Walking Cane Buying Guide: Types, Fit, and the 10 Best Canes in the US for 2026

A walking cane is not a magic wand for balance. It is a force-transfer tool. Put it in the wrong hand, set it two inches too high, or buy a $12 department-store special with a tip harder than a hockey puck, and you will spend more energy fighting the cane than walking with it. Put it in the right hand, at wrist height, with a rubber tip that actually grips, and it quietly removes load from a painful hip, a recovering knee, or a leg that no longer trusts its own feedback system.

The US market sells canes at four very different altitudes. Drugstores push $15–$30 aluminum sticks with foam grips. Amazon’s long tail runs from $18 folding models to $150 handmade hardwoods. Specialty houses sell blackthorn sticks and custom-engraved canes north of $200. Medicare Part B will help pay for a medically necessary cane if a provider prescribes it for home use, but the paperwork is not a coupon code you wave at checkout. The trick is knowing which altitude matches your actual walking pattern, not which listing has the loudest “best seller” badge.

This guide covers the types, the fitting rules, the ten canes we would actually put under a real user, and the boring but decisive details — return windows, weight limits, tip replacement — that determine whether a cane becomes a daily tool or a closet ornament.

What a Walking Cane Actually Does (and Doesn’t Do)

A cane widens your base of support and gives your hand something to push against. That is the whole mechanical story. It does not correct posture, it does not retrain a gait, and it does not replace a physical therapist’s assessment. What it does do is reduce the load on one side of the body. If you have a painful right knee, a cane in the left hand lets the right leg share less body weight with every step. If your balance is mildly compromised, a single point of contact buys you a fraction of a second to correct a sway. If your balance is significantly compromised, a single-point cane is not enough contact area, and a quad base or a walker enters the conversation.

The common consumer mistake is buying a cane for “old age” as a category. Canes do not care about age. They care about load, cadence, hand strength, and terrain. A 42-year-old recovering from ankle surgery and a 78-year-old with diabetic neuropathy may both end up with a cane, but they will not end up with the same cane. One needs a light offset stick for temporary offloading. The other may need a wider quad base for sensory uncertainty on uneven pavement. The product label does not make that distinction. Your walking pattern does.

There is also a psychological tax. A cane is visible. It signals something to the world, and plenty of buyers delay the purchase because of that signal. The practical response is not a pep talk. It is choosing a cane that looks like a deliberate object rather than a hospital loaner. A matte-black offset cane or a stained hickory stick reads differently than a chrome quad with a foam handle the color of a waiting-room chair. Function comes first, but the cosmetic variable is real, and pretending otherwise is how people end up with a cane they refuse to take to the grocery store.

The Six Types of Walking Canes That Matter in the US Market

Canes get sorted in a dozen ways online — by material, by handle, by folding mechanism, by fashion category. Most of those taxonomies are marketing departments talking to themselves. For a US buyer, six structural types cover the practical decisions: single-point, offset, quad, folding, seat, and wooden. Everything else is a variation on those themes.

Single-Point and Offset Canes

A single-point cane has one rubber tip on the ground and a handle at the top. It is the lightest and cheapest category, typically $10–$30, and it is appropriate for mild balance issues or temporary weight offloading. The traditional crook handle curves away from the shaft; the offset, or “swan neck,” handle sits directly over the shaft, putting your weight in line with the tip instead of off to the side. Physical therapists tend to prefer offset handles for extended use because they reduce wrist strain and distribute load more cleanly. A crook handle is fine for occasional support and for hooking over a chair back. If you plan to lean on the cane for blocks, not steps, the offset geometry is the more honest design.

Single-point canes are also the category where cheap construction hides best. A $12 aluminum cane with a plastic collar and a hard rubber tip can feel acceptable in the store and miserable after a mile. The tip is the first component to fail, not the shaft. A replacement tip costs $5–$8 at a pharmacy and takes thirty seconds to install. Buyers who replace the tip once a year get more service out of a budget cane than buyers who never check it.

Quad Canes: Small Base vs. Large Base

A quad cane splits into four feet at the bottom. The small-base version keeps the footprint narrow enough to use on stairs and in tight hallways, while the large-base version spreads wider and can stand upright on its own when you let go. The trade-off is maneuverability. A large-base quad is the most stable cane configuration you can buy without switching to a walker, but the wide feet catch on rug edges and door frames, and they are awkward on stairs. A small-base quad is the compromise for people who need more contact area than a single point but still navigate normal residential geometry.

Quad canes are heavier than single-point models. A typical small-base quad runs 2–3.5 pounds; a large-base model can push 4 pounds. That weight matters when you are lifting the cane with every step. The clinical rationale for a quad is fall-risk reduction, particularly for people recovering from a stroke or living with a condition that makes sudden sway unpredictable. The practical rationale is that a quad stands up when you set it down, which means you are not bending over to retrieve it every time you reach for a coffee cup.

Folding and Collapsible Canes

Folding canes break into three or four short segments and fit into a tote bag, a backpack, or a car door pocket. Collapsible canes telescope rather than fold, adjusting to a shorter packed length. The appeal is obvious for travelers, commuters, and anyone who uses a cane intermittently — a cane that disappears into a bag gets carried more often than a fixed-length stick that has to be held all evening. The structural cost is a set of joints. Cheap folding canes develop rattle at the joints, and rattle is not just annoying; it is a sign that the sections are moving under load. A well-made folding cane, like the HurryCane, uses a tensioned internal cord and a pivoting foot to keep the assembly quiet and planted. A $15 folding cane from a gas station will fold, but it may also wobble enough to make you trust it less than the leg you bought it to protect.

Seat Canes and Walking Stick Chairs

A seat cane is a cane that opens into a small tripod or quad stool. It is a niche product with a very specific use case: standing in lines, waiting at a pharmacy, or walking a route with no benches. The seat is not a recliner. It is a perch, usually rated for 220–300 pounds and positioned low enough that getting back up requires leg strength you may not have on a bad day. That is the contradiction of the category: people who most need to sit down are sometimes the least able to get up from a low stool without armrests. A seat cane with a higher seat and a stable three-legged stance is more useful than a minimalist stick-chair that folds into a purse but requires a parkour move to exit. If you are buying a seat cane for a parent, watch them sit and stand from it before the return window closes.

Wooden Canes: Blackthorn, Hickory, Bamboo

Wooden canes occupy a different value proposition. They are not lighter, not cheaper, and not more adjustable than aluminum. They are chosen for feel, aesthetics, and the specific mechanical properties of dense hardwood. Hickory is the traditional American choice for a working stick: stiff, shock-resistant, and heavy enough to feel planted. Blackthorn is the Irish heritage stick — a knobby, tapered shaft that looks like it grew into the job rather than being extruded into it. A genuine blackthorn is not a uniform dowel; the knots and the curve are part of the structure. Cold Steel’s polypropylene “Irish Blackthorn” is a $40–$50 synthetic stand-in that will not split, warp, or crack, but it is not wood and does not pretend to be. A handmade blackthorn from a specialty maker can run $150 or more.

Bamboo canes sit at the light end of the wooden spectrum. They are stiff along the grain but can split under a concentrated point load if the node structure is compromised. Bamboo is a reasonable choice for a light balance stick and a poor choice for a heavy leaner. The wood-versus-aluminum decision is not about durability in the abstract; it is about whether you want a cane that transmits road vibration (aluminum) or absorbs some of it (dense wood). Neither is medically superior. The user who actually carries the cane is.

Custom, Handmade, and Fashion Canes

The custom cane market runs from $80 handmade hardwood sticks with a chosen collar and length to $300 tactical canes with interchangeable handles and engraved shafts. A custom length matters most for people who fall between standard sizing bands or who want a specific handle material — a larger palm grip for arthritis, a left-handed offset for a dominant-side issue. Engraving and exotic woods are cosmetic upgrades. They do not change the load path. The honest reason to buy custom is fit and hand feel, not the story the product page tells about “heirloom craftsmanship.” A $40 Hugo offset cane that fits correctly will outperform a $250 showpiece that is an inch too short.

Fashion canes — patterned shafts, designer handles, acrylic and resin — are a legitimate response to the visibility problem. A cane you are willing to carry is better than a medical-looking cane you leave in the closet. The structural caveat is the same as with any budget cane: check the tip, check the collar, and do not assume a pretty print means a reinforced joint. Switch Sticks, for example, sells folding seat canes in 27 colorways, which solves the aesthetic objection without claiming to solve the biomechanics. The biomechanics are solved by the fitting rules in the next section.

How to Fit and Use a Walking Cane Without Wrecking Your Wrist

Most cane complaints are fit complaints wearing a disguise. Hand numbness, wrist ache, shoulder fatigue, the feeling that the cane is “too short” or “too long” — these are not signs that you need a different category of cane. They are signs that the cane is at the wrong height or in the wrong hand.

The Wrist-Crease Rule and the 15–30 Degree Elbow

Stand up straight, put your arms at your sides, and look at where the crease of your wrist sits. The top of the cane handle should line up with that crease when the cane is standing on the floor beside you. With your hand on the grip, your elbow should bend at roughly 15 to 30 degrees. If you are using the cane primarily for balance rather than weight offloading, a slightly greater bend is acceptable, but the wrist-crease reference remains the anchor. A cane that is too long forces you to hike your shoulder to lift it. A cane that is too short pitches you toward the cane side and throws your center of mass off the midline. Both errors are more common than the wrong cane type.

Wear the shoes you actually walk in when you check the height. A running shoe with a thick heel changes the floor-to-wrist distance by half an inch or more compared with a flat slipper. That half-inch is the difference between a cane that feels like a tool and a cane that feels like a chore. Adjustable canes use a push-button or twist-lock mechanism; check that the locking pin fully engages and that the collar is hand-tight before you put weight on it. A cane that collapses mid-step is a fall with extra steps.

Which Hand? The Opposite-Leg Rule

Hold the cane in the hand opposite the weak or painful leg. If the right hip is the problem, the cane goes in the left hand. This is not a preference; it is a gait mechanic. The cane and the affected leg move together, so the cane’s tip contacts the ground at the same time the affected leg accepts load. That timing gives the cane a chance to share the load instead of fighting it. People instinctively grab the cane with the hand on the same side as the pain, which feels protective but actually shifts weight onto the painful side and increases the compression through the joint.

If you are using the cane purely for balance and have no unilateral pain, either hand is mechanically acceptable. Most right-handed users will feel more coordinated with the cane in the right hand, but the opposite-leg rule still applies if one side is weaker. The first two days of use will feel wrong no matter which hand you choose. That is normal. The coordination improves faster than the discomfort suggests.

Stairs, Curbs, and the Rubber Tip Check

Upstairs: stronger leg first, then the cane and the weaker leg together. Downstairs: weaker leg and cane first, then the stronger leg. Hold the railing with your free hand whenever one exists. The cane is not a substitute for a railing on stairs; it is a supplement. On curbs, step up with the stronger leg and bring the cane and the weaker leg up after it. Step down with the cane and the weaker leg first. The pattern is “up with the good, down with the bad,” and it applies to the cane as much as to the leg.

The rubber tip is the most neglected component on any cane. It is also the component that determines whether the cane grips or skates. Check the tread the way you would check a tire: if the bottom is smooth, hardened, or cracked, replace it. Replacement tips cost $5–$8 at a pharmacy or medical supply store and fit most standard shaft diameters. A worn tip on a wet tile floor is a physics experiment you do not want to run. Ice tips and all-terrain tips exist for winter and trail use; they are worth the $10 if your walking route includes either.

Best Walking Canes in the US for 2026: Ranked and Explained

The ten picks below are not a “top ten” in the sense of ten equally good products. They are ten canes that solve different problems well, sorted by the use case they handle best. Prices are typical US street prices at the time of writing and move around with sales and retailer inventory. The ranking is not a universal “best” because a cane that fits a 5-foot-2 user with mild arthritis is not the cane that fits a 6-foot-4 user recovering from a hip replacement.

1. HurryCane Freedom Edition — Best Overall for Most People

The HurryCane is the folding cane that most physical and occupational therapists reach for when a patient needs a portable stick with a pivoting foot. The offset handle is comfortable for extended grip, the three-point pivoting base stands the cane upright when you let go, and the folded length fits in a tote bag. It adjusts through a broad height range and supports up to 300 pounds in the standard configuration. The common complaint is that the pivoting base can catch on thick rugs or door thresholds, and the folded assembly is slightly heavier than a fixed-length cane. Neither is a dealbreaker for the traveler or the intermittent user. For the person who needs one cane to do grocery runs, car transfers, and airport terminals, this is the most forgiving single purchase on the list.

2. Hugo Adjustable Offset Cane — Best Budget Offset Pick

Hugo’s offset cane is the quiet value pick. Aluminum shaft, foam grip, push-button height adjustment, and a reflective strap that is genuinely useful for evening walks. Street price hovers around $17–$25 depending on color and retailer. It does not stand on its own and it does not fold, so it is a “keep by the door” cane rather than a “throw in the bag” cane. The offset handle puts weight over the tip, which makes it a better daily leaner than a crook-handle stick at the same price. If you want a first cane that does the basic job without a $60 experiment, this is the low-risk entry point.

3. NOVA Sugarcane Quad — Best for Standing On Its Own

The NOVA Sugarcane is a quad cane with a compact base and a carrying strap, priced around $40–$57 depending on the retailer. The base stands the cane upright when you set it down, which sounds like a small convenience until you have spent a week retrieving a fallen single-point cane from under a restaurant table. The quad footprint is stable on flat indoor surfaces and manageable on short outdoor walks. It is heavier and slower than a single-point cane, and the four feet are fussier on stairs. For a user who needs more stability than a single point but is not ready for a walker, the Sugarcane is a sensible middle rung.

4. Drive Medical Small-Base Quad — Best No-Frills Stability

Drive Medical’s small-base quad is the budget workhorse of the category. It typically sells for $20–$40, supports up to 300 pounds, and uses a simple push-button height adjustment. The finish is chrome or black, the grip is foam, and the design is aggressively unglamorous. What it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in predictable geometry: the small base fits through bathroom doors and works on stairs with a one-foot-per-step rhythm. This is the cane to buy when the priority is a stable second contact point at the lowest possible price and you do not need the cane to fold or stand on its own.

5. KingGear Quad Cane — Best Wide-Base Value

KingGear’s quad cane uses a larger base than the Drive small-base model and adds a padded offset handle and a folding shaft on some versions. User reviews consistently flag the stability on uneven surfaces and the ease of standing the cane upright. The trade-off is the familiar wide-base problem: door frames, rug edges, and stair nosings become obstacles. The KingGear is a strong pick for a user who walks mostly on sidewalks, in stores, and on flat indoor floors and wants a wide base without paying the premium for a large-base clinical quad. It is less suited to a house full of narrow hallways and throw rugs.

6. Asterom Handmade Oak Stick — Best Wooden Cane for Men

The Asterom one-piece oak cane is the wooden stick for the buyer who wants a traditional look without a costume-shop feel. It is a fixed-length stick, so sizing matters more than with an adjustable aluminum cane. The appeal is the hand feel: dense oak, a smooth finish, and a weight that makes the cane feel like it is planted rather than placed. It does not fold, it does not adjust, and it will not stand on its own. What it does is deliver the aesthetic and tactile experience that aluminum cannot, which is the entire reason the wooden cane category exists. Buy it for the daily walk around the neighborhood, not for air travel.

7. Cold Steel Irish Blackthorn — Best Blackthorn Beater

Cold Steel’s Irish Blackthorn is not a handmade wooden stick. It is a polypropylene shaft molded to look like blackthorn, and it sells for roughly $40–$50 depending on the retailer. The advantage is indifference to weather: it will not warp, swell, splinter, or crack. The disadvantage is that it is a synthetic object pretending to be a natural one, and the hand feel is closer to a dense polymer than to wood. If you want the blackthorn silhouette for trail walks and wet weather without paying $150 for a natural stick, this is the practical compromise. If you want the real thing, a natural Irish blackthorn from a specialty maker is a different purchase at a different price.

8. Switch Sticks Folding Seat Cane — Best Seat Cane for Travel

Switch Sticks makes a folding cane that opens into a three-legged seat, supports up to 220 pounds, and comes in 27 patterns and colors. The seat is small and low, so it is a perch rather than a chair, but it solves the specific problem of standing in line at a pharmacy or waiting for a table. The folding mechanism packs down to a length that fits in a car trunk or a large tote. The weight capacity is lower than the heavy-duty seat canes, and the seat height will not suit taller users. For a traveler who needs occasional sit-down breaks and does not want to carry a separate stool, the Switch Sticks is the most portable version of the category.

9. Vive Offset Walking Cane — Best Premium All-Rounder

The Vive offset cane sits at the upper end of the aluminum single-point category. The comfort-foam handle is contoured, the shaft is height-adjustable through a broad range, and the overall build feels more solid than the $18 drugstore sticks. It does not fold and it does not stand alone, so the premium is paying for grip comfort and a tighter assembly rather than for extra features. For a user who walks daily on sidewalks and wants a single-point cane that does not feel disposable after six months, the Vive is the sensible upgrade. For a user who needs a cane that disappears into a bag, the premium is wasted.

10. Carex Soft Grip Derby — Best Soft-Handle Budget Cane

Carex’s soft-grip derby cane is the budget pick for arthritic hands. The handle is a soft, slightly larger derby shape that gives more surface area to the palm than a narrow crook, and the aluminum shaft adjusts through a standard height range. It typically sells for $20–$30 and is widely available at Walmart, Walgreens, and Amazon. The derby handle is not an offset handle, so it does not put weight directly over the tip, but the soft grip reduces the hand fatigue that makes cheap canes unpleasant. It is a straightforward first cane for a user who needs light support and does not want to spend $60 on a folding model.

Walking Cane Comparison Table: Price, Weight, Height, and Best Use

Two patterns jump out of the table. First, the price spread between a functional cane and a premium cane is narrower than in almost any other mobility category. The difference between the $20 Drive quad and the $57 NOVA quad is not a difference in safety; it is a difference in finish, strap, and stand-alone behavior. Second, the weight column barely moves. Aluminum canes cluster between 0.9 and 2.8 pounds. Wooden canes are not lighter. Seat canes are heavier. The “lightweight” marketing label is doing less work than the height-adjustment column, which is the variable that actually determines whether the cane fits.

What “Used” and “Custom” Really Mean When You Buy a Cane

The used cane market is small but real. eBay and local marketplaces list vintage wooden sticks, brass-handled antiques, and lightly used aluminum canes at 30–60% below retail. The custom market is larger and louder, with makers offering engraved shafts, exotic hardwoods, and tactical aluminum canes at $100–$300. Both categories reward a specific kind of inspection and punish a specific kind of optimism.

Buying a Used Walking Cane: The Three-Point Inspection

First, inspect the tip. A used cane with a hardened, cracked, or missing rubber tip is not a bargain; it is a $7 repair and a safety question. Second, inspect the joint or collar. On an adjustable cane, check that the push-button locks into every height hole and that the collar is not cracked. On a folding cane, open and close it several times and listen for rattle. A joint that moves under hand pressure will move more under body weight. Third, inspect the handle for delamination, loose rivets, or a grip that has compressed unevenly. Foam grips compress permanently after months of use, and a compressed grip changes the effective height of the cane.

Vintage wooden canes need a fourth check: the shaft near the tip. Wood can develop a split along the grain after years of contact with wet pavement. A hairline split at the ferrule is a structural failure waiting for a heavy step. If the cane is a genuine antique with a silver or brass handle, the collectible value may exceed the functional value, and it should be bought as an object rather than as a daily mobility aid. A $40 used cane that needs a new tip and a new grip is still a reasonable purchase if the shaft is sound. A $15 used cane with a split shaft is firewood with a story.

Custom and Personalized Canes: Worth the Extra $100?

Custom canes are worth the premium when the premium buys fit or hand function, not when it buys engraving. A custom length matters for users outside the standard 30–39-inch adjustment range, and a custom handle can matter for a user with limited grip strength or a specific hand shape. A left-handed offset handle, a larger palm swell, or a lighter shaft for a user with shoulder fatigue are functional customizations. Engraving, exotic wood veneers, and laser-etched patterns are cosmetic, and cosmetic upgrades do not change the load path. A $295 tactical cane with interchangeable handles is a hobby purchase for most buyers and a genuine tool for a small number of users who want a heavy, indestructible stick. Neither is wrong. The mistake is paying custom prices for a standard fit and then discovering the cane is still an inch too short.

Buyer Protection in the US: Returns, Medicare, and the Fine Print

The US cane market has three layers of buyer protection that matter: retailer return windows, Medicare coverage for medically necessary canes, and the practical warranty coverage that varies by brand. None of them is a substitute for checking the fit before you commit, but they determine how much a bad purchase costs you.

Return Windows at Amazon, Walgreens, and CVS

Amazon’s standard return window on most canes is 30 days from delivery, with free returns on items shipped by Amazon and sold by Amazon or a qualifying third-party seller. The item must be in its original condition; a cane that has been used outdoors and has a scuffed tip may be treated as used and denied a full refund. Walgreens and CVS generally accept returns of unopened canes within 30–60 days depending on the item and the store’s current policy, but special-order and opened medical items often fall under different rules. The practical move is to keep the packaging, test the cane indoors on a carpeted surface, and make the keep-or-return decision before the first outdoor walk.

Specialty cane retailers and custom makers often have shorter windows or no returns on personalized items. A custom-engraved cane is usually non-returnable because the engraving makes it unsellable to another customer. If you are ordering a custom length, confirm the measurement twice before the order goes in. The return policy is not a safety net for a custom purchase; it is a formality.

Does Medicare Part B Cover a Walking Cane?

Medicare Part B covers canes as durable medical equipment when they are medically necessary and prescribed by a provider for use in the home. Medicare pays 80% of the approved amount after the Part B deductible, and the beneficiary pays the remaining 20%. The cane must be supplied by a Medicare-enrolled supplier, and the prescription has to document the medical need. Over-the-counter canes bought at a drugstore without a prescription are not reimbursed through the DME benefit. The practical takeaway: if a physician or physical therapist has told you that you need a cane for a medical condition, ask for a prescription and go through a DME supplier rather than buying the first aluminum stick at the pharmacy counter. If you are buying a cane for comfort or intermittent balance support and have not discussed it with a clinician, the Medicare pathway is not available.

How We Picked These Canes (and What We Ignored)

We started with the structural categories that actually change the walking experience: single-point, offset, quad, folding, seat, and wooden. Then we looked for models that had a meaningful number of verified user reviews, a clear height range, a published weight capacity, and a US retail presence that included a real return path. We ignored “best seller” badges, review counts that looked inflated, and listings that described a cane as “ergonomic” without specifying the handle geometry.

We also weighted the boring variables more heavily than the exciting ones. A cane with a replaceable tip and a standard shaft diameter is more useful over three years than a cane with a proprietary tip that costs $20 and has to be ordered from the manufacturer. A cane with a published height range that covers the user’s actual height is more useful than a cane with a “one size fits most” claim. A cane with a return window that the buyer can actually use is more useful than a cane with a five-star average and a 14-day return policy that starts at the shipping date rather than the delivery date.

The picks are not a ranking of durability because we did not destructively test every cane. They are a ranking of fitness for common US use cases: the daily neighborhood walk, the grocery store, the airport, the stairs inside a two-story house, and the pharmacy line. A cane that wins on the neighborhood sidewalk may lose in the airport. That is not a contradiction; it is the reason the category exists in the first place.

Five Questions Buyers Actually Ask Before Clicking “Add to Cart”

How do I know what height walking cane I need?

Stand with your normal walking shoes on and your arms at your sides. The top of the cane handle should align with the crease of your wrist. When you grip the handle, your elbow should bend about 15 to 30 degrees. If the cane is adjustable, set it at that height and lock the pin fully. If the cane is fixed-length, measure from the floor to your wrist crease and order that length.

Is a quad cane better than a single-point cane for balance?

A quad cane provides more ground contact and more resistance to tipping, so it is better for moderate to significant balance problems and for users recovering from a stroke. A single-point cane is lighter, faster, and easier to manage on stairs and in tight spaces. The right choice depends on how much stability you need, not on which cane looks more medical.

Can I use a walking cane on stairs?

Yes, with a specific pattern. Going up, step first with the stronger leg, then bring the cane and the weaker leg up together. Going down, lower the cane and the weaker leg first, then bring the stronger leg down. Hold the railing with your free hand whenever possible. A quad cane with a wide base is awkward on stairs; a single-point or small-base cane is easier to place.

Are wooden canes as strong as aluminum ones?

Dense hardwoods like hickory and blackthorn are strong and stiff, and a well-made wooden cane can support a heavy leaner. The weakness is at the tip and along the grain: wood can split if it is repeatedly wet or if the ferrule is loose. Aluminum is more uniform and more weather-resistant, but it transmits more vibration. Neither material is universally stronger; the quality of the specific cane matters more than the material label.

Can I buy a used walking cane safely?

Yes, if you inspect three things: the rubber tip (replace it if hardened or cracked), the height-adjustment mechanism (check that the pin locks in every hole), and the shaft near the tip (look for splits or delamination). A used cane with a sound shaft and a replaceable tip is a good value. A used cane with a split shaft or a cracked collar is a false economy, regardless of the price.