Centurions vine staff

[Flavivs Aetivs]

I later found out that it was poison ivy wrapped around the branch.

A nasty discovery. Poison ivy like that usually has hundreds of rootlets that anchor it to whatever it's growing on, so you can use that as a visual cue not to handle it (hah!) but as long as it's very dry, you may not have the sap-oil to worry about. Then again, if it's very dry, the stick part isn't as useful.

One thing, imho, that we overlook: it's not like the modern "swagger stick", and not supposed to be a finely carved piece of art. It's a long club for smacking soldiers. Not decorative, not varnished and well tended. These were just an expendable piece of equipment, or at least that's what I've read. So those of us who have gone to the trouble to make a nice-looking one may be moving that vitis in the wrong direction.
:?:

Yeah, it was old and dry but still had some of the sap, so it got itchy a little on my hands. Got rid of it after an hour. I was in boyscouts, so I know how to identify poison ivy, but this was just stupidity/oversight.