#HTE

Great Design: Quick Fold Cane by Michael Graves

My elderly neighbor uses a cane, and one of the pain points I’ve observed is her struggling to get it in and out of the car. Collapsible canes exist, but they can be fiddly. I’ve been looking around for a better solution and just discovered this Quick Fold Cane, designed by Michael Graves.

Rather than relying on an elastic cord, the Quick Fold Cane uses hinges that self-retract into the body when it’s straightened out. To fold it back up, you stretch the cane out to expose the hinges, fold it, then magnets hold it closed.

The cane is height-adjustable.

It comes with two different tip styles than can be swapped without tools.

The square aluminum tubing adds strength and is lightweight, with the entire cane weighing in at about a pound. The handle is designed to hook and rest easily on your arm, for when you need a free hand, and also to hook onto a table surface and stay put.

One nice, unseen touch is that the cane’s mechanism has been designed to not make that clicking noise with each step you take.

The Quick Fold Cane comes in four colors and retails for $60 on the Michael Graves website.

However, I’ve also learned CVS is selling a similar-looking Take Along Folding Cane, also designed by Michael Graves, for just $40:

After scrutinizing the photos side-by-side, it seems to me the CVS version is a bit thinner. Other than that they appear identical.