Hiking medallions or badges are a great way to display your hiking spirits. The medallions are attached to the head of your walking or hiking stick. Hiking medallions are symbols of wilderness, preservation, an affiliation group, or some other outdoor activities.
Hiking stick medallions are incredibly elegant and turn a simple stick into something that can be passed on and cherished. Hiking sticks were commonly known as walking sticks back during the time of Pharaoh. The walking sticks aided people to walk on difficult roads or steep places.
The walking sticks can be anything that helps you to walk, they can be found on the roadside or they can be bought with an extremely huge amount of money. What more would you want as decorations for your precious sticks than hiking/walking medallions? For that to be possible, you will need to know the best way to attach your hard-earned medallions to your walking sticks.
This is a guide, where you will learn the simplest and most effective way to add hiking medallions to your precious walking/hiking sticks. Let’s get started by listing out the steps:
- Preparing your hiking sticks
- Shaping the medallions
- Attaching it to your sticks
Preparing Your Hiking Sticks
Hiking medallions are a luxury for travel enthusiasts and make your traveling items a perfect showcase. They can be attached to different equipment like a backpack, Jacket, walking sticks, etc. But the most common place which is used is the hiking sticks which people use to boast it to others.
Firstly, to attach a medallion, your hiking stick is supposed to have a suitable surface; which is a wooden body which is thick enough so that the badge when wrapped around doesn’t overlap. If you bought your hiking stick from the market, then they mostly come already sealed and you are good to go, but if the sticks are handmade or you found them somewhere outside then it is important to prepare them well before attaching a medallion.
You will need to sand your whole hiking stick with grit sandpaper and then apply a top coat such as a polyurethane finish or wax. This will polish your hiking stick and provide an attractive shiny surface to attach your hiking medallion.
Shaping The Medallions
As for the next step, you will need to shape your medallions into proper shapes that will fit your hiking stick perfectly. You will need to roll your medallions to fit the circular body of your stick without damaging the medallion or the stick’s body. This is how you can do it.
Place the medallion on top of your hiking stick flat on its surface and gently roll it around the hiking stick to match its shape. You might face some trouble bending the medallions with a perfect shape so here is a trick to do so.
You can use a needle-nose plier to aid you in the process. But, since using a nose plier will result in damage to the medallion or the stick, I recommend putting a cloth above the medallion before using the plier to prevent it from scratches or any other damage.
Be sure to bend the medallions slowly with precision to get a perfectly shaped body. Remember to check the spacing between the stick and the medallion as the gap might fill with dust over time and become a hassle to clean off.
Attaching It to Your Stick
There are multiple ways you can attach your precious medallions to your hiking stick. You can try gluing it directly, binding it, or you can nail it into the wooden stick. Since the usage of glue or epoxy to attach medallions might damage them, here I’ll be teaching you the most effective way of attaching your medallion, and that is nailing it perfectly into your stick.
If you purchase medallions, you might get small nails with them and two or three holes around your medallion edges to nail it into the stick. This is an important part of the whole process so read carefully.
You have to make sure that, while you hammer your nails into your wooden stick, it must not start bending or getting out of shape. To do so, you will again need a nose plier or something to hold it in place to not injure yourself.
Place the medallion on top of your stick’s body where you want it and start hammering it with caution. Use the pliers to place the nails through the holes in their position and start hammering them slowly from the top. After the nails are somewhat inside the wooden body, you can remove the pliers and hammer it deeper till the medallion is firmly stuck to your hiking/walking stick.
Remember to check whether it wobbles or not, you will need to hammer it properly if that happens. You can use a cloth to prevent the medallion from being damaged by all the hammering.
Removing Medallions
While medallions are supposed to be permanently attached to your hiking sticks, if you want to remove them, there are multiple methods as well. You won’t have any problem if you have attached your hiking medallions to your stick with the help of any adhesives. You can simply put hot water over the medallion for a certain time and peel it off with ease or force. But if you have nailed them to your wooden sticks, it will be a bit tricky.
You won’t be able to pull out the nail with a pincer plier or a nail remover as it is under the medallion. You will need to get a tool similar to a crowbar but so thin that it would fit under the medallion’s body. Since that type of tool is not possible to find, you will have to get a thread that is sturdy enough to lift the nailed medallion. After you lift it to a certain height you can use your needle-nose plier to pull the full nail out of the body of the wooden stick.
Since the medallion once attached is not supposed to be pulled out, you cannot complain about your damaged medallion and stick.
Hiking medallions are not just an ornament to show off, it is a precious memory from your favorite hikes and a mark of achievement to boast about.
FAQ
Is it necessary to complete hiking to get medallions?
Frankly, to get a medallion, it is not necessary to complete the hiking trail or participate in any hiking trips but in some locations, you will be able to earn a medallion if you complete the hike.
Where to get a hiking medallion?
You can purchase medallions of your taste from any retail shops that sell them, but mostly you will find them in the national park service. You can also become a collector of sorts by collecting hiking medallions of different regions.
Can Medallions be attached to all types of hiking sticks?
Medallions can be attached to all types of hiking sticks with different methods. If you get a metal, carbon, or fiberglass hiking stick, you can use adhesives like glue or epoxy to secure your medallions to your stick.
The promising type of stick for your medallions though is a wooden stick. The medallions need to be nailed to the wooden sticks so it guarantees your precious medallion’s safety better than any adhesive.