Well, river cane is just a kind of bamboo that grows near water in a warm humid environment, i.e. the American South. I just call it bamboo, but I had a friend in college that told me that was incorrect, that real bamboo only grew in China, and the proper name for what we have is river cane. Tomato/Tomahto. <img src="/forum/images/icons/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Anyway, most of the southeastern states in the US have it. I know the Houston groups use it. I think it's supposed to be more of a low altitude, low latitude plant, but it grows here in the foothills of upstate SC, usually in river bottom land. There's a grove of it near my house that I use for test-cutting. If anybody starts using it, though, be sure you cut the fresh stuff. The greener the better. The yellow ones are old and hard, and too tough for cutting.
If you want to see what it looks like, there are many test-cutting videos on the main site and the members page where they cut bamboo. There's one somewhere in which JC breaks a Del Tin blade on an old hard yellow stalk. Check it out. <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />
Patrick Hardin
"Few men are born brave. Many become so through training and force of discipline."
---Vegetius
