about ten or twelve years ago i came up with an idea to make those spiral walking sticks that everyone seems to want its simple to do but takes a couple years its like this ....in these wabash river bottoms theres a lot of maple trees growing everywhere theres water i took with me a pair of plyers and a roll of bailing wire found a stand of young maples mostly about two inches in diameter starting at the bottom i put about 7-8 wraps or wire up to about four feet then i twisted the wire real tight and secured it top and bottom ..so in the next two years these trees grew imbedding the wire into the trunk and eventually rusting away leaving a three inch in diameter five foot spiral to do with as you please ! these trees grow fast but with or without bark make a fine stick hope this helps rattsass