Bamboo

[ShadowAlpha]

loads of it in my area of GA

shug -- I like the wind chime idea

[Roadrunnr72]

Turtle Lady made an awesome portable hammock stand from bamboo poles. I'm wanting to find some down here to make my own. My regular one is kind of heavy to transport.

Would like to see some pics!! I tried to build one. It worked until the bamboo split down the middle. Lucky I wasn't in it.

[Trout]

You can get bamboo stakes at either gardening centers, womens craft stores, and sometimes box store lumber stores. A great choice is a play-it-again stores. They have old cross country ski poles that are bamboo that are durable for around $7 a pair. Gossemergear sells great cork grips.

[Shadowmoss]

RR: I keep making comments hoping she will break down and talk about it.

[Browny]

I have just been out this afternoon and cut a load from near my workplace. There is about a half acre of the stuff !

Brought a few corms (?) home and planted them outback, saves me the drive someday.

Personally, they make great tomato stakes.

Gunna go back for some of the older/chunky 'boo to play with when it's all dry. See if I cant come up with a few new toys.

[spursfiend]

Turtle Lady made an awesome portable hammock stand from bamboo poles. I'm wanting to find some down here to make my own. My regular one is kind of heavy to transport.

I'd like to see pics of that if you have/can get some!

[grok]

Hobby Lobby if you can't find it wild. I cut off two sections and added it to the end of an aluminum walking stick from walmart. one section to attatch to the pole second section for a nice survival tube. I keep fishing gear and fire starting gear. seal it with a cork or (I bought two walking sticks) the rubber tip on the other one. A little duct tape just around the handle for blisters and what-not and voila! Also use the stick for a two point tie out for my rain fly. Patent pending

[trinni]

I'm also interested in the usability of bamboo a) used as a walking stick and b) as a tree-substitute when there's only one or no tree present . Are there "good" experiences with bamboo? What is the diameter you'd recommend? Is it possible to do some maths?

Some ideas:
I think something needs to be placed between the tip of the stick and the ground to distribute the forces to a wider surface s.t. the stick does not sink into the ground. Maybe a small piece of something (whatever) very solid on something less solid but bigger might work? stick -> solid piece of something -> less solid piece of something bigger -> ground

[JohnSawyer]

http://www.lowes.com/pd_56475-507-SB...3FNtt%3Dbamboo



$4 ea, finished and shiny, about 3/4" diameter, 6' long, and sturdy...

Works for me!

[DiscoveryDiver]

Random musings about bamboo...

Like many of the posters said, it grows like weeds here as well. We have a bunch of it growing across the street...

The roots look like alien stalks and are almost unstoppable...coming up under roads, through the floors of traditional houses (no cement floor/cellar), going under fences, etc.

In Kyoto (and other areas) there is a bamboo variety that grows to almost a foot in diameter...a very beautiful green. there's an incredible variety of bamboo, I think at least 20 species in my area...

It grows at an incredible rate, and hence consumes something like 6 times more CO2 than your average plant (whatever that is ) but gives off that 6X more when it is burned. (I' sure a quick visit to Wiki would amend these vague figures.)

It's sometimes used for katana cutting practice, inside a wara (reed/grass bundle) or alone, to approximate the cutting resistance of the spinal cord . Even as strong as traditionally-made katana blade is, hitting a 2 or 3 inch piece of bamboo with a misaligned swing arc can and will damage/bend a blade (and make the owner cry). I've done it before in my early days, luckily, with cheap blades.

Four or five years ago, I bought some beautiful bamboo flooring to replace the tatami flooring in one of our rooms, but we moved in and filled that room with our stuff before I got to replace the floor, so now I may NEVER get to do it...