It is true that the stick is a very important tool for hitch-hikers everywhere, but research indicates that it is merely a portable version of the tree. The tree, of course, was an essential survival tool for many species before the invention of hitch-hiking (or vehicles to hitch with, for that matter), and still remains so for those hitch-hikers much in need of a lift.

The tree, in its basic form, has a number of important uses. It is a provider of food and shelter, fuel and building materials. Climbing one can provide a vantage point from which to appreciate a beautiful sunset - an added bonus if you had only climbed it to escape a dangerous predator (for instance, and only for posterity's sake, the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal).

For the more enterprising hitch-hiker/developing species, it has more advanced functions. It can be used as a landmark or reference point when supplying directions or drawing a map. It can be painted or painted on. You can carve your initials into its bark, whether to mark the site of your last few breaths or a particularly pleasant tryst. It can even be used for entertainment - an essential tool for the odd game of hide-and-seek (though many who enjoy this pastime advise the use of more than one tree), it can also be converted into a workable Scrabble board with a little care and patience (this also doubles as an educational tool if you are considering raising a family in the wild). Should you posess suitable equipment, it is even possible to produce paper and dyes to write with. And without paper, there would be no indoor toilets¹.

The fallen tree can be fashioned into strong beams for the building of advanced shelters, or used whole as a bridge or (rather precarious) raft. If conveniently located at the top of a hill, the fallen tree can also be given a big push for use as a basic crushing weapon, particularly useful if outnumbered. The more enterprising hitch-hiker under attack can fashion smaller sections of the tree into pointed spears, or break off limbs to use as clubs if there is no sharp edge to hand. It is this portable quality that most likely led to the popular adoption of the stick as the general-purpose survival tool we know and love.