Hi Ronnie,
I’ve got one and here’s what I think. It’s definitely a useful mobility
device but quite poorly manufactured. It does what it says on the box of
detecting obstacles before hitting them with ones cane enabling one to
manoeuvre around them without slowing down which is useful and quite nice.
It’s not as useful when used in a busy environment for the obvious reason
that it’ll be picking up people and it gets a little tricky but the same
applies to using a normal cane in my opinion. Now the main problems I found
with it, which I do believe they are due to a poor and flimsy manufacturing,
were:
- It’s quite bulky. I’m not sure if it really can’t be made smaller.
- The covers on the detectors kept braking; you shouldn’t use it then as
rain can damage the detectors. To the Ultra Cane’s people credit they fixed
it every time with no charge but it got pretty inconvenient to keep sending
the cane back not to mention the postage cost.
- The main issue in my opinion was that for some reason the cane kept
giving very short pulses when rolled over cracks and bumps. The solution was
either to lift the cane off the ground while sweeping which is very, very
wrong obviously or to learn to differentiate between these short false
pulses from the normal ones as it were.
I no longer use my Ultra Cane. This is partly because I now go out with
company most of the time so I don’t really need it these days but partly for
the reasons above. I can say though that I used to feel more in control and
more confident when I’m out on my own and using the Ultra Cane. This is why
I say it’s a useful device but unfortunately it’s poorly produced.
Re price, well, it’s certainly expensive but it’s very much like everything
else for the blind; a rip off!
Finally, I bought mine few years ago when the Ultra Cane first came out. I
believe the original Ultra Cane Company went bankrupt and it looks it’s
being sold by a different company now. Whether it’s now being manufactured
by a different producer too, I don’t know.
I’d say if you are going to try it make sure you raze the above points with
the sellers and definitely ask to try it outdoors on the pavement.
I hope I haven’t confused you with this somewhat indecisive review!
All the best,
Amro
-----Original Message-----
From: Ronnie Hill
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 8:02 PM
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Ultra Cane
Hi all, I wondering do anyone do have Ultra Cane? If yes,, How good is it?
I understood that Electronic Ultra Cane cost over £500 an I wondering if it
is worth to give a try?
Thanks in advance.
Ronnie.
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