We have a few Irish members here.  Can anyone tell me a good, reputable dealer to buy a Shillelagh from?  Thanks.

Real Irish Blackthorn, or imitation? If you want a shillelagh without the full price I'd go with the wood and plastic Cold Steel model.

I'm not sure.  I'm in the checking things out mode.  I'm thinking about getting an authentic one, but the way I loose things that might not be such a good idea.  Cold Steel is certainly a good place to investigate.  Thanks.

You could make one.  Then you could get exactly what you want.  I've got one in the works now.  The Danish Oil just needs to finish drying.

I've got one of the Cold Steel shillelaghs and it is some piece. More like a club than a walking stick, but it sure looks real, even up close it is hard to tell from a real one. Plus, don't have to worry about the bark falling off which seems to be a common problem with real shillelaghs.

Do you mean the black coating?  That's not bark.  Or do you mean actual bark?

I mean the actual bark. I've had several real Shillelaighs and as they age and dry, the bark becomes brittle and chips off. :-/

Interesting... even the ones with the polyurethane coatings?

Yep! Even them. :-/

Have you tried some type of oil on them?  Bill

I've tried several different methods to try to keep them from flaking. I live in a fairly dry household however. While this is good for all my metal goodies it dries out any thing that needs to be kept in a more humid enviornment. It reeks havoc with my cigars also.

I usually strip the bark off the whole thing.  Eucalyptus bark is none too attractive.

Eucalyptus?

Blackthorn is "Prunus Spinosa" if I remember correctly.

Masiakasaurus wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2011 at 10:48pm:

Eucalyptus?

Yeah, euclayptus.  It's not exactly traditional, but it's light and durable, plus it's everywhere.

    I've made walking sticks from eucalyptus.  Like Thunder Chief says, "it's light and durable, plus it's everywhere." It grows very straight and you can usually find a piece with a knot at the end.  It's not the strongest wood out there but it's strong enough.  I lost my shovel handle walking stick.  I'm looking for something with Pit Bull stopping power to replace it.  

Hammacher Schlemmer sells blackthorn shillelaghs, now. Plus, they have an unlimited return policy as long as you keep the packing slip.

Rat Man wrote on Aug 27^th, 2011 at 8:48am:

I've made walking sticks from eucalyptus.  Like Thunder Chief says, "it's light and durable, plus it's everywhere." It grows very straight and you can usually find a piece with a knot at the end.  It's not the strongest wood out there but it's strong enough.  I lost my shovel handle walking stick.  I'm looking for something with Pit Bull stopping power to replace it.

I made a walking stich out of a shovel handle too, most likely ash. Cut a ram´s head in it and everything. Yeah, it would probably stop a pit bul....

If you used a shovel handle odds are that it's hickory. most are. hickory is an incredibly tough wood. you might also look into ordering osage orange wood if you want an extremely tough wood. it grows in the midwest and south from missouri to kansas, oklahoma, texas, and northern louisiana. it has been transplanted to many places though. some of the toughest wood known to man. as far as traditionally though i would guess that they would have been made from oak, ash, or maybe even douglas fir heartwood?

I was gonna say cold steel but was well beaten to it. That sucker is SOLID!

I have quite a collection of walking sticks, some are ornamental and some are functional and some are both. It all depends on what you are looking for. I have one of the Cold Steel Shillelaghs I bought it because I wanted a Shillelagh but wasn't quite ready to spend the money for a "real" one. It's functional, looks pretty good and I know if I mess it up too bad it can be replaced without much hassle.

The thing is extremely tough, I busted out a couple of windshields at my scrap yard just to see what it would do to the stick, nothing more then a scratch here and a scratch there. The only negative thing I can say about the stick is the the brown part of the head is just painted on and has a tendency to flake off if you drop it.