I found a kickass stick 4 years ago in the Smokies the weekend my wife and I got married. It's literally the perfect stick. Straight, smooth, nice thickness, durable as hell. Must be of a rare hardwood variety, I would imagine. I still have that stick in the corner and I see it everyday when I'm sitting at my PC. Have I ever used it for anything? I wouldn't dare. It's too nice of a stick to just use on a whim. Why do I keep it around? Well, if I ever had a problem that required a really nice fuckin stick, I'm covered. Every year or so, my wife says to me, "JPSound, you still have that stick?! Why do you keep that thing around?" I look that woman dead in the eyes and say, "there will come a day, my bride, when the creator of all shall lay before us an obstacle, nay, a challenge that only a mighty stick of such grandeur may aid us in such a lofty trial. And this stick, my dearest, this stick awaits our call to guide us into the sunkissed valley of victory so sweet. Only then shall you see what I see. Know what I know now, that this mear stick, is far more than it seems. Then you will know, I am the mighty protector of this home and family. You will see, my love. You will see." Then she usually just rolls her eyes and says, "whatever... I gotta run to the grocery store. Do you need anything special?" And I respond with a mighty boom, "yeah, that fancy chocolate milk I like, please."

I found a good stick once. Damn, that was a nice stick.

No, lots of girls and women like sticks too. This lady is just a weirdo for not liking them.

"Who would win in a fight? An army guy or a stick?"

"That's stupid. The army guy would just break the stick in half."

"Ah, but now there are two sticks. Stick win every time."

Woman here, this is my prized stick. I found it maybe 15 years ago I think? I was camping on the Oregon coast, the absolute straightness of it stood out from a mile away. Brought it home, cut the ends off to be flat, and hand-smoothed the handle. For a long time I used it for killing spiders (it was perfect for that they never got away) but it has since retired now that I'm less scared of being poisoned and just catch/release them. One day when I'm decomposing I hope for this to be doing the same by my side.

Love for sticks is hardwired deep in our brain. What's the first thing a toddler does outside? Find a stick and swing it around. Dig with it. Hit stuff with it. Invent games with it. Build with it. Sticks are fundamental to human behavior and civilization.

Imagine what you could do with that stick, so many options...

It's a free and useful material to go along with a child's imagination (it can be a gun, it can be a sword, it can be a teacher's pointer, it can be a flagpole, it can be used as basis for all manner of constructions, you can use it to poke a things or make small holes, it lets you reach things which would otherwise be beyond your reach and so on...) plus its a complex enough object to be interesting in itself not just in shape but in texture, plus sticks come in lots of variations in shape and size.

Even the process of selecting the right stick for something you have in mind can be intellectually stimulating.

Or to put it in another way, sticks are a great basic elements for kids to invent and play their own games, they're usefull for a lot of things and you can find them for free on the ground.

It’s a shovel. A hole-maker. An imaginary sword. A club. A whacky-thing with which to hit things. A thing to drag along the ground and leave marks. Drag across fences or walls to feel and hear the sound. A spear, after you’ve sharpened it in the campfire. A pointer. A poker at strange and unknown critters you find under rocks. A tool to remove spiderwebs from your path. A pry bar. So, so many things.

Truly, she has no clue what “just a stick” is.

Sticks are incredible.

It's a starter weapon until they get a long dagger or short sword, which is the first step up on their way to earning a katana.

It's not just sticks though. Sometimes you find a perfect stone. Flat and round, triangular, square... Good stones.

Complaining about free toys provided by nature…

It's our ancestral birthright. The instinctive allure of a quality tool. The mightu stick. Simple yet sublime. One of the original old reliables.

Time for my collection to shine! I'm a woman though.

Women will never know the instinctual urge of a man and his need for a good stick. You can walk with them, you can sharpen them into spears, you can have a good thrashing, play with your pet.

The gentleman's utility.

This makes me miss /r/justguysbeingdudes

My kid once had me drive 9km so she could get a stick (tree branches twice as big as her) she found at school.

That was in June. It's October now. We still have the stick.

No one breaks or burns it. It's the stick after all.

Not just a boy thing :)

son liked the stick, father was supportive of son. love it

Primal instincts taking over. Sticks are good for a lot of things. Fire, spear, walking, poking things out of trees, throwing at the dog… sticks are good.

My daughter loves collecting sticks. Not just a guy thing

Its a primitive thing, maybe... Like a genetic memory.

A good stick is a bad ass tool when you only have your hands, its free and plentiful, and its no big loss to start over.

You can use a stick to kill or stun animals, dig a trench for waste, with more sticks and some sort of cover you make a shelter, sticks are also fuel for fire, a stick can get you into a sheltered situation, possibly with a warm meal, and its just a bunch of sticks.

Add a pointed rock to the mix? Fuck, now you have one of the most effective weapons in the history of humanity.

A good stick and a good rock is the most primitive tool set we had, and it was available to everyone.

I really need to get back into field craft.