Drum stick Drum stick A drumstick is a type of percussion mallet used particularly for playing snare drum, drum kit and some other percussion instruments, and particularly for playing unpitched percussion. Specialized beaters used on some other percussion instruments, such as the metal beater or "wand" used with a triangle, and particularly beaters or "mallets" used with tuned percussion such as xylophone and timpani, are not normally referred to as "drumsticks". Drumsticks generally have all of the following characteristics: The archetypical drumstick is turned from a single piece of wood, most commonly of hickory, less commonly of maple, and least commonly but
Biltmore stick Biltmore stick The Biltmore stick is a tool used by foresters to estimate tree trunk diameter at breast height. The tool very often includes a hypsometer scale to estimate height as well. It looks much like an everyday yardstick. A Biltmore stick is considered to be only marginally accurate. Some foresters use the tool regularly, however, many prefer to use more accurate tools such as a diameter tape to measure diameter at breast height (DBH) and a clinometer to measure height. On the other end of the spectrum, some foresters consider the use of a Biltmore stick to be no