All the time! It helps me and also lets people know I'm not being rude or intentionally walking into them. Plus parents drag their kids put of my way!

I love making people feel awkward when they were rude up until noticing my cane. My husband also refers to it as parting the red sea.

I have a very limited field of vision, almost completely blind in my left eye and no periphery in my right. I use my cane in situations where there's a fair number of people and/or I'm not familiar with where I am. So places like the grocery store or at a wedding reception for example, cane. At home or work, no cane.

All the time

Less then I should to be honest.

I've been thinking about getting one of those shorter canes, which would show people around me that I'm visually impaired. I usually use my cane, when I'm at a place I don't recognise that well, just to figure out if there are any stair cases or other obstacles in the way.

I'm legally blind (2/20 sight), and I didn't use my cane too often for a while, but more recently I've been beginning mobility and independence training with the local Guide Dogs association, which has brought me back into more regular cane use, and its been an interesting experience.

I'm a bit uncomfortable still. In really bright light (i live in Texas so sunny day light is eye hurting bright) i feel fine - so i can run by myself, doing always the same route, knowing where the obstacles are... when it's not bright... well. "I use the cane when it's dark". Add to that that i use my apple watch with voiceover, and have the sunrise/sunset time on my watchface... well. Not so good. Oh and walking directions.
In the dark i remember where things are, which is not a good strategy ehen i need to eg find a bus stop or walk somewhere. Home I don't care because muscle memory.
Now that it's the dark time of year i should get around using it more.
I also rely on my memory a lot so when I'm somewhere I learn where things (like walls or doors) are, and if needed tell the people I don't have much of facial memory (good enough to get the point).

All the time! I too am legally blind and can see about the same distance. I have a cataract in my left eye (so my vision is extremely cloudy/distorted), and am almost completely blind in the other. I tend to fold up my cane in places I am very comfortable with (my house, dorm, familiar areas). I use my cane especially in large crowds, in the dark, and on the stairs. I can't distinguish different pavement levels without my cane, so every time I am outside, I use it.

I am similar to you. I use mine all the time. I fold it in half when I am in the supermarket unless it's busy. I live in a small village in the Scottish Borders. This area is never usually that busy but it helps keep people out of my way and stops me falling on my face.

My vision's similar to yours - total blindness in my left eye, retina damage that means I have only central vision in my right that's right around 20/200. I've been this way since birth.

For the first 38yrs of my life, I didn't use a cane at all. I maybe should have been, but I was never trained to use one growing up and it just wasn't something I did.

I've recently started using one, though, because basically tripping over things, falling down stairs, and twisting ankles hurts a lot more and takes a lot more time to recover from at 38 than it did at 18 and I'm less willing to risk those injuries.

I still don't use it all the time, though. I use it if I'm out in low light or other weird lighting situations (e.g. places with a million cast shadows), or traveling alone in unfamiliar places, or when I don't want to kill myself on stairs.

If I'm home or in just about any reasonably lit indoor area, or out with my husband who's had 20 years of experience in knowing what I can and can't see, I don't tend to use it.

I have decent peripheral vision, but the center of my vision is really distorted. I use my cane when I leave my yard (I know my yard). It's a must have when it's dark. The house isn't a problem. Things on the sidewalk are a worry, I am not so fond of falling over palm fronds.

When I began mobility and orientation training, I had more vision and I spent a lot of time blindfolded with my travel trainer. I still find the way people leap out of the way of the cane when I am walking sort of startling, because I can't see them until they hit the periphery.

I went back for a refresher recently... and found out that I wasn't sweeping far enough over the the right, which explains why I have walked into so many poles. I leave my cane lower now, so I do not have obstacles which turned out to be my breasts.

You do get a lot of first class treatment, but I am not quite sure if it's respect or fear that they will get hit.

My son doesn't use it at home, only uses it when moving from building to building at school (or during o&m sessions) and to be honest, guiding him is a lot easier than navigating with the cane in places like the grocery store or Walmart bc people don't respect the cane and get out of the way. Plus, he's got some additional physical disabilities so he tends to kind of drift right as he walks, so guiding him is easier bc it keeps him out of the displays.

Question though: can you guys give recommendations on how you like to be guided? I have two other kids and sometimes I just sort of latch my son on and take off, and his grip isn't super strong so we are always having to readjust. I always try to warn him if there some kind of obstacle or stairs or some travel hazard but for general walking I'm having to like clamp down hard on his hand or drag him around. It becomes kind of an issue in situations like grocery shopping. Y'all have any suggestions from the VI side of it?