I Will Not Use a Walking Cane!

Walking Cane Safety Step No. 4 – Choosing a Designer or Speciality Cane for Your Safe Enjoyment

Sophia is a dear friend of mine who should, but won’t, use a cane. She is a 78-year-old senior who continues to lead an active life doing most of her own chores, visiting with friends and neighbours, and also volunteering at her neighbourhood community centre. She definitely does not feel old! But a recent knee replacement has left her weak on her left side. Her doctor has recommended that she use a cane.

It wasn’t easy getting Sophia to even think about walking canes. So it was important to get her to the point of looking at walking canes even without her commitment to buying or using a walking cane. Armed with brochures and pictures of the attractive new canes on the market today, the first thing we did was to properly measure Sophia for a walking cane. We then looked at the different types and styles of walking canes for safe support, and we looked at how to choose the safest grips and tips for walking cane safety.

Sophia had been impressed by the many different types of walking canes available and had to admit that they appeared to be quite safe to use, if chosen carefully. Yet she was still reluctant to actually commit to a cane because she felt using one would make her look old. I knew I had to “pull out all the stops” and show her the very fancy and colourful canes available today. I wanted her to see that not all canes looked like the old-fashioned cane her grandmother used. I don’t know if it was because I promised her lunch afterwards or not but she finally, a little reluctantly, agreed to one more trip to look at canes.

Canes with Bling!

There are so many beautiful, exotic, and stylish walking canes on the market today there is absolutely no excuse to settle for a plain old medical cane – unless you want to.

Take a look at all the canes in a walking cane store or even a large mobility devices store and you will see the most incredible walking sticks and canes you could ever imagine.

Sophia and I found a store that had a small but impressive selection of designer canes that she could see and handle. I had called ahead and asked the customer service people if they had brochures of the many canes available or if we could go online right in their store and see their huge selection of fancy canes.

Designer, Fashionable, Decorative, Painted, Hand Carved, Adjustable, Folding, Stylish, Fancy, Elegant, Funky, Collectable, and Antique Walking Canes

Various fancy walking canes found on eBay

Stylish designs include hand painted canes with images of wild exotic animals or beautiful flowers or even butterflies. You can find canes with fancy handles in the shape of animals or birds, or handles in the form of old-fashioned doorknobs or a ship’s compass. You might prefer an elegant evening cane made of ebony with a distinctive abalone design up the side of the stick, or a pink frilly cane with sequined trim. You might even choose a walking cane that hides a rapier or perhaps glass sections for your favourite Cognac.

Carved wood canes are very durable and can have a classic and elegant look. You can even get them made from exotic wood like ebony and blackthorn. Also durable are the newest fashion canes, made from aluminum and carbon fiber, both lightweight materials, but very strong materials.

Elegant, Colourful, Fashionable Walking Canes with Outstanding Safety and Comfort Features

Most of the novelty and antique or collectable canes are beautiful to look at and many are safe to use, but they are not necessarily easy or comfortable to use. It might be nice to have a beautiful rose-tipped cane but it might not be comfortable to hold the rose tip while walking. It might not feel as safe as walking with an off-set cane or a quad cane.

Safety and comfort of use were two features that were important to Sophia, so I knew what she was thinking while viewing and trying some of the more exotic canes. It was a little too early for lunch (as I had promised Sophia) so we made a quick trip back to the store where we saw the many styles of walking canes that showed how safe canes are today. When last here, we saw derby canes, offset canes and quad canes that had appealed to Sophia for safety reasons. We were now going to see the beautiful new colours and patterns that the safe, durable, easy to use and comfortable walking canes come in today.

Derby Cane Rainbow

We were looking for “bling” this time, not just safety, and we were not disappointed. These stylish and elegant walking canes with ergonomic handle, shock absorbing tip, 12 height settings, and a maximum weight capacity of 300 lb, also come in 6 stylish colours:

The ebony, cocoa and smoke colours are quite discreet while the amber, rose and aquamarine were so vibrant and energizing.

Derby Folding Cane Rainbow

Whoever originally designed the folding cane was a genius! And these little beauties are the epitome of the handy, yet sturdy and safe, folding canes. They come in the same exciting colours as the regular derby canes (above).

The adjustable aluminum folding cane’s ergonomic handle design, shock absorbing tip and multiple height settings provide comfort and safety, while the cane strap with reflective patch for added night time safety also serves to keep the cane folded when not in use.

Sophia just loved the soft rose and the aquamarine folding canes. She said that if she had to choose between the two colors, it would be really difficult. I sighed with relief! She had actually moved from her position of “never wanting to use a walking cane” to “I wonder which color I would prefer.”

Offset Cane Color Extravaganza

Before she lost her enthusiasm we moved on to the offset canes. We were surprised that these safe and ergonomically comfortable canes were equally stylish. In fact, the offset canes come in the same gorgeous colours as the derby canes (above), but we were not ready for the fabulous new designs and patterns.

Sophia thought the Rainforest patterned cane would go well with so many of her outfits, while the Paisley pattern made her feel energetic and alive!

QuadPod Cane Distinguished Colours

When we were looking at the QuadPod™ canes earlier we were looking particularly at safety features that appealed to Sophia. She liked the stability of the four-legged cane tip and the comfort of the ergonomic grip. But when she saw the beautiful colours of the QuadPod™ canes, she fell in love with the smoke colour and the aquamarine colour. Again, if she had to choose between the two, it would be as difficult as her choice with the folding canes.

Elegant, Sophisticated and Beautiful Walking Canes

Before going on to lunch, we were shown two more aluminum offset canes that were particularly striking! The aluminum etched walking canes come in sophisticated black and elegant aquamarine. Sophia thought they were gorgeous! But, you may not be surprised to learn that the final cane we saw that day was the one Sophia loved most. It was the beautiful floral patterned offset cane!

Bling My Cane searching had been a great success!

Sophia and I were amazed and thrilled with the tremendous selection of attractive walking canes on the market today. We were exhausted and needed time to think about which walking cane Sophia would select. Yes, Sophia had come to the conclusion that walking canes were both safe and attractive!

Now it was time to put together all the pieces of information we had collected over the past week. She needed to think in terms of cane type (derby cane, offset cane, quad cane, folding cane), type of grip (derby handle, crook handle, offset handle, ergonomic handle), type of ferrule or cane tip (flex-grip tip, quad tip), and, of course, she needed to consider colour and style.

It was time to go for lunch!