[nagdu] First cane walk!

[David Andrews]

You have gotten advice from a number of people about cane tips.  The 
tip just pushes over the flange at the bottom of the cane.  This is 
the only kind of tip made for this cane -- so others you see on-line 
may not fit.  One advantage to NFB tip is that it just pushes on, so 
comes off easily even if cane has had a hard life.  Some other tips 
screw on, or are attached in another way, and water, salt, etc. can 
make it difficult or impossible to get them off, making the cane 
worthless when the tip wears out and can't be removed.

As you point 0out, part of the purpose of the cane is to make a 
sound, which helps in navigating.

As a person gets better with a cane, they tend to move more quickly 
and things don't get hung up as often.  You also narrow your tapping 
pattern to what you need to protect yourself and don't get hung up on 
side obstacles.

Tip preference is a personal thing.  I would urge you to give the 
metal/rubber tip a little more time.  If it doesn't ultimately work 
for you, finding something else may be trial and error, and may not 
be successful.

Dave

At 10:28 PM 6/16/2010, you wrote:
>Thats what I figured out pretty quick....this metal one catches on
>everything. And while thats good for letting me know whats in my way, I dont
>want any breaking of the cane! I know the metal cap kind of tip is supposed
>to be so you can triangulate off its echos, from what I remember reading a
>long time ago, but I dont think thats what I need.
>
>Has anyone here had/have the free NFB cane? Thats what I have, and I dont
>know what size tip to order for it. For that matter, I'm not sure how to get
>the tip off. It seems that the cane itself terminates in a flange, and the
>rubber part of the tip goes over the flange. Above that, the cane seems very
>narrow, much less than the half inch that most tips I see for sale. So I'm
>not sure what to order. Any ideas? The last thing I want to do is break this
>  because our family budget is *extremely tight* during the summer, so we
>wouldnt be able to replace it.
>

                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
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