Currently I have the option of either carrying the talking stick everywhere in my hand or ignoring the natives when they come for a chat.
The two downsides of carrying the talking stick everywhere are that every now and then when I put it down to do something it bounces into oblivion and I lose it completely, and the simple fact that everywhere I walk this thing is making its shaky noises. It gets kind of annoying, especially as I’m using snap turn.