There are several ways to look at a wand. I like to look at a wand as a "car key". You need a key to unlock and open the door. Also once you get inside of the car, you can use it to start it up. It is as important to working magick as any other tool you might use in your practice. There is no other way to put it other than one of the most important things you will need to work proper magick.
There are several forms of wands out there at your disposal now days. Mine is just one style, it's not better or lesser than others... it's just a different approach to a tool of the old ways. But whether you buy one of mine or one from someone else... you REALLY do need to have a wand if you work magick.
One of the most important things I would like to point out about using a wand is you can never have too many wands, but you can have too few. Most nature-based religions that use wands basically use wands for the same thing; working magick for love, protection, health, grounding, and money. I will use the "car key" method of explaining this better. You can have six cars all the same make and model... but you will need a different key to work each one. If you try to use just one key for all cars then you will probably either break the key or the car just won't run. Wands are the same way. If you have a wand designed for protection then it's not smart to use it to work money spells. You really should have several wands designed for different uses at your disposal.
Concerning my wands, I only use raw natural woods. I never use synthetic man made stains, paints, glazes, glues, epoxys, etc. We use wiring and clays to attach and hold everything together. All of our wands are made from what nature has given us to work with such as shells, hemp, stones, and crystals. There are a few things that we usually add simply for ornate pleasures. These are store bought glass beads. We never use plastic or low-grade materials unless the customer specifically requests it.
You will read this throughout the site, but we can't stress it enough. All of our woods are natural and harvested by only three people working hand-in-hand with me. At no time will we ever harm a tree or bush. The woods are gathered in traditional ways. We look for fallen trees, wind blown off limbs, or dead trees first. If we have to take a cutting, it is done gently after asking the tree for permission. We never cut a limb that would harm a tree. And once we have taken only what we need... we give an offering of thanks to the parent tree of food and tobacco. We also work hard at constantly purchasing lots of assorted saplings and planting them to promote the growth of more trees that can offer us their bounty.