Lapel Pins

If you enjoy travel, a great way to remember your trip is through hiking staff medallions. Whether you like to get off the beaten path and explore your destination by means of trail or simply want a unique and

conversational souvenir to remember your trip, medallions are great mementos and create a personalized travel history.
Already available at most State and National Parks and Forests, more and more tourist destinations are adding medallions to their selection of souvenirs available for purchase in gift shops. States are getting into the act by offering medallions which depict scenes, animals, plant life, or activities which represent what the state is all about. Averaging around $5.00 each, medallions are also a very reasonably priced and affordable souvenir which appeals to a wide age range.
If you already have or decide to start a collection, you will need a means by which to display your medallions. As these are hiking staff medallions, you will most likely want to display them on a hiking staff. There are many options available and you probably even have the opportunity to purchase a staff at many locations which have medallions for sale. Hiking staffs range in length, diameter, and finish. Some have wrapped hand holds, leather wrist straps, and spiked tips. One thing to keep in mind is that the medallion will probably need to be slightly adjusted depending on the diameter of the staff you choose. Medallions come supplied with two small tacks, or nails, which are used to secure the medallion to the staff through two predrilled holes on either side of the medallion. Using a small hammer, this works best, drive the tack through the medallion and into the hiking staff. Placement of the medallions is up to you. Some opt to line the medallions straight down the staff while others prefer a more random placement. It is your hiking staff, make it unique to you.

An alternative to purchasing a staff is to make your own. Staffs made from tree limbs and saplings work well and allow you to customize and create a staff unique to  replacement handle. These are often times made of pine or poplar and have a diameter which allows for easy attachment of medallions. Cut the handle to length making sure to cut the end opposite the handle which should already be rounded. Drill a hole about 6 to 8 inches from the top through which to secure a leather or nylon wrist strap. The final step is to address the end which will contact the road or trail. One possibility is to use a rubber furniture tip or cane tip which will provide excellent traction as well as protect the staff. There are also spike ferrule tips available and run around $3.00 each.
With a little time and effort you can create a customized and unique reminder of your adventures and trips. A place to store all your souvenirs.

by Andrew Hagemann

Collecting hiking staff medallions is a great hobby and a great way to tell your scouting story!  Has anyone ever considered making hiking staff medallions themselves to commemorate Troop events or individual achievements? How do you do it?
What sort of metal-working skills are involved? Is there a photographic or copy shop alternative that can be laminated and attached to a hiking staff somehow?  Any ideas?

My Metal Work MB staff and I came up with a simple way to make stamped metal hiking staff medallions for the 1997 Jamboree.
Here’s what you do:
METAL DISK: Have a machine shop make (and donate) punched metal slugs, about 1.5 inches in diameter, using 0.0050 (fifty-thousandths) of an inch thick sheet aluminum.
BOTTOM SWEDGE BLOCK: Take a 4×4 inch stud and cut off four inches to use as a home-made swedge block. To make the swedge block, gouge a straight, 0.75 inch diameter groove down the length of the block, right down the center. Carefully sand the groove smooth; do not apply any finish coat since it will soon be ruined anyway.

TOP FULLER: For the top fuller (the piece that will press the curve into the disk) obtain 6.0 inch piece of 0.75 inch (outside diameter) heavy walled pipe. Carefully sand the pipe smooth. Remember, since aluminum is a soft metal, any imperfections in the bottom swedge or the top fuller will appear in the swedged medallion.
Using 0.25 inch letter stamps or a custom made single-piece 0.5-inch metal stamp of your own design (as a reference point, a 1 inch diameter two-piece stamp that will produce a complex, coin-like design will cost about $200), stamp the design into the aluminum disk. Drill two small holes in the top and bottom outside edge of the medallion for attaching it to the hiking staff with small screws or nails. Do this before you swedge (put the curve into) the aluminum disk.
Clamp the bottom swedge into a vise, resting the bottom of the wood block against the vise’s screw for added purchase. Place the aluminum disk across the groove, centering it along the groove, mounting holes running either "east and west" or "north and south" (your option).
Place the 0.75 inch pipe in line with the groove, resting on the back side of the disk. With a single, firm blow to the pipe (use a 24-oz. ball pien hammer to make sure the blow is hard enough), press the disk into the groove.
Presto – one custom made hiking staff medallion.

If you decide not to make a metal stamp, buy several 0.25 inch letter stamp kit and let the Scouts go to town with their own messages.
Oh, yeah. Be sure to hold each stamp with a pair of good vise grip pliers before striking them with the hammer. If you don’t, an angled hammer blow will send the stamp flying off like a bullet, and the offending Scout will probably mash his thumb to boot. And anyone in front of the flying stamp will be seriously hurt. Trust me on this, please!
Write for more info or clarifications.

YiS,
Drew
Andrew Hagemann
hagemann@visi.net
SA, Troop 6
Colonial Virginia Council
A "Charging" Buffalo, SR-158
Jamboree ’97 Metal Work MB Booth Coordinator

Outdoor sports are popular in Europe and the United States .The people of participate in outdoor sports often make up a small groups together . 
A good hiking stick can serve you well in a variety of situations.Medallions is the part of hiking stick.

Medallions are great souvenir to remember your trip,and create a personalized travel history. You can ask the lapel pin factory to order a personalized medallions for your hiking stick. 
Often hiking stick will be add medallions which depict scenes, animals, plant life,State and National parks and forests or activities which represent the state is all about.

Medallions’ material is brass ,it thickness is 0.4mm. It coloring is same with the die struck pins.

Hiking staff medallion, also known as stick medallion, there may be a lot of people are not familiar with this medallion, after all, China is still not very common, but it’s very popular in USA and Europe, hiking medallions are usually 0.4 mm thick copper metal materials, copper materials are relatively soft and flexible,  the normal size of 1-3/4 inch, two holes for nails on the side,  we can use nails to rivet the medallion on our stick.

Most of custom lapel pins or hiking staff medallions you can find in the beauty spot will be designed by the landscape, i.e., river,mountain, etc. Hiking staff medallions is a great promotional gift  or souvenirs, a great way to remeber your hiking.