05/24/2026
Did you know there are many distinct types of white canes available? All white canes give us different information, helping us to navigate our environment safely. Often different canes are used on different terrains. Canes come in different lengths, have different tips, different hand grip or handle, and are different weights. Some canes fold in half, some in multiple sections (making it easy to store) and some do not fold at all. Some types of canes you may be familiar with are straight or rigid canes, folding canes, telescopic canes, support canes, identification canes (meant to identify the user as blind or having low vision), and others. Most canes are made of a long length of aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber. They have a handle on one end and a tip on the other. Canes are usually white to signify to the public that the person using it is blind or legally blind. Some canes have red on the bottom and some do not. The red on the bottom of a cane means different things in different countries. Some of us choose to decorate our cane as it is an extension of ourselves. A red and white striped cane means the person using it is both deaf and blind. A cane represents freedom and independence to those of us who use it.
Different tips give us different information. The tip of the cane either rolls, glides, or taps on the ground 3-6 feet in front of us, creating sound and vibration which gives us essential information about our environment. Some types of tips available are: marshmallow tip, rolling ball, pencil tip, rolling disc, ceramic tip, metal tip, and more. They can be in different colours and sizes and are made with varied materials.
We feel the vibration from the tip of the cane traveling into the palm of our hand. This allows us to detect a change in texture under the cane’s tip that is in contact with the ground.
The grip or handle makes a difference in our comfort and the information we receive. Things that can make a difference could be the thickness of the grip (width) and the material the grip is made of. They are made of hard or soft plastic, leather, foam, or wood. Some do not have a handle, and some have been custom made. The handle may have grooves for your fingers or be completely smooth. Some have a wrist loop on the end or a small crook, which can be used to store the white cane when not in use.
I have just been made aware of a smart cane that can help avoid overhead obstacles, has voice navigation and voice assist. This cane is called WeWALK and is compatible with your smart phone.
Finding the right cane, lenghth, tip and grip can make all the difference in how comfortable one feels exploring their environment. When we have the mobility device that we feel confident using, we go more places.
A cane signifies freedom and independence to the person who is using it.
Gina Martin
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Photo description
The photo on the left has many different types of white cans from support, telescopic, folding and straight. The photo on the right are different types of tips, such as the rolling ball, marshmallow, disc, pencil and metal. 
