Customer Reviews

84" Waxwood Staff

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised. I took my lead from another reviewer and ordered two. Both were OK but one was clearly thicker and straighter than the other. The wood was still fresh enough to straighten (wax wood eh...) Also, the wood seems to have been collected correctly so there is no splitting at the branch nodes. All in all, I plan to order more.

Even though the thickness is as advertised and the straightness is acceptable, I had hoped that one of the two I ordered might be the equal of a pole I bought a long time ago from Brendan Lai. No such luck, hence four stars. Maybe next time.

FYI, 200 grit paper gives the poles a smooth sliding surface after a couple of dozen passes.

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Time passes. It is now November 18, 2011.

Since writing the review above I've ordered two more poles. I've downgraded the rating to three stars for two reasons. One of the poles has started to shed "saw dust" from a lot of little holes, meaning it's infested. Out of the four poles I've ordered, only two of the poles were thick enough to be useful to me. Sadly, the infested pole was one of the good ones.

At this point I'm looking for a better source.

Waxwood rocks! It is a strong, surprisingly dense wood, given it's remarkable flexibility. This wood seems the perfect host for a spear head, which is why I bought it. It's surface is nothing less than a titillating topography, riddled with 'character'. The shaft is widest at one end, around 1.5" tapering to an inch or so at the opposite end. I ordered two here on Amazon 84" Waxwood Staff and one is remarkably beefy and about half again heavier than the other. Once I get the Cold Steel Warhead Spear tips Cold Steel Knife War Head with Sheath Md: 80PWH in place, and maybe a good dark walnut stain on these shafts, I may do a video review. So far, very impressed with these wendingly wild, Waxwood wonders!

Warmth, Wonder, and Wisdom to you, dear readers,


MR

Staff arrived in good condition. Longer than the usual waxwood staffs I found on line. Flexible. No evidence of the bugs that destroy this wood. I made this staff into a spear. Working well.

very straight waxwood staff, right length and diameter, fast delivery too!
definitely recommended if you are learning Chen spear (you will have to put your own spear head).

I am not impressed with this product. It was received with a double bend in it that I will try to straighten. It may be important to some users/stylists to note that it is heavier at base (1.3"/34mm)tapering at the top(.9"/23mm@72"), and has flats and knots (one @3/16"). Perhaps after straightening it will make a rough usable 4' jo. A 48" staff ordered at same time had a major bend to it, and a through knot 20" from base and the same taper rate as the bo.

I got my staff about a week ago today. When I first saw the package, I thought to myself "Aww man, they broke the staff in shipping" because the package had a good 3" bend in it. Turns out, it wasn't broken....it was just bent 3". The bend was right at a knot in the wood, which I can only guess was a sapling at one point, because the "stick" for lack of a better word tapered severly from end to end (even though the description said it was the same thickness at both ends). Also, there were "mini-knots" from where the sapling (again...just guessing) had branches pruned off and not smoothed out. The whole staff was just a sad mess. The only good thing was that when I called the company to complain, they sent me a brand new staff for free...no questions asked, which was actually pretty cool. I haven't gotten the new staff, but it should be here soon. So, I'll either have 1 bad and 1 good staff, or 2 crappy sticks that I can use to hit people who are hiding around corners....more to come.

The one I got wasn't perfectly straight, but it's durable as hell. I cut mine down to make a walking stick.