If you need it, use it. A cane is a tool to keep you safe. Use one if you think it will help.

Generally speaking, there should be three questions you need to ask if you need to get a white cane.

1) Are you bumping into things? If you are bumping into things, especially walls, tables and chairs, that is a good indicator you have lost enough peripheral vision you can't see when approaching obstacles. And that is a safety hazard.

2) Do you trip on drop-off/steps? That is a good indicator that your lower peripheral field is now poor enough that you can't see when the steps are. Some people mitigate this by looking down at the stairs while going down, which does keep you safer, but also means you aren't looking ahead of you while going down the stairs. An unexpected obstacle (a person, a wet floor sign, etc) on steps could be hazardous.

3) Are there situations where your vision gets a lot worse? RP often has night blindness, so when it gets to low light conditions, things get significantly harder to see. That could be nighttime, but could also be a dark set of stairs, a basement, etc. I know a number of clients who have a white cane but only use it at night, because that is when they have trouble seeing.

There are many other questions as well regarding when to use a white cane, but those three are the biggest indicators to tell when a white cane would help with safety.

I use a cane as needed . Like I use it at night and in brand new places I'm not familiar with.

I have RP with 20/40 central (with glasses) and I use a cane. After I broke my shin a second time I was like okay fine I should stop doing this.



Twisted ankles off stairs and drops a good 1000 times or so in between there too.



I do get occasional weird looks when I visually react to something while having the cane but if anyone bothers to ask I just explain the peripheral issues and they say "oh that makes sense" which has only happened about twice in two years.



Funny story I dropped a pizza slice and plate at Costco but it fell through a good spot of my vision and I have decent reflexes so I caught the plate then the pizza with the plate (that was mostly dumb luck I think) while holding the cane with the other hand. I turned around and noticed a guy sitting at table bad seen me and his jaw was on the floor thinking he saw a freakn super hero or something so that was funny.

ID canes, or canes which are only used to signal *other* people about your lack of vision, are a thing. It's not weird to have one, even if you don't need it for navigation. I've been using one since last august.

It felt a bit weird and kinda embarassing at first, but nowdays it's as normal as wearing helmet when cycling or reflector when it's dark outside. People might overreact a little when they see your cane, but better that than walking right into them.

What everyone else said, if you need it use it. I have a friend who has RP and has gone from normal sight to almost none very fast, and she was totally resistant to a cane for ages. A few bruised hips later and you start to realise it helps. I wish she'd wanted one, I had to persuade her!

I don't have RP, but I have 20/100 central vision in one eye. I started using a cane last summer. My only regret is that I waited until I was in my 40s to start using it. I could get around without it, but I get around much better and much more safely with it.

I don't have RP but I have lost a considerable amount of sight. Though I can still navigate familiar environments quite well, I use a cane. After several close calls, I realised that I needed it even though I am still partially sighted.

My view on it is that if you don't feel safe getting around on your own, then you should definitely look into using a cane. If it makes getting around easier for you, then there's nothing weird about it at all.