What do people like to use as a push stick for resawing?

The gauze around my right index finger will attest to my previous
approach as leaving something to be desired.

I was resawing a short piece of 1x6 walnut. My first mistake was
using a push stick (of the notch cut in a stick variety) that was too
short. I had made some short ones for a specific purpose a long time
ago and have had the bad habit of using them for other things they are
not safe for. Going in the trash tomorrow.

My second mistake was pushing with it too low. To my surprise the
stock actually lifted up at an angle (makes perfect sense now of
course). I pushed it back down, and the cut completed sooner than I
expected, as I'm paying more attention to what's going on behind the
blade than at the cut. Stock goes flying because I'm still pushing on
it. Push stick lurches forward. Knuckle visits band saw blade.
Blade wins. I am a lucky ******* that it did not go deep. If that
push stick had been 1/8" shorter I'd still be sitting in the emergency
room waiting for my stiches. If it had been an inch shorter...

So before I decide the solution is longer push stick and push from
above the midpoint, I think I shall see if there's a better way. I
don't have a whole lot of control for those last few inches, and
there's not much I can do to guide it from behind the blade without
closing the kerf. It doesn't help that my "fence" is a jointed 2x3
clamped to the table.

Lesson for the day: The wrong push stick is only as good or worse
than no push stick at all. Worse because of the illusion of safety.

Irony for the day: The other day I caught Dad not using a push stick
on the table saw and then end up doing the dumbest move I've ever seen
on a saw (reach around to the front of the blade from the *back* of
the saw - what, the blade isn't going to cut you because it can't see
you hiding behind it? what the hell?). I ordered him a magnetic one
for father's day so he'd have no more excuses earlier in the day.


-Leuf