Help? Where can I buy my first walking stick?

luminated

DigForVictory wrote: »

Alongside the little shields, and the tinsel. (Why didn't we think of that? The thing sat there like a scowling toddler all Chirstmas & we could have made it Fun. Dratted opportunity missed. Not this year.... )

Best thinking yet - Xmas decoration/s - I have a thing about blue LED lights and even have them in glass vases and such all year round. Why not get some for your 'thing' and cheer up your neighbors with a walk down your road

Savvy_Sue

You can of course get battery operated Christmas lights, and another idea would be to get a set of bike lights with flashing LEDs to cheer the thing up ...

skifflecat

I use an inexpensive folding stick in British Racing Green, which has been quite sturdy enough for me and adjusts comfortably to my short height.

To avoid losing it when out, I keep it attached to my person. I have those things that clip to a belt loop at one end, and a keyring at the other, with a length of coloured, coiled wire inbetween. I have three, in different colours, so if I want, I can change them to match what I am wearing. I can prop my stick against a counter or seat without fear of leaving it behind, and if I drop it, I can haul up the coil so I don't even have to bend down to pick it up. If I slip the wrist loop into the waist clip, there's just enough length to walk comfortably, and I can let go of my stick without it falling to the ground. It's most useful in shops; when I need to use that hand, I can simply let go of the stick, and it hangs beside me, convenient for when I want to pick it up again.

mary-op

I'm tempted to try the fold up sticks if only so I can pop them in a bag on my mobility scooter. Be so much easier but wasn't sure they'd be supportive enough. Mind you the sticks I've got are 'slimline' and they're ok for me so might try a pair of folding ones.

deefin

i blinged up my quad-sticks with acrylic spray paint and stick on diamontes .. ive also blinged up my scooter with pink fairys ( halfords car stickers ), made my own pink stick bags pvc and velcro. and ive covered my wheelcair side panels in black leather ( 4.90 per mtr , the range )and used t shirt printer paper ( for dark fabric )to print out some rose's and ironed those on ,
home bargains has fold up sticks with ergo handles for £2.50 btw they are black and basic but a cheap can of spray enamel from wilkos soon sorted those out ..lol
next im going to dress up my tri walker . i dislike the "old granny" colours these come in !
ive adapted many off the shelf non disability items in to disability ones and far less cost than buying mobility items ..
ie use a wireless door bell as a assistance alarm .. door bell £4.99 wilkos . assistance alarm from dissability shop £55 !!
mothercare pram cup holder ,, £7 disability one for wheelchair £20 .. it pays to be savvy
disability items are far overpriced even with the vat free ,, think outside the box and save money ..

jetta_wales

deefin wrote: »

i blinged up my quad-sticks with acrylic spray paint and stick on diamontes .. ive also blinged up my scooter with pink fairys ( halfords car stickers ), made my own pink stick bags pvc and velcro. and ive covered my wheelcair side panels in black leather ( 4.90 per mtr , the range )and used t shirt printer paper ( for dark fabric )to print out some rose's and ironed those on ,
home bargains has fold up sticks with ergo handles for £2.50 btw they are black and basic but a cheap can of spray enamel from wilkos soon sorted those out ..lol
next im going to dress up my tri walker . i dislike the "old granny" colours these come in !
ive adapted many off the shelf non disability items in to disability ones and far less cost than buying mobility items ..
ie use a wireless door bell as a assistance alarm .. door bell £4.99 wilkos . assistance alarm from dissability shop £55 !!
mothercare pram cup holder ,, £7 disability one for wheelchair £20 .. it pays to be savvy
disability items are far overpriced even with the vat free ,, think outside the box and save money ..

An excellent post and some great ideas.

I think I'm going use spray paint for my cane and strip the White tape off it altogether. I know the reflective element of the tap is there for a reason but I don't need it at night so I don't see the harm in stripping it.

I was going to just decorate it but due to the nature of it's use it gets real scruffy real fast and anything I put on it will soon come off no doubt, especially on the lower section.

mcculloch29

Ooh brilliant ideas. I haven't seen the sticks with ergo handles in HB but I do have two boring black sticks and a local Wilko's. Spray enamel here I come.

B&M Bargains did a very lightweight aluminium non foldy cane with padded foam handle, but the ferrule (rubber foot) was useless, it wore out almost instantly. I keep mine for use around the house.

I agree with the statement that 'if you can't use it, you probably don't need it'.

My first cane from Age Concern languished in the outhouse for a few years as I simply couldn't get the hang of it. Then in 2009 my arthritic pain became severe rapidly and voila ... I got the knack instantly as I quickly learned to transfer my weight through the cane.
I often see people walking with sticks who aren't using them to support weight - you can tell easily. Aside from hikers, I've often wondered if these are people having a good pain day, or perhaps the stick is being used to flag up the fact that ooh look, they are disabled after all, even if they don't look it, honest ...

deefin

jetta_wales wrote: »

An excellent post and some great ideas.

I think I'm going use spray paint for my cane and strip the White tape off it altogether. I know the reflective element of the tap is there for a reason but I don't need it at night so I don't see the harm in stripping it.

I was going to just decorate it but due to the nature of it's use it gets real scruffy real fast and anything I put on it will soon come off no doubt, especially on the lower section.

if you add stickers or anything ( try using rub-its ) spray over them with some clear enamel or varnish . if they are small you could always use a clear nail varnish

if you want to be seen at night , poundland has reflective stickers so has halfords ,, try adding one of those doggy lead leds to your handle aswell ( poundland also sell these ,, and if you take the clips off they can be popped in to the ends of wheelchair handles ( i use silicone gel bike handles on mine , as my carer complained the ones that came on my chair hurt her hands ,, much cheaper to buy cycle handles than disability ones ! )
cycle handles are also great to pop cutlery in if you have limited grip and a lot cheaper than disability cutlery if the holes in the handles are to big fill them first with expanding diy foam and pop some old cutlery in them while its still wet ,, total cost less the £10 per set as opposed to £15 each for disability ones, you could do the same with utensils . i adapted one cycle handle with diy expanding foam so i could pop in utensils as i needed then ( cheap plain stainless ones ) i formed the right sized slot by poking in1 covered in vaseline while the foam was tacky and then removed it again ,,, now i just pop in what i need as i need it

jetta_wales

deefin wrote: »

if you add stickers or anything spray over them with some clear enamel or varnish . if they are small you could always use a clear nail varnish

if you want to be seen at night , poundland has reflective stickers so has halfords ,, try adding one of those doggy lead leds to your handle aswell ( poundland also sell these ,, and if you take the clips off they can be popped in to the ends of wheelchair handles ( i use silicone gel bike handles on mine , as my carer complained the ones that came on my chair hurt her hands ,, much cheaper to buy cycle handles than disability ones ! )
cycle handles are also great to pop cutlery in if you have limited grip and a lot cheaper than disability cutlery if the holes in the handles are to big fill them first with expanding diy foam and pop some old cutlery in them while its still wet ,, total cost less the £10 per set as opposed to £15 each for disability ones, you could do the same with utensils . i adapted one cycle handle with diy expanding foam so i could pop in utensils as i needed then ( cheap plain stainless ones ) i formed the right sized slot by poking in1 covered in vaseline while the foam was tacky and then removed it again ,,, now i just pop in what i need as i need it

I never need to use the cane at night (my sight vastly improves in very low light) so I don't think I need the reflective aspect of it at all really but I know people still recognise the white cane and might not do so if I changed it's colour so might not stop for me to cross the road as much as they do at the moment (which is a godsend in itself). The reflective tape covering looks a mess though, it didn't look great new either tbh.

Maybe I can just spray glitter and attack it with that? lol

I think I'll strip it and get a white shiny spray paint (got to be better than the tape it comes covered with) and then go from there. Nail varnish is a good idea though for covering small adhesive things like little stars or maybe even just little polka dots with different coloured metallic varnishes? Kids always ask me what it is too so it would be nice when explaining it if it looked a tad funkier too.

deefin

jetta_wales wrote: »

I never need to use the cane at night (my sight vastly improves in very low light) so I don't think I need the reflective aspect of it at all really but I know people still recognise the white cane and might not do so if I changed it's colour so might not stop for me to cross the road as much as they do at the moment (which is a godsend in itself). The reflective tape covering looks a mess though, it didn't look great new either tbh.

Maybe I can just spray glitter and attack it with that? lol

I think I'll strip it and get a white shiny spray paint (got to be better than the tape it comes covered with) and then go from there. Nail varnish is a good idea though for covering small adhesive things like little stars or maybe even just little polka dots with different coloured metallic varnishes? Kids always ask me what it is too so it would be nice when explaining it if it looked a tad funkier too.

try these ,,http://www.glowtec.co.uk/glowshop-cart-Paints.htm or neon plasticote