantime, here are my fabricated thumbsticks...
(I have now made a number of very successful thumbsticks by marrying natural Y-shaped sections of slim branches to conventional shanks. This produces a very strong and natural-looking stick, the grain conforming to the shape of the head. To my mind this is a better solution than carving a head from a solid slab of wood, where compromises must often be made in choosing the alignment of the grain. I always have an eye out for suitably-shaped pieces and have cut quite a number over the past couple of years from rowan, sycamore, lilac, hazel and other woods, so my acquisitive nature is beginning to pay off!)
Home This page last updated Wednesday, 13 December 2006
