Well ... that depends. I have a friend who is a quite successful decorative woodturner, and he often incorporates flaws into his works -- to a very nice effect.
Well ... I have two old straight canes.
The first of them (which I described before in this thread) has a copper ferrule around the tip and the OD measures at 0.582".
The second is a dark wood (mahogany or ebony, with black lacquer), with a handle in the form of a hand griping something about the size of cigar (whale tooth for both parts), and an ivory or bone tip at the ground end which measures 0.607" diameter.
And as both of these have rubber cane caps on them to allow use indoors without slipping or marring finely finished wooden floors, these measurements were made perhaps 5/8" up from the bottom, so slightly larger in diameter than the smallest end. And I've had no problems using them outdoors on normal paths without the caps. Granted, on soggy ground they would sink in, but then so would the feet. :-)
Granted, There are times when something to protect yourself is advisable.
There were also a lot of people who carried small pistols for such confrontations.
Hmm ... you might want to try it with that and with a real fencing sword for comparison. I think that ball handle would lose in terms of control.
This I consider the more useful end for dog repelling.
Perhaps so -- but you would need tools to remove the hook and install the point given the diameter of the wire which forms the eye.
You're talking about current times. Since the cane was dated
1870, and it was presumed that it was dated for the date of birth of the owner, then we can probably consider the period in which iw might have been used to be around 1890 to 1940 or so -- before it was problematic to shoot a dog which was attacking you.
You might also have frogs fly out your ass as well. Pasta seems more practical, and it passes the anal sphincter easier..after its been cooked.
We all can testify to all the limping, gunless copsf, who had them stolen, or shot themselves with theirs. Maybe they should have carried sticks, ne?
And when the second dog jumps you from the side, ripping out your hamstrings, you can do a Mary Poppins and simply fly away with your bumblechute.
Might work well with a Yorkie, if you smash him in the head with that
1 1/4" brass knob..but its not going to do much good with those two pit bulls.
"[L]iberals are afraid to state what they truly believe in, for to do so would result in even less votes than they currently receive. Their methodology is to lie about their real agenda in the hopes of regaining power, at which point they will do whatever they damn well please. The problem is they have concealed and obfuscated for so long that, as a group, they themselves are no longer sure of their goals. They are a collection of wild-eyed splinter groups, all holding a grab-bag of dreams and wishes. Some want a Socialist, secular-humanist state, others the repeal of the Second Amendment. Some want same sex/different species marriage, others want voting rights for trees, fish, coal and bugs. Some want cradle to grave care and complete subservience to the government nanny state, others want a culture that walks in lockstep and speaks only with intonations of political correctness. I view the American liberals in much the same way I view the competing factions of Islamic fundamentalists. The latter hate each other to the core, and only join forces to attack the US or Israel. The former hate themselves to the core, and only join forces to attack George Bush and conservatives." --Ron Marr
I can't help wondering whether you watch only a very little television, or perhaps even none at all. Let me explain why I wonder. Lest the faint-hearted be reading this, fear not - no dogs are involved!
In Gloucester (UK) city centre, there is (or was) a Sainsbury's supermarket with a (well-used) back exit onto a side road. Across the street is (or was) a seating area, perhaps 30 yards from the shop exit. One busy, sunny Saturday morning about - oh, it has to be at least N years ago, if not longer, I was sitting on one of the benches, half-reading one of those wastes of moneyESC3b3cwcomputer magazines and half-watching the world go by.
A woman emerged from the supermarket, pushing a trolley about half-full of heavy shopping. A very young child (maybe 2-3 years) rode in the child seat. Unwittingly, the woman pushed the trolley over an extremely uneven part of the paving, and the trolley started to tip. She tried to correct for it, but wasn't quite strong enough to do so, and it was clear that she was going to lose this battle. The shopping would soon be all over the road - and the child might easily sustain an injury.
But the woman wasn't giving up easily, and was losing the battle sslloowwllyy. I could see that all she needed was one kind person to offer her an extra Newton or two in the required direction, and there were at least ten people closer to her than I was, most of whom had noticed what was happening and several of whom had actually stopped walking, so I just watched, waiting for one of them to react. After all, they were much, much closer than I was, and they were already standing up!
But nobody went to her. Not *one* person.
After about 10 seconds (half an eternity if you're the one fighting the trolley), I realised that nobody was going to move an inch for this poor woman, so I ran over as fast as I could, grabbed the basket *just* in time, hauled it upright, and moved it to safer paving.
By the time I'd got home, I'd worked out what I consider to be the most likely explanation for the lack of help - TOO MUCH TV!
People have become accustomed to seeing the most distressing situations unfold before their eyes, without being able to *do* anything. Que sera, sera! They are so used to not being in a position to help, that they have got out of the way of helping. They have become de-sensitised to other people's danger, so they just watch, and watch, and watch. And then they say how terribly sad it all is.
(Note that the "fear for personal safety" explanation, which also occurred to me, didn't really apply here - nobody could seriously believe, surely, that the woman would turn on them if they helped her.)
Having been a television non-watcher for quite a few years, I had not been de-sensitised in the same way, and so I was free to help. (I claim no great credit for this - I know that any rec.puzzler, metalworker, or woodworker would have done the same if they'd been present.)
My closing moral is taken from the theme song of a weekend television program in the late 1970s:
Sitting at home, watch TV Turn it off, no good to me Why don't you? Why don't you? Why don't youswitchoffyourtelevisionsetgoanddosomethinglessboringinstead?
ObPuzzle/ObMetalwork/ObWoodwork: can you devise a suitable ObPuzzle/ObMetalwork/ObWoodwork suffix to a cross-post to rec.crafts.metalworking, rec.puzzles, and rec.woodworking, that could possibly compensate for straying so far off-topic? Recursive solutions are acceptable!
I agree with Gunner. If it's true that's very unfortunate. I think it's also education. No one seems to be taught to help others. Slightly sideways to that: When I was home at Christmas my nephews (kids) were playing Halo 3. I said to one of them that I thought they should get shocked if they got hit. Basicly he said no one would play if it hurt to screw up. On the other hand. He's the only nephew that isn't trained in a martial art. I think they should all be trained in first aid and martial arts from the time they're little. Karl
This is quite a co-incidence. I live in the UK and on Wednesday of this week I visited Gloucester and looked around. I went into a folk museum that was opposite a church, it was free entry and an excellent way to spend an hour or two. There was a section on eels/elvers, very popular around that area because of the River Severn. There on the wall was... a cane like stick with a pointy bit at the bottom very similar to RH's "What is it" pic! PS to EZ Peaces There was no mention of a surveyor :)
If it's not for eeling in Gloucester it could be for the sport of poking trolls out from under their bridges. ( I once knew a dog owning Spanish troll who did a bit of surveying as a sideline. )
I met her once on the banks of The Severn, a blonde woman who walked with a stick and carried a bag of surveyors tools. After I had shown interest in her theodolite she invited me to spend an hour or so "eeling" with her. She expertly used her stick to hook the eels from the river. Obviously a woman of many talents.
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