do NOT buy peeled rattan staffs, they will smash to bits when reasonable force is generated through them.
if possible, get the raw, unpeeled type. they will at least last a little and that peel wrap makes them stronger.
that’s my advice on purchasing staffs. 
rattan staves are good for nothing, period. peeled, unpeeled, whatever, they don’t last.
go with ash or hickory and make or get your own made…it’s not that expensive.
I got a dozen or so staves made for about $11 each. they were octagonal but a little hand sanding took the edges off and they rock.
Wrap the ends in athletic tape, and don’t slap it down on hard surfaces.
[QUOTE=Shaolin;702633]Wrap the ends in athletic tape, and don’t slap it down on hard surfaces.[/QUOTE]
wtf? hitting things is what they are intended for. if they can’t stand being smacked down hard what’s the point.
One of my teachers use to wrap his sticks with athletic tape like Shaolin mentioned.
be careful buying them from some of the Chinatown shops - if they have little holes or groves on the surface, this indicates termites (admittedly, this is less an issue now than years ago when that was the only option)
I personally buy all my “staffs” at one of two places: for heavier-weight, Bed Bath and Beyond (never thought that it was so “beyond”, didja?) in the curtain rod section - it’s usually some sort of pressed wood that won’t ever break, and your hands slide perfectly on the finished surface; for light-weight (relatively speaking - no competition version toothpicks for me, thank you very much), Home Depot, in the dowel section: pine wood, and just cut it to the length I want in the store; these, of course, are not going to be tapered, but who cares, really…
I will sometime wrap the tips in red duct tape, just for looks; the only thing I wrap fully are rattan arnis sticks - have had one pair for over 15 years that haven’t splintered yet - did two layers of the thick athletic tape: actually I just changed the tape again, and re-wrapped with silk tape used for hosipiital dressings, just because that’s what I had handy…we’ll see how that does
Oso - by whom did you get them made? a carpenter or just cut at a lumber yard? do you taper them? and where do you get ash / hickory in general?
i use rattan, i wrap the ends with duct tape.
works fine for a while. they still split and break after some heavy use, but meh, so what. its just a training staff. i have an abundant source for them and they are cheap. i like the way they move and feel. super light but still break bones. flexible enought to hold my weight. and i love the bounceback they have.
my advice for purchasing staffs is get something long and flexy and beat the hell outa it then get a new one when it breaks.
we have a good specialty lumber yard in town…almost everything you could think of: ash, elm, hickory, cherry, maple.
I bout some 2" stock and had a local woodworker cut and shape them in to octogans 7’ long and about 1 1/4" in diameter. The lumber was about $50 and it was about $70 for him to do the work. He didn’t have the capability to turn that length and didn’t know of anyone in town who did. they are straight. a little bit of butcher block oil (mineral oil) every month or so and they are sweet.
I’ve never seen a rattan staff that I thought would break any bone bigger than a finger.
my thought is: if you have the opportunity to have a superior weapon then do so.
gotta disagree with you oso.
I’ve used ash and shattered it. I’ve used oak and cracked it. I’ve used unpeeled rattan and not had a problem with it because of it’s whip like qualities and flexibility. At Staff width and length, hardwoods will break quicker than rattan.
Maybe you’ve just had access to really crappy rattan?
the peeled ones are crap though and for some reason they cost more???
lol
just saying.
maybe you had some crappy ash??? 
my only experience with rattan is via the usual channels of century, tc, awma…I’ll concede there are probably better sources. I’ve broken every rattan staff I’ve tried to spar with…and forget about any sort of na with them…to bendy.
I just don’t see how a well selected, well cured and well preserved ash staff is going to go wrong.
oh, and I wouldn’t use oak for anything longer than 3’ or so.
if it is a full branch scored down, then it’s good. If it’s a machined dowel, it’s crap.
you never know with machined dowels. best staffs are always one complete piece.
kinda confused that nobody’s mentioned wax wood, or am i missing something?
wax wood pwns
ur wrong about rattan
ive seen a rattan escrima stick shatter a coconut
here is my advice
if u do contemp wushu get wax wood
if u want to spar get bamboo
if you want to fight get rattan or some sort of hard wood
if u want traditional and to help develp power in general use hard wood
[QUOTE=David Jamieson;702771]if it is a full branch scored down, then it’s good. If it’s a machined dowel, it’s crap.
you never know with machined dowels. best staffs are always one complete piece.[/QUOTE]
confused, are you talking about ash still?
if machined dowels are so bad how come baseball bats are machined from ash blanks?
it’s the grain selection…like a fine beer…
and…‘bamboo’ ? are you serious? doesn’t last 5 seconds…even rattan lasts longer than that.
I would tell you where to buy staffs … but then you would mock me. LOL
hey, did you know that:
“Several companies have recently introduced bamboo baseball bats. Since bamboo chutes are hollow, unlike a standard tree that a wood bat is made of, bamboo bats are made by pressing bamboo “strips” into billets, and then turning these billets into bats. Bamboo is an extremely strong wood, with a tensile strength greater than that of steel”
bats are not made strctly from just ash blanks oso, it’s quite a process. Maple is increasingly popular, aluminum and hickory are used as well and the quote at top shows taht bamboo is making some headway into bat manufacturing.
but, apples and oranges when we are talking about staffs. Kind of like wondering why the titanic went down against an iceberg but a bass boat won’t …at least how I see it.
waxwood…I don’t really use it. It doesn’t have the strength of rattan and it is almost always spear shapes (thick one end, tapered to thin on teh other). So, it’s either a spear body or t 6.5 pole for wing chun, which is specific and I suppose some others use it. I can’t really comment on it as I’ve never really had an inclination to use a waxwood pole.
Greetings,
Question: Do any of you treat your weapons with a wood oil and varnish?
Re Rattan staffs: Before taping came into use (I am referring to serious staffs,here, not the toothpicks) rattan staves had brass caps or rings on the ends to prevent the splitting that you talk about. The additional feature was that such staves had the advantage, when swung at an opponent like a baseball bat, of being able to tear through skin.
Some of the older model 3 section staves are still made similarly.
mickey
not splitting. Shattering. like, into three pieces. 