Canes

The best cane experience I have ever had was with an Ambutech folding cane that had a ceramic tip. The tip is the important factor here. This is the first tip I have ever heard of where you can either tap, or do constant contact for mobility. It was a game changer for me.

Unfortunately this was not my cane, so I will have to get my own at some point; probably when I finish my Certs.

On a side note, there is a compant called Awarewolf.com if I have that spelled right, they make titanium mobility canes. Those sound interesting. . . .

One more thing I forgot to mention. The girl who let me try out the ceramic tipped cane, had a custom colored cane. Rather than the traditional White + whatever color, hers was purple and blue.

I don't care what anyone says, I do like color. 😀

I started out with an AmbuTech cane from the council - probably aluminium, it was foldable and had a big rolling ball on it. This is what I had mobility training on and is what I usually use. I find my wrist gets quite tired quite quickly with all the sweeping, but on the whole it is fine in urban environments. However, I don't find it very good as soon as I go even slightly off-road - on grass it's a bit of a struggle and it's a non-starter trying to go across a field or something with it. Well, yes I can hold it out above the ground but it's a tad heavy for that.

My instructor recommended me a Rover cane tip for this kind of thing. This is basically a wheel. I don't think many people use them. The advantage is that it does a much better job on grass or on rougher terrain. It is also lighter and because you don't sweep it horizontally, you drive it diagonally really, it is quite kind on the wrist. It is also a lot quieter, so the feedback isn't as good but probably better suited to stealth missions. But I find it very difficult to use in urban environments - again because of the different way of sweeping it. It's also a bit less durable and I've had a couple of these fall apart after a few months. Bear in mind I've not been trained on this cane so I may be using it wrong. I find it quite good for helping me find paths, but less good for avoiding obstacles.

Generally I go out with my sighted wife, often on dog walks. So I will pick one or the other depending on the terrain.

As I mentioned on another thread, she got me a Huju cane tip a few months back, not realising that it doesn't fit the AmbuTech aluminium canes. So I read about the graphite ones on the RNIB and they sounded pretty good - lighter and with anti-jab. So I bought one.

It came with a marshmallow tip. I happened to have been invited to afternoon tea (this is not a normal thing for me) so I took this new cane with the marshmallow out, given that I was mostly going to be navigating in a big posh old house. And it was actually rather a nice experience because the cane was so light.

After this I swapped out the Huju tip. I should say the graphite cane had a way that made it much easier to change tips. You pulled the cord out and it stayed in place. My other ones didn't have this.

The huju is a plastic hook thing that makes your cane look a bit like a hockey stick. It promised that it worked well in all types of terrain which sounded great. So the first thing I tried was taking it out on a grassy field where I would usually use the Rover. And it was absolutely terrible. So after that I just used it instead of the roller ball sometimes, and found it much the same. My wrist got tired just as much and I got a similar level of feedback. I think maybe not being round meant that it was more effort to swing, but because the cane was lighter it probably compensated. The anti-jab seemed to work pretty well though and I didn't find that the cane would get stuck and then ram me in the chest.

I should also say I ordered one the same length as my other cane but it was a little taller, maybe to do with the handle being very large or the anti-jab springs. But it suited me fine.

And then a couple of weeks ago, a cyclist ran into my cane and it snapped the end of, wrecking both the cane and the huju.

I am tempted to buy another graphite cane to use the marshmallow but I'm not sure if the cane is as robust as the aluminium versions. I never had the same situation with my other canes so I don't know how they would have reacted. But being lighter it felt a little less sturdy. I'm not sure if anyone else has had experience with this?

I also looked at the All Terrain Cane. This is expensive at about £100. It is titanium, and I think it is telescopic (my others are all foldable). It has a round tip which I think is red, although I honestly couldn't care less what it looked like. I have a feeling the cane itself may be red and white but I might be getting it confused with a different one. The thing I don't get is that if it is a standard ball tip like I currently use, then I don't really get that it would work in all terrains. The titanium is supposed to be super durable, but then I guess the bit that connects to the tip could be the weak spot, I don't know?

I feel a bit anxious about spending a lot of money one a fancy cane given my previous experience.

Also it might be worth me reiterating that I am not elite level blind. I had a couple of lessons of the constant touch technique just before lockdown which was before I actually needed it. So my technique is not amazing and I don't really use the double tap technique or whatever it's called. So it might be that my problems navigating some terrain are to do with me not the tip.

Apologies this turned into rather a long post.

Brian, the site you might be thinking of is kustom cane. He charges quite a bit, you have to call for an order. Not my deal, I like pressing Pay and done. I started with the crook handled one, then got folding ones, stepped on one, broke it, got stuck together, put soap on it, that didn't do a great job. I've been getting mine from futureaids.com They did have a reasonable price, around 26 bucks but are now just as high as the others. They are free shipping though so I stick with them. Never used a telescoping cane, not quite sure how that works. A friend repaired two canes I had, one fell apart. He felt awful. I told him he did his best i wasn't upset. found oen more, again these are on their last legs. Would he mind repairing it? exact response: "I don't think i have enough cord left. To be honest, it was a pain in the ass." Pandemic or not, I appreciated he tried, as i wasn't sending two back, forty bucks, and waiting years. This took a few weeks and all I bought him was a case of beer for his efforts. I like the pencil tips, but the future aids come with marshmallow. I think I want a pencil again. Oh and one of my canes is somewhere in Tarpan Springs. Whoever finds it? enjoy lmao.

First, my experience with carbon fiber canes - I have a collapsable carbon fiber cane that I sometimes use.
Pros: Very light and very small. After being collapsed it can easily be stuck into a pocket.
Cons: As someone mentioned, the cane has a tendency to automatically collapse. Thus, in the middle of navigating, I'm suddenly getting bad feedback as to distances, heights, etc. Another downside of the carbon fiber cane is that it is brittle. Yes, carbon fiber is supposed to be strong, but in some circumstances, if the cane gets caught on something and you keep going, it can suddenly snap whereas an aluminum cane would bend. Although bending of a cane isn't good, at least it can usually be bent back and used effectively until you can replace it if necessary. Not so if the cane actually breaks.
Uses: I usually take this cane when having a cane can be useful but isn't 100% necessary. For example, if my wife is guiding me through a museum or we are just walking through neighborhood streets together, I mostly follow her without using the cane. But I know I have the cane if some emergency pops up or something happens to her.

Second, my experience with the Ambutech cane - This is one of the finest canes I've had. Being made from aluminum, it is relatively light and very sturdy. Another great feature is that the ends of each section are tapered so that they easily fit together when unfolding the cane. They also make a carbon fiber version which should be lighter and I'm tempted to try that, but as I mentioned above, I'm a bit nervous about the brittleness of the carbon fiber. But for some aplications the carbon fiber might work, for example, if I didn't expect to be in a very rugged environment.
Cons: Might be a bit heavy for some people.
Uses: Almost everywhere.

My experience with the AwareWolf cane - If you are a hiker navigating through rugged and rocky environments, this is the cane for you!
Pros: Very sturdy and rugged. Has a large roller ball that will roll over most surfaces without getting stuck. Can also be used as a hiking pole for support and climbing up large rocks. When you're through with the hike, you can even use it in the city if you don't want to carry two canes. Not optimal for city use because of the weight, but useable for convenience.
Cons: This is a pretty heavy cane. You won't want to tap it from side to side since that takes a lot of force and will be slow due to the mass.

I don't use any of my fiberglass canes any more, although I remember that they were Fiberglass white canes - I actually don't use those any more unless some other cane broke.
Pros: Pretty light. In addition, they have some springyness that makes them bounce back a little when tapping from side to side. That can make it easier to tap away without having to man handle the cane.
Cons" These canes don't fold up. I've gotten used to canes that fold up. This makes it much easier to store away when in a restaurant or other public venue where you might have a hard time finding a safe place to put a long cane that doesn't fold.

Anyway, those are my experiences and thoughts about using a variety of canes. We have lots of choices these days!

--Pete

I do keep meaning to get back in touch with my mobility instructor now I am actually using the cane. The door was left open so I should be able to carry on. I'm glad I had the few sessions I did though otherwise lockdown would have happened and I would have needed one and not really known about it. I only took lessons because the opportunity arose.

I think I will get another graphite one and try the marshmallow tip again as it did seem really nice compared to all the clunky other ones I tried. I think my incident was just unfortunate.

I have to agree with you. I think the white cane has a very specific meaning and people generally understand what that is. I think trying to mess with that and then expecting people to understand where you are coming from is a bit optimistic.

Although a coloured tip I don't think makes a difference. But honestly if I can't see it I couldn't care less what colour it is.

@Pete

Awarewolf also has an urban explorer version, that is supposed to be foldable, and designed for Metro city use. Just a heads up on that.

@Siobhan

… And I thought I had bad luck with canes.

@ negativity about custom colors

I have experienced more people who do not know what a white cane is, and those who do. So, for me, having a custom color came would make no difference than continuing to use a solid white cane, or a white cane with, say, a red tip. The only real difference is that, I would be happy. Because as I mentioned, I like colors. 😝

I won't pay the eighty plus bucks for kustom to put whatever the hell cane shield is to protect it. Yeah it'd be nice to carry a Bucks' and Patriots' logoed cane when games are on, i just don't like the business practices. Plus if you're on any blind tech sell or trade list, he vomits up probably two or three a few weeks apart, asking you to go order from him. I'll check out how a telescoping cane might be, but if not, future aids works ok for now.

Well I still remember the days when I didn't think of myself as blind. I definitely had it in my head that a white cane meant blind, and I would have been confused to see a different colour. I think red and white is deaf blind or something isn't it? I certainly wouldn't have known that then.

I guess what you are doing with the cane is probably more of a giveaway that you can't see, but I don't think we can expect sighted people to really know what's going on. I personally think make it as obvious as you can, and I'd say part of that is the colour. But on the other hand if using a different colour makes you happy, then who am I to say otherwise?

I wonder what the problem with calling it a white stick is. It's certainly sticky. And it is generally white.

I don't know much about the whole deafblind thing, but when I was measured for a cane when I was a kid, they failed to take into account what would later develop, so now i have one about quarter up the hill, to be G rated here. I don't think you can pass a driving test in at least America and Europe without knowing if a cane is out in front of someone, they have the right of way. Then again with everyone being idiotic now, who knows if the younger people, did i just say that?, give a crap anymore.

I cannot decide, but I know I want purple in my next Ambutech cane. Purple was my fav color when I had eyesight.

Don't judge me. . .

Anyways, I am torn between a Purple cane with a White tip, or a White cane with a Purple tip. Note that by "tip" I actually mean the last segment of the cane that is typically red.

My roller ball tip has become a bit rattly recently - sounds like a reel on a fishing rod - so think I should replace it. Just looking at the different tips on rnib and there is a jumbo roller which for some reason I had mistakenly thought was what I was using. It sounds like this one is a bit bigger and a disc not a ball. Has anyone tried it? Does it feel heavier than the normal ball or does it roll better and therefore feel less heavy to push? Does it manage if you go off-piste with it?
Does anyone have any thoughts on the best multi-purpose tip which would be good for both urban walking and also going off into a field, or does such a thing not really exist? (Or does it just require having better skills)

I am not sure if the Ceramic Tip from Ambutech is viable for 'rugged terrrain', but I would choose the ceramic tip over anything else. This is probably based on use case, as is the case with all assistive devices, but the ceramic tip is great for being able to be used with touch tapping, or constant contact, glides easily over a variety of services, has just enough additional weight to be useful, without being overbearing, and if you use a folding cane, does not make holding/storing it quite so awkward.

Just my 2 cents. 😃

I did notice you mentioned ceramic tips before. To me, ceramic doesn't sound like it is going to be a material that can withstand a lot of being battered about. It is more sturdy than it sounds? I will have to look into them a bit more.

I've had one of these tips for about 5 years I think and it has never broken no matter what it has contacted. Very light and to me the best kind of tip.

I suppose I was envisaging a tea cup and saucer at the end of my cane. OK, well I'll give it a try - just ordered it from RNIB. Not sure why but I'm sure I heard VoiceOver saying moustache every time the page changed.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. Well, assuming it is good of course!

That can be the proverbial secret codeword amongst Ceramic Tip users. 😜

I use a small roler ball tip, I actually don't know what it's called but it's rounded on the end and rolls left to right and is light enough to do two point touch and roll if I need to.

I think any cane is going to struggle on pitches/fields depending on some factors like grass lenth, mud, stuff like that.

I'd recommend more mobility lessons to become more indipendant, if you want to, sounds to me like you're completely fine with your wife guiding you, either way; good luck.

It's the Ambutech roller marshmallow tip - hook style.

Like I said, it allows me to roll and also use two point touch if I need to.

Good luck with the ceramic tip, personally I think you should try and get a refund and go for a couple more lessons with something a bit easier to use like the tip mentioned above but if you can't do that get ready for a lot of two point touch.

That tip came with my graphite cane (may it rest in peace) and I only used it once but liked it. But not tried it outdoors beyond a car park.

The ceramic tip does say it is suitable for constant touch technique too so hopefully it will work out.

The only one I've found that works well for rough terrain is the Rover but it doesn't really suit me at all for anything remotely urban.

Anyway I will give the ceramic a go. If it needs the two point technique then I will likely not be friends with it.

I only tend to go out with my wife, but I don't want to be guided by her if possible. I'm not really one to go out on my own much, but I would like to feel like I could. So I want to try to guide myself as much as I can.

Ceramic tips, that is. You can do constant contact, as I said above, or 2 point touch. Either one is fine, it is up to the user. The beauty of this tip, is that it is more of a universal design, as it glides over multiple surfaces. In other words, multiple terrains. Unlike the Marshmallow, which I am sadly all to familiar with, Ceramic tips are designed to glide over sidewalk gaps, whereas the marshmallow tip can, at least in my experience, cause you a lot of stomach discomfort. . .

Obviously everyone has their preference, but don't knock the ceramic tip just because it is, ya know, ceramic. I promise you it is about as tough as kevlar.

I have two canes for different use cases, I still haven't found my perfect fit. My preference for walking, especially long distances is the long fiberglass cane distributed by the NFB here in America, I can just go and go without any wrist fatigue. I also have a revolution graphite cane with a ceramic tip, I had to get this weird patchwork adapter thingie from the adaptations store but it works. As others have said I like the ceramic tip, it even gives superior tactile feedback to the NFB metal one especially off road but the weight of those graphite canes is still a lot for me if I'm going more than a mile or so. I keep it in my bag or else use it for those quick errand type situations where convenience of folding something matters more than raw stamina. I ought to try the telescoping model, that may be a nice middle ground.

Yes storing my straight cane on the bus, at restaurants etc is a pain. I'll give the telescoping one a go, I tried the nfb folding cane and it was decent but not that durable. I don't know how you'd get the ceramic tip to fit but you seem resourceful, perhaps you could find a way ... if by some miracle you rig up soomething that works I'd love to hear about it because that would be ideal for me.

@Holy Driver, Graphite is too heavy for my taste. There is one folding style that is carbon fiber, the Chris Park folding one, that i know of. https://adaptations.org/collections/canes/products/cn7-1
That site also has the Chris Park carbon fiber telescoping cane, which I also use. Note I think there are other carbon fiber telescoping models, or you may be able to find the older bamboo but believe me carbon fiber is more sturdy and reliable. The Chris Park folding one is the only carbon fiber folding cane I've found, with others being heavy graphite.

The only thing is I do not think you can put a ceramic tip on these carbon fiber canes? I've not seen a ceramic tip, I'd like to try one but do not see how to attach it to a cane that is designed for the NFB metal tip style.

First, your neighbors suck.

Second, depending on the cane design, some have a hook-style tip, where the hook connects to a loop of nylon cord inside the shaft. Some cane tips just sort of slide onto the end of the shaft and stick by pressure, for lack of a better definition.

Of course the metal disk style like the NFB cane uses, kind of has this sorta wedge system, where the tip has a rubberized piece that a peg on the end of the cane fits into and just kind of hangs out like a deadbeat at your neighborhood convenience store.

HTH. 😅

I struggle as soon as I get onto grass. The round tip works OK for well cut lawns, but anywhere I'm actually going to go walking it will snag on absolutely everything and if the grass gets remotely above perfect lawn length then it doesn't work so well. Whereas with the Rover I can easily traverse that sort of thing, or walk round the side of fields or whatever.

I thought the graphite canes were really light, but I suppose I've just been used to the aluminium canes. And I only went out with the huju tip which I think did take more effort in the swiping motion. I might have to check out the carbon fibre one at some point, but will see how the ceramic tip goes first. .

Is chest level long for a cane? Mine is about collar bone level I think which is what my mobility instructor recommended.

I get the impression that the longer the cane the easier it is but then I suppose the heavier too. I'm not quite a blind ninja who could go out with a tooth pick but I'm sure some can!

I once had a cane that was taller than I by about an inch. I had excellent reaction speed, or rather plenty of time to maneuver around obstacles. Getting into compact sized sports cars, or even certain model sedans (even 4door models, was a lesson in patience. . .

My current cane is about breastplate height, and while I have to pay more attention to where I am heading, I can definitely get in and out of automobiles easier. 😀

Fair enough, and no idea. I have only ever checked out the hook style version. That one is, I imagine, like any other hook style tip; position the hook inside the nylon loop at the bottom of the cane shaft and let it pull the tip onto the shaft.

Easy peasy lemon squeazy.

Lemonade anyone? 😃

Don't pretend you don't love all of this salacious talk about canes, shafts, and screwing ceramics! 😈

Good point, and again I am unsure. Regarding the telescopic canes, I have never used one, but have always heard/read that they are sometimes (too) easy to collapse while travelling.

I would love to have a mechanical cane, like the 2003 Daredevil film starring Ben Affleck. In that film, the main character had a mechanical cane for tblind, that telescoped outward into a travel cane, or collapsed into a fighting baton, with the push of a button.

Sign me up for that anytime !! 😃

That sounds like a lot of work. 😅

. . . and beaded jewelry ftw! 👍

Your neighbors suck. Having said that, homemade jewelry rocks. I have a friend who makes and sells at a local Farmer's Market. She also makes other random things, like clay figurines (fridge magnets, keychains, etc), and scented candles. I have this really awesome bracelet she sold me awhile back; it has a variety of beads and some polished lava rocks, and a couple of well placed pewter wolf head beads with itty bitty green glass chips for eyes, all on a stretchy cord. It is probably my single favorite piece.

Regarding cane cords, would paracord not be too stiff for a cane?

First, a moment of silence for those poor souls. Anyone? Anyone? Ok, what I really came to say is that cane length is a personal preference, you're trading reaction time against inconvenient storage and even more public scrutiny. I've tried everything from lower chest to a couple inches higher than head level and for me the sweet spot is about to my adam's apple.

So, what is the significance of the "Chris Park" telescoping cane, over any other telescoping cane? Inquiring minds, and all that jazz. 😎