Making Hand Made Walking SticksWritten by Kay Zetkin
Walking sticks are useful walking aids before walking aid innovations are introduced. Even now, walking sticks are still very much handy for disabled and elderly individuals. Historically, hill men would never leave their houses without a stick to carry. Because of rugged environment, stick acted both as aid and companion. When sheep were already being herded, stick became a necessary and ready tool for catching and controlling animals. This was when plain sticks came to be called as “Shepherd’s Crook”, a working tool and a walking aid for hill men. To be sturdy and durable, shepherds themselves form their crooks from sheep’s horn. In order to produce sheep’s horn crook, they are exposed to heat from peat fire so that their shape would bend and then, carve them with knife. Most fine selections of these hand-made horn handled crooks and walking sticks can be found in Scotland. There are crook makers that specialize on handcrafting these sturdy, elegant and durable walking sticks. The hand-made walking sticks can be made from a variety of raw materials like Ram’s horn, Hazel shanks and buffalo horn. Ram’s horn is a traditional material used by crook makers, although, as of now, it is becoming increasingly scarce in a quality suitable for crook making. This may be due to changes in farming practice. Hazel shanks are gathered over winter in woods, burnsides and lakeshores. Then, they are stored to dry, for use on following year. Buffalo horns are now becoming favored material by crook makers. Asian water Buffalo horns produces interesting colors and textures and become striking crafts when finished.
| | Powered Suits as Walking Aids Written by Kay Zetkin
Now, persons that are disabled and impaired could say good bye to awkward crutches and cumbersome wheelchairs! Powered suits are now coming in style. There are teams of researchers particularly in Japan are developing “powered suits” that can support disabled or elderly individuals in their physical activities. Even individuals, who are not entirely disabled but have difficulty walking or performing actions such as standing up or sitting down have a special type of powered suit. Caregivers also have specially designed suits for boosting their strength and help them to perform physical tasks, such as lifting people they care for. These suits are designed to work by supplementing wearer’s own physical strength and can be used for everyday activities such as walking or for rehabilitation. Researchers from both industry and academia are continually improving their designs with goal of making them available for practical use in care and rehabilitation situations. Walking aids as a sort of powered suit are now being developed by a team of researchers in University of Tsukuba, Japan, led by Professor Sankai Yoshiyuki. Two main components are featured in this suit. First, is a metal frame that externally supports legs and has motor and sensors, attached, second component is a regulator that is carried on user’s back. The sensors affixed to surface of skin instantaneously pick up faint electrical signals transmitted from brain to muscles, as wearer starts to move. Then, it attempts to make motor’s action complement motion of wearer. The weight is not much of a burden to user since heel section is in contact with ground, though it’s about 23 kilograms.
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