Shillelagh/Bata Trainer:  The shaft is impact grade hickory that is tapering from about 1" to 3/4" at the tip.  We provide our custom rubber blunt strapped to the end of the shaft to offer some cushioning of the blow.  This is still a solid hit and should not be used against another person without sufficient personal protection and supervision.  Its best for moderate contact training or heavy contact against a pell.   

Review by Craig Gemeiner - Link Here

Review by Ken Pfrenger:  Ken is a hopologist, Director of Cumann Bhata, and founding members of CMARS (Celtic Martial Arts Research Society)

Howdie,
I have been using the longer of the two sticks for all my shillelagh work these past two weeks. Here are my thoughts:

Since I normally only use natural sticks it took a little while for me to get used to this one. I am used to knobs and bark...the smooth stick was a bit different. The weight and balance are just about perfect for a training stick. Perhaps a bit heavy for bouting but that is going to really depend on the people using it and how hard they go. For our purposes a few ounces less would be nice but I honestly can't see how that could be shaved off and still have a functional stick...so it is an ok trade off imo.

I had a hard time keeping the rubber head on the smaller stick...it lacks the metal clamp (current versions do). The longer stick retained the rubber head well and it only started to scoot off a bit when I was hitting it against a heavy pell, which is not really all that normal abuse for a shillelagh. It held up great against the heavy bag that I normally use...infact I think it is safe to say that I beat the hell outta that bag with the longer stick without there being any adverse effects on either the bag or stick.

Overall I really like this stick, I didn't think I would when I first held it in my hand (I must be a closet natural stick snob) but it did not take long to get used to the difference. I really like the balance and the stick is tough as nails which it really needs to be. I don't think I would have any problem endorsing this as a training item at all.

See our padded gloves or singlestick baskets for added hand protection.