[nfb-talk] new NFB canes

[T. Joseph Carter]

I had a chance at convention to play with all of the new NFB canes, 
and I like them.

The telescopic cane’s cap is made of plastic (I’ve heard it said it 
was metal, it’s not, just shiny plastic) and screws into the graphite 
making for the strongest cap I’ve seen on a telescopic cane.  The 
length is also noteworthy because when you buy a given cane length, 
it is now actually that long.  That means a 69" cane user like myself 
can now actually get a 69" telescopic cane.

It indeed does not collapse as easily, and the new tip is a little 
more expensive.  I’ve found that you can use the older tips with 
moderate success, but you really want the new ones for it.  They are   
perhaps even lighter than the old telescopic canes, which is hard to 
imagine, and despite this they feel sturdier.  My only wish for them 
would be that the included case served some purpose other than maybe 
keeping the cane looking new stored inside a bag.  Eyelets or a belt 
loop or something would be useful.

The new folding cane is one I wanted to like.  It folds up into many 
small sections (too many perhaps for a cane so short), but it stops 
at 61".  That’s just not long enough.  And it fold into something 
like 7 sections.  Like the telescopic canes, the new folding cane 
tapers along its length.  If they offered it long enough, I’d 
probably get one.

Honestly, if they hold up as well as I think they might, I hope the 
national office gives serious consideration to trying out the 50/50 
concept again in the future.  Great idea and poor execution there, 
and this new cane seems to show how to do it right so far.

The new rigid canes come in carbon fiber and fiberglass.  The latter 
is a little whippier, but not by much.  Which isn’t to say that the 
fiberglass isn’t whippy in nature, but rather that the carbon fiber 
really is!  They’re different from the other new designs in that they 
don’t taper outward, and you’re not holding on to un-coated carbon 
fiber like the other canes.  The grip is a foam material dense enough 
not to provide any padding or anything.  It just provides a good 
solid grip.  Unlike the other canes, the rigid model has a top made 
of cork glued on to it with one of those ridiculous camera straps 
attached to it.  Don’t snip it off, as I was tempted to do, because 
the other end of the cord is attached to a small split ring that 
keeps it from falling out that you probably don’t want rattling 
around inside the cane.

Like all of the new canes, the new rigid canes are comically light 
weight.  I’ve got one in fiberglass, 69", and it is my primary cane 
now.  It is probably not as strong as the older canes, but it’s 
plenty strong enough, and it’s so very light!  Easy to walk with, and 
easy to use a long enough cane to actually move at a reasonable pace 
with the thing.  The rigid cane came with the old-style NFB tip on 
it, and will likely do so until the NFB runs out of the old ones and 
has only the new.  *grin*

Joseph - KF7QZC


On Sun, Jul 24, 2011 at 01:30:30PM -0400, Brice Smith wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I've heard that the NFB just introduced a new type of carbon fiber
>folding cane at the convention in Orlando. Their online store doesn't
>yet list them, however, and I'm wondering if I heard correctly. Has
>anyone tried this new cane, and if so, what did you think? Also, how
>does it compare to the new telescoping canes I heard they recently
>came out with earlier this year? I've previously read on this list
>that the new telescoping canes are better built and designed to stand
>more wear and tear than the old ones which were fairly unreliable.
>
>-Thanks
>
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