rusty nail
White Belt
I have been a student of the cane for several years now. By far my personal preference is to the hickory wood cane. Having owned a Cold Steel City Stick after exposure to hickory crook handled canes, my City Stick now rests comfortably by the fire place in the tools holder.
My first encounter with Rural King's $9.00 hickory cane was a very favorable one. The burnt hickory design of the cane is relatively attractive and the quality of the cane was found to be superior with a varnish finish. The only thing that I needed to add to the cane was a rubber tip, which I purchased at a local hardware store. I was so impressed that I ordered a second one for my son.
The second cane that arrived was extremely substandard, with the crook offset from the shaft of the cane to the extent that it was simply unusable due to balance issues. To Rural King's credit, I emailed Josh Norman, the Rural King's sales manager to express my displeasure and I was invited to return the substandard cane with Mr. Norman's promise that the replacement would be of the same quality as the original cane that I received. His words proved to be true.
On my anniversary my wife ordered a Cane Masters Custom Combat Cane for me as a gift.
The cane arrived and I was impressed with the carved grips as well as the "bird's head" horn of the cane. The matter that I was not impressed with was that the cane was unfinished wood. Upon contacting Cane Masters I was told that I could return the cane for a refund if I was dissatisfied. My wife and I elected to finish the cane ourselves, which we did with a tung oil/high gloss varnish product. This finish brought out the true beauty of the wood.
Upon comparison the Cane Masters cane was slightly heavier than the Rural King cane. Aside from the grips and the stylized horn on the Cane Masters product I found the canes to be comparable with the crook of the Cane Masters cane slightly larger than the Rural King product.
I have used the Cane Masters cane for daily practice on my body bag that I have hung in the garage and I have elected to carry the Rural King cane in daily travels. I have found that practicing with the heavier cane results in a superior ability in manipulating the lighter cane. I am much quicker with the lighter cane and the weight difference between the two is surprisingly small. The defensive potential between the two is the same, in my opinion.
Both canes are very sturdy products and I have never been questioned in any manner carrying either cane in public.
As a practical matter I have found the primary factor between the two canes to be price, with the balances tipped heavily in favor of Rural King. One might think that the differences between a $9.00 cane and a $70.00 cane to be very great. I have personally found that the primary difference, aside from the grips and horn, was that the Rural King cane was finished with varnish upon my receipt of it where as the Cane Masters cane was unfinished.
The differences manifest by the grips and the horn of the Cane Masters cane were simply not that big a factor for me personally.
Of course in the final analysis canes are a lot like wives. The things that you love about your wife may be different than the things I love about mine.
My first encounter with Rural King's $9.00 hickory cane was a very favorable one. The burnt hickory design of the cane is relatively attractive and the quality of the cane was found to be superior with a varnish finish. The only thing that I needed to add to the cane was a rubber tip, which I purchased at a local hardware store. I was so impressed that I ordered a second one for my son.
The second cane that arrived was extremely substandard, with the crook offset from the shaft of the cane to the extent that it was simply unusable due to balance issues. To Rural King's credit, I emailed Josh Norman, the Rural King's sales manager to express my displeasure and I was invited to return the substandard cane with Mr. Norman's promise that the replacement would be of the same quality as the original cane that I received. His words proved to be true.
On my anniversary my wife ordered a Cane Masters Custom Combat Cane for me as a gift.
The cane arrived and I was impressed with the carved grips as well as the "bird's head" horn of the cane. The matter that I was not impressed with was that the cane was unfinished wood. Upon contacting Cane Masters I was told that I could return the cane for a refund if I was dissatisfied. My wife and I elected to finish the cane ourselves, which we did with a tung oil/high gloss varnish product. This finish brought out the true beauty of the wood.
Upon comparison the Cane Masters cane was slightly heavier than the Rural King cane. Aside from the grips and the stylized horn on the Cane Masters product I found the canes to be comparable with the crook of the Cane Masters cane slightly larger than the Rural King product.
I have used the Cane Masters cane for daily practice on my body bag that I have hung in the garage and I have elected to carry the Rural King cane in daily travels. I have found that practicing with the heavier cane results in a superior ability in manipulating the lighter cane. I am much quicker with the lighter cane and the weight difference between the two is surprisingly small. The defensive potential between the two is the same, in my opinion.
Both canes are very sturdy products and I have never been questioned in any manner carrying either cane in public.
As a practical matter I have found the primary factor between the two canes to be price, with the balances tipped heavily in favor of Rural King. One might think that the differences between a $9.00 cane and a $70.00 cane to be very great. I have personally found that the primary difference, aside from the grips and horn, was that the Rural King cane was finished with varnish upon my receipt of it where as the Cane Masters cane was unfinished.
The differences manifest by the grips and the horn of the Cane Masters cane were simply not that big a factor for me personally.
Of course in the final analysis canes are a lot like wives. The things that you love about your wife may be different than the things I love about mine.
) are both near and dear to my heart. First, they're legal. Second, they're practical--with my injury list, never know when I might pull/strain/break something--again, and need one to get around. 
