For many people, moving about is not an easy prospect. No matter how much we push against it, our mobility tends to decline as we age. It’s just a fact of life and something that we as a society have to handle in our own way.
The answer for a lot of people is the use of a cane. A cane provides support for those who still have solid upper body strength. Canes aren’t for people who have severe movement issues. A cane can only do so much after all. Canes are best employed by people who have minor to moderate issues with only a single leg. The cane then provides the additional support that they aren’t otherwise getting.
Walking Canes Featuring Seats
A relatively recent addition to canes for people are seat canes. These canes will function as a standard cane for the majority of the time. However unlike traditional canes which merely have the single leg, these will have three legs. THe two other legs will typically be shorter, and then when needed, the cane can be altered.
Once altered, the cane becomes an impromptu seat. This is perfect for ladies and gentlemen who can not spend time walking for extended periods of time. It’s also great for people who use canes and have to queue up in long lines. The seat gives them a place to relax so that they don’t risk injury.
The downside to these seat canes is that they are heavier than the standard canes. While they are made of ultra lightweight materials, it’s still more of those materials than a standard cane which usually also features lightweight materials.
Quad Canes
For people who do not receive the kind of support that they get from a standard cane, there are quad canes. Like the name suggests, quad canes function with a single cane handle that branches out to four legs near the base of the cane.
This quad system provides an extra support structure for the person using it. The four legs grip very firmly and if one slips, it’s unlikely the other three would also slip simultaneously. This can be especially useful in Northern climates that often feature icy conditions.
Like the seat canes, quad canes do suffer from some disadvantages. Once again because of the additional material, they are heavier than standard canes. The weighting of them can take some getting used to as well. Finally quad canes came sometimes feel very awkward when using them on stairs. Their size typically does not fit onto a single standard stair and it can feel like they are getting in the way.
Folding and Collapsible Canes
While the standard cane does its job and does it well, they can sometimes feel bulky. Being the industrious society that we are, engineers took it upon themselves to make canes more easily storable and more convenient to have around. This led to the creation of the collapsing and foldable canes.
Each of these canes is designed to allow for easy storage when not in use, just through different methods. The Collapsible cane folds in towards in within itself. This results in what looks like an almost mini cane. Typically this will be made of a lightweight metal that provides strong support despite being hollow to allow for the collapsible nature.
Folding canes instead fold up into equal size pieces beside each other. This again makes for a more easily storable cane since the awkward length is no longer a factor.