Irish Blackthorn Walking Stick - Polypropylene

Irish Blackthorn Walking Stick - Polypropylene

Details:
- Overall length: approx. 94 cm
- Head length: approx. 7 cm
- Weight: approx. 800 g
- Thickness: approx. 2.5 cm (base), 3.5 cm (neck)
- Material: polypropylene

The blackthorn bush is found throughout Ireland and the British Isles. It has been prized for centuries as a material for premium walking sticks. The original blackthorn sticks were 2 to 4 foot long Irish shillelaghs, the national weapon of rural Ireland. In expert hands, the shillelagh was so fearsome that the English outlawed it during the final occupation of Ireland. To get around the law, the Irish turned the shillelagh into a 3-foot walking stick. As the English didn't want to appear unreasonable by outlawingwalking sticks too, the Irish got to keep their modified shillelaghs and the world gained a beautiful and functional walking stick known simply as the Blackthorn.

Over fifteen years ago, Cold Steel made the effort to obtain and sell authentic Blackthorn sticks, but the venture turned out to be disappointing: Although the sticks sold well, blackthorn is difficult to come by and somewhat inconsistent in quality.

Cold Steel's recent forays into injection-molded polypropylene products have yielded such impressive results, that they have now produced a new polypropylene Blackthorn with all the advantages of real blackthorn and none of its pitfalls.

This Irish Blackthorn walking stick is inspired by an authentic Blackthorn from the private collection of Cold Steel's President, Lynn C. Thompson. It was copied carefully, and then artfully modified to a point where it mimics nature. It is a superb faux Blackthornstick which will never warp, crack, swell up, or splinter and is easy to maintain with a little soap and water.