Grrr. Well it looks as if I’m gonna need to do any kind of “distance” walking it’s gonna need to be with a stick, at least for the remainder of the year (if not forever). Both my heart dr and spinal dr concours that I should be using a stick as not so much as a walking aid but as a precaution to keep from falling when my back decides to try and kill me with the worse pain I've ever felt.

I have regular canes but have found I do much better with a longer hiking staff length of 54-60 inches long. This allows me to grab the stick and remain fully upright until the pain passes (usually 10-30 seconds). I also have a nice Blackthorn staff, think a long Shillelagh. But my source is no longer able to ship sticks that are more than 44 inches long and I need one at least 10 inches longer than that. I’ve tried looking after every “lead” for them and they are always way too short.
Then I stumbled upon Black Locust as a viable substitute. It has many of the qualities of the blackthorn and MIGHT be easier to source here. It will all depend on the weight of a stick for the size I listed above and how capable it would be in keeping me upright if I had to suddenly bear my weight on it to keep from falling down.

Anyone have other good suggestions? I don’t want to go over about a pound and a half of weight for the stick.