Here is something to think about/consider

[Battis]

I hike alot and I've been using an adjustable metal walking stick for years ($20 for two at Walmart). They're light but strong. You can collapse them to fit in a suitcase. They have a nice pointy end that you can cover when indoors. A walking stick takes 30% of the weight off your knees, plus they're good for balance, especially in snow or mud. And they can do some damage when needed. I bent one over the head of an attacking pittbull a few years ago. Last week, when the dogs were running wild in the field, I placed one next to my forward leg and sure enough, a rough, playful pooch slammed into it and bent it, but my leg was protected.

[Riverpigusmc]

I use a Cold Steel City Stick. Look it up..practically indestructible and will break cinder blocks

[Electrod47]

Wilford Brimley was in a modern TV show in the 80's where his daughter came to live with him, not the other way around. Anyway, I remember a couple instances where he used his cane to overcome attackers. Looked like he knew what he was doing.

[megasupermagnum]

The company says if you need a cane, then you should stay home until better, or should seek disability.... Which ain't so easy. Yes, you are correct, there is probably a major Americans with disabilities infraction there!

Yes, there is. You would have to talk to someone in HR to get a more clear answer, but the company can not tell you to stay home. They are required by law to make a "reasonable accommodation". That does not include making you use short or long term disability insurance if you are cleared by a doctor to work. It's more than an infraction. That's how these massive discrimination lawsuits come about. All of that is dependent on what your doctor has said, and what your job is.

[tinsnips]

My friend makes canes from diamond willow they look great an work great. He has given away over 60 of them .

[pmer]

So I had to Google canes and saw more canes than you can shake a stick at Sword canes, one with a little telescope that pops out. The one with a hidden flask looked very interesting.

The most use I've had for a curved handle cane here on farm is for dipping it in fuel tanks to check the level but I think I'm coming around to there usefulness.

When trucks come to pickup live stock they always had some type of cane or electric prod to give them a little zap.

[HWooldridge]

When I was a kid, there was an older gentleman who always carried a black umbrella, rain or shine. Once he showed me how he had filed the end to a sharp point. He was worried mostly about stray dogs.

I used to walk every day for exercise and had to fend off dogs on occasion. I carried a 6' piece of bamboo with a 12" steel spike stuck on one end. As I walked, I would fill the spike with plastic trash and aluminum cans from the side of the road. Figured if I was ever stopped by the law, I would say I was cleaning up the roadside, which was not a lie...

[trapper9260]

For me I made a walking stick since a cane will be too short for me since I am tall. I made my out of the maple shoot from a stump of a tree that was cut down. It have a curve in it and it have flexed in it that make it easy for me to walk long time on my feet when I can not sit. It is taper and the large end is I put my hand and it is down to about 7/8" on the bottom that I put a chair stop on it that way it will not slip on me. It can be used for what been stated and I do not have any problems where I go ,when I use it . They take it as what it is a walking stick nothing more .

[fixit]

Had a roommate, when I was much younger, who was an amputee, but he had trained in martial arts, as an amputee, and was very proficient with his cane! He got a job as an usher at a movie theater, and during his time working there, had many interesting encounters with punks who thought they could push him around. It was always entertaining to hear about the shock on their faces when he used his cane to corral some kid who thought this old man (he looked way older than he was) was nothing to worry about!

[lightman]

All of this is so true! A cane or walking stick makes a formidable weapon! When I was a kid we used to have stick fights. It was mostly in good fun but sometimes it got rather heated. I got to be pretty good at it. You could wear a guy out that had a knife. My walking stick was an Oak Hoe handle. The kind made to slip into a ring on the hoe. I don't know if the name is correct or not but we called them grubbing hoes. The convicts that were on the "hoe squad" from the prison used these when cleaning out road ditches. Mine rides perfectly on the ledge behind my truck tool box which is right beside my gas filler on my truck. I try to park far enough away from the gas pump to have manurving room!

I would hate to be a thug and have to go back and tell my buddies that I got whupped by an old man with a cane!

[buckwheatpaul]

Heres a little something to think about, for those times a firearm isnt allowed or quite appropriate.
Back in the day a walking stick or cane was a part of a gentleman's attire. It was always there.
A heavy cane made from hardwood isnt hardly noticed when out and about. A nice well finished cane.can not only be a fashion statement but a solid self defense tool. A cane with a shaft 1 3/8" diameter at the top tapering down to 3/4"at the tip with a ball style or other handle (I dont care for the hook styles), males for a formidable stick that no one notices.

Courts, post offices, schools, and other banned buildings arnt going to take away your walking stick. Remember they have to be friendly to the handicapped .

When I was mobile my walking stick was made from walnut to the above shaft dimensions with a 2 1/2" ball handle just behind the shaft. A with a polished oil finish. Looked good and didnt stand out for its other uses. Brings a new meaning to concealed in plain sight.

A year of so ago I watched some u-tube videos about using a cane as self-defense....had tactics and was a good video....

[facetious]

I don't need a cane but the wife got me one at a garage sale to go with my avatar . It was all slivery and looked like it had been outside for years. ( she doesn't like my avatar).

I sanded it , drilled a 3/8th hole up the middle of the tip as for as I could and coated some wad-cutters with epoxy and glued them in the hole. Almost a half a pound of lead in the tip. A few coats of finish and it almost looks like new.

[abunaitoo]

I have an old one with a brass duck head handle.
Use it sometimes when I go walking.
Sure wouldn't want to hit with it.

[MaryB]

I use a cane fairly often with my torn ACL in both knees/shredded cartilage/bone spurs(my knees are toast). I have several of the Walmart collapsible canes around the house and if I want one that looks nice an ironwood cane that you do NOT want to get hit with. Ironwood is one of the heaviest woods when dry, and HARD. Only had to use it once. Teen was being pushy and tried to force into line in front of me. He shoved me, I whacked him across the shin. He went down crying. His parents tried to press charges, I had a dozen witnesses that said the kid got physical with me before I gave him a rap on the shin. Ended up it cracked the bone. Don't mess with granny in a line! Go to the rear like a normal person!

[Wayne Smith]

If you want to make your cane check out Treeline USA - they have a number of cane making supplies.

[Bmi48219]

…….Btw, I work for a British company, and we aren't allowed to have canes to walk with.... They might be used as weapons!

What does a British company allow you to use for a walking aid?

[historicfirearms]

I never thought about this before. Makes sense now that I think about it. A good cane would make a nice weapon against dogs or people.