walking stick plaques?

[garnet carlson]

Hi Camino Veterans, I am wondering if the small villages/towns on the camino have walking stick plaques. I love to decorate my walking stick and it makes for a wonderful reminder of the places visited. Thanks in advance, Garnet Carlson

 

[C clearly]

I don't remember seeing them at all in Spain.

 

[Anamya]

I will make a VERY silly question: what is a walk stick plaque?

 

[Urban Trekker]

I will make a VERY silly question: what is a walk stick plaque?

It's a bendable metal badge like the bike manufacturers label their bikes with that can be glued to a trekking pole but is usually nailed to a wooden hiking staff. I have looked for them but have never seen them.
Buen Camino

 

[Kurt5280]

I only ever found one Camino walking stick medallion...and I found it on eBay.

 

[nellpilgrim]

Hi Garnet those little plaques are very common on the German Jakobswegs (in fact all over Germany and Austria) and the Swizz Via Jacobi but not in France (so far but I've a way to go) and I never saw them for sale in Spain.

 

[Devon Mike]

Sounds like yet another Camino business opportunity....

 

[t2andreo]

E-gads! But that would add weight! I think NOT!

But, I am certain that for some people, it might be a nice idea.

 

[Tia Valeria]

The only medallions we have seen are flat, not curved for sticks, so I have put mine onto a leather strap and hung them off my pack. It might be possible to fix this type to a stick but I think it would be likely to damage the stick and with only one hole they could swing and catch and pull off.

 

[JohnCP43]

They are not very common. I found some (2 designs) in , I believe. Rocamador in France near the Basilica. Also in St. Jean Pied de Port (4 designs) downstairs in a souvenir shop on right side of main street as you're heading out of town. Also on CP in Valenca. They as noted by others are more common in other parts of Europe. There are several types - one of the more common being an Al shield shaped design. The picture is actually a paper backed sticker that one can carefully remove & sometimes peel the backing off so that it can be stuck to a metal walking stick. Some also in Santiago.
I also collect elongated pennies - one puts a penny and 50 c to one euro in machine and either push button on electric machine or turn crank on manual version and voila! An oval thin medallion with a local design on it. These are thin enough they can be bent around a wooden staff and attached with 2 small nails (brads) through holes you've drilled in them.
Yes, that's a lot of very arcane information and yes, I probably should have other things to do with my life but, well, what can I say.
Good hunting and buen camino!

 

[Kurt5280]

I probably should have other things to do with my life but, well, what can I say.

"There is a very fine line between hobbies and mental illness." - Author Dave Berry - "25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years"

 

[Stivandrer]

The old "tourist industry" had machines where tou get the plaques and roll them so as bend them into the size of your stick. Seen some along the route, but did not check if they were working !
oops this is what John just wrote about, sorry..!

 

[RoryGentry]

I found about 4 of them when I did the Camino in 2013 and 2014. In the larger cities, I had to specifically ask shopkeepers where to find them.

 

[HaraldS]

those little plaques are very common on the German Jakobswegs (in fact all over Germany and Austria)

I cannot confirm that; there's a discussion in the German Pilgerforum which did not show much results. Walking stick badges are barely used as hikers tend to use collapsable walking poles instead of wooden sticks. Thus, sticking badges are produced.