[Blindtlk] NFB and canes and travel

[Nicholas]

Pat

Welcome to the list. Each poster has done a terrific job answering your questions. I almost forgot my folding cane days. I have great respect and admiration for my first O&M instructor who took me under his wing at an early age. We talked a lot of sports, especially baseball. However, the more I travel the more I am thankful for the Federation's method of cane usage. I hope you find a long white cane with a metal tip and start tapping away. Remember, your never lost if your discovering!

Nicholas S. Robertson
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 19, 2014, at 9:21 PM, "Lauren Merryfield" <lauren at catlines.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I think it depends on what an individual's travel needs are and what works
> best for them, given various life circumstances. 
> 
> I started out with a wooden cane with a crook, that had a wooden tip that
> really gave me no help, and I was in Jr. High and didn't want to be seen
> with a cane. So it took its place in the back of my closet. 
> 
> Later, I was introduced to the RainShine cane with a metal NFB tip and I was
> taught to use the tapping technique.  This was much better for me. I
> traveled outdoors a lot back then and I found that a long, straight, rigid
> cane was the safest and sturdiest for me. Now I am not out as much so a
> telescoping or folding cane works fine for me and is more convenient when I
> fly and when I am in public places, particularly restaurants. 
> 
> More recently, I have been taught that I would fall less often if I used a
> marshmallow tip, keeping contact with the ground or floor in front of me.
> This is due to problematic ankles, not to blindness, that I changed my cane
> technique. Now I am more likely to find irregular terrain that now can be
> more difficult for me to find using the tapping technique. 
> 
> I currently have a Kustom Cane that is a folding cane which has been
> customized with catly motifs so it is more PURRsonally mine,and I feel more
> comfortable with it than with a sterile, blah, boring white cane. So my cane
> usage has changed over the years as I have changed. 
> 
> I hope that something in that will be helpful to you when you make your
> choice of cane(s).
> Thanks
> Lauren
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Patrick
> Bennet
> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 12:50 PM
> To: patrick.bennet807 at gmail.com
> Subject: [Blindtlk] NFB and canes and travel
> 
> Hey everyone,
> 
> I just joined the list. I have some questions about cane travel and I hope
> you might be able to help me with this. Before I ask, I should probably
> explain.
> 
> For years I received instruction in O&M through my school district. I was
> given a folding cane with a standard rolling tip, which seems to be pretty
> commonly ordered by most agencies and districts. I think they come from a
> place in Canada .... but don't quote me on that. That is what I've always
> been used to. They seem decent enough.
> 
> But, I've read some online literature from the NFB about cane travel,
> including structured discovery (as opposed to routes) and a different kind
> of cane you use that is lighter an uses a metal tip. I've also heard about
> something called a rainshine tip. Maybe they are the same things.
> 
> Anyway, I've always been taught to hold the cane with the palm of the hand
> over it, with the index finger pointing down the flat side. This allows the
> cane with a roller tip to stay on the ground, also called constant contact.
> Is this not correct? From what I've read on the NFB website, your canes have
> metal tips, which would seem harder to slide over rough or cracked areas but
> would give more feedback. I also read somewhere that the grip is supposed to
> be different. In short, I'm wondering what the differences and advantages
> are. If so, I'd like to learn more. I've already read that they are lighter.
> Do you use them or hold them differently with another grip? Can NFB canes
> take roller tips and use constant contact, and if not, why? Is there really
> that much of an advantage to a cane that doesn't fold? I'm curious to learn
> about the differences, because I've never heard about them otherwise.
> 
> Thanks,
> Pat
> 
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