Insulated operating sticks are important operating tools in live work. Whether they are in good insulation state is of great significance to ensure the safety of live working personnel and equipment. Typical defects of insulated hot stick are detected by different measurement methods, and the effectiveness of the high-resistance defect detection is verified by the dielectric spectrum and creeping discharge characteristic tests. The results show that in the environment of temperature 25 ℃ and relative humidity 68.1%, the surface insulation resistance value of the insulated hot stick in the wet state is 60.1% lower than that in the dry state. The dielectric loss factor of the insulated hot stick in the dry state is less than 0.01. Use graphite to simulate the effect of different carbonization positions on creeping discharge voltage. It is obtained through creeping discharge test that when there is a penetrating defect in the two electrodes, creeping discharge voltage drops severely. Based on the research results, method of evaluating the insulation performance of an operating stick based on its surface resistance or dielectric loss characteristics has important engineering application value.