I recently acquired a marvelous wand of opaque white selenite and I use it for meditation and occasionally as an athame. I'm curious, though, as to what other wands anyone here might have and use and any tips you could provide.
I have never used a crystal wand myself...I tend to use the occasional wood wands instead. One that I really want is a piece of Ash Wood so I can make a wand out of that. (lol) Though I have heard crystal rods are more stronger then wood ones, and different wands are better at channeling certain energy(s) then other ones depending on what you would use it for and what kind it is would make the difference.
Actually, the wooden wands would be more resilient because of their pliability; crystal wands are much harder, subsequently more brittle. You are spot-on, though, as far as different materials channeling energy(ies) in different ways. I would think that wood - with its flexible strength and ease of shaping - would take a long time to be conditioned for whatever purpose you have in mind, where crystals and their more rigid framework can only be trained within their own style, as it were. I have a book called 'The Crystal Bible' which is a directory of more than 300 different crystals and semi-precious stones used in spiritual practices, healing, even just as jewelry, and I've found it indispensable to just look up the properties of different crystals for whatever reason.