The Blue Badge Style Ultimate Stylish Stick Guide

At Blue Badge Style we believe that mobility aids do not have to be dull, grey and ugly. We’ve spent a good deal of time hunting down sticks, crutches and canes that go against the grain and provide a stylish and fun look whilst maintaining quality functionality. Over the years we’ve covered many trendy and exciting new products but we thought it would be a good idea to now put them all in one place. So, without further ado, welcome to the BBS Ultimate Stick Guide.

German Crutch Company (£30 single crutch – £150 pair)

If you want the most sleek, lightweight and efficient crutches around you have to head to Germany, or more conveniently to the German Crutch Company. This UK web based business is the place to head for Ossenberg Crutches – described in these pages and elsewhere as “the Ferrari of crutches”. They’re ultralight, slim and comfortable to use. The Germany Crutch Company have a variety of different Ossenberg designs with open and closed cuffs, different grips and a selection of different colours, all of which have ergonomically designed handles. The top of their range is their exquisite carbon fibre folding crutch which retails at £150 for a pair.

Glamsticks (up to £72 single crutch. £238 for the Swarovski Crystal SparkleCane)

To add a bit of sparkle to Ossenberg or other brands of sticks head to GlamSticks – the makers of bespoke, Bling designer crutches, individually crafted for your personal use. They take the best mobility aids around and bling them, by hand painting and studding them with diamantes.  In 2011 they were named Mobility Product of the Year for their glitzy, glamorous output and we’ve long been impressed by their beautiful hand crafted designs.

Celebrities, including Jessie J, have opted for GlamSticks when injured, but it’s the normal folks we’ve heard from who, without being prompted, have told us how much they love their GlamSticks that really shows how good these are. The prices vary dependent on the design you go for but all are good value considering the amount of artistry involved in making them. With all their bling and crystals, they naturally tend towards the discerning female stick user but they do have designs aimed at men too.

smartCRUTCH (£79.00 pair)

SmartCrutches provide more comfort to the user than a conventional forearm or underarm crutch by redistributing the load over your whole forearm rather than entirely onto your wrists. This innovative design makes them some of the most ergonomic and user friendly crutches around. Their height and the rotation of the handles are adjustable and the handles come in a range of different colours. They’re the best thing around for reducing pressure and stress on your arms and wrists.

Sabi Roam Walking Canes (£32 – £61 single cane)

From a aesthetic perspective these must be some of the most gorgeous sticks ever – in our opinion, they wouldn’t look out of place in the most stylish shops in the world. They’re just a stunningly simple but cool design. They’re made from a high-strength bicycle-grade aluminum shaft and the handle widens in the right places with a build in rubber strip to make it more comfortable and practical to hold.They come in two models – the Sport, with a rubber handle and the Classic (below), with a birch handle. Sabi Roam canes are sold in the UK at Designed 2 Enable.

Flipstick (£36 single stick)

Also available at Designed 2 Enable, not as cool as the Sabi but a very practical piece of kit, is the Flipstick. These devices serve the dual purpose of being a walking cane with a comfortable walking stick handle, which doubles as a seat. It’s a very practical function and it’s possible to fold it away and store when you don’t need it.

Neo York (£50 – £60 single stick)

These walking sticks are designed to be bright, stylish and reliable too. They’re all about working for you and allowing you to be as fashionable as possible. To do this they come in a range of bright colours to work with your style but you can also chose a transparent model if you want your stick to be an almost invisible part of your ensemble. Depending on what design you decide to buy, your Neo York stick can be as funky or quiet as you want it to be.

Cool Crutches (£95 – £135 pair)

Cool Crutches offer people a range of crutches with fun, patterned designs. They’re also more ergonomic than NHS crutches (if not necessarily more so than other sticks included here) with washable, removeable neoprene squidgy grips which mould to left and right hands and make walking a lot more comfortable. The titular ‘coolness’ comes mostly from the stylish designs, which are all about getting rid of that NHS grey and come in a wide range. For an extra £20 per crutch you can put your own design onto Cool Crutches.

Ellipse Crutches (£35 single crutch)

This range offers a good range of block colours which liven up the crutches without becoming too garish, providing a nice flash of colour. Some of the colours are quite bold, some more subtle, so you can pick the right thing for you. They get their name from the unique elliptical shape of their tube and they have height adjustable, open cuff handles. They’re available at Chic Crutches.

SideStix ($897! pair)

SideStix are more about user experience than style but they still have an attractive design, just none of the colours and frills of some other sticks here. Studies have shown that using SideStix reduce the energy needed to take each step by 17% and they have a top notch shock absorbing system. They are high grade tech with carbon fibre shafts, cork hand grips and customizable cuffs. The problem is the whopping price of  $897 Canadian dollars and that they’re only available in Canada. We thought they’re worth including anyway as they do ship internationally and they’re extraordinary well designed, but for all that money you’d think maybe they’d add a splash of colour!

Mobilegs (£133)

Mobilegs are intelligently designed to help the user and really are quite different than the traditional NHS crutch. They’re more similar to the shoulder crutch design ‘issued’ in the US, but really they’ve taken the best aspects of both to design something more comfortable. With an intelligent ‘saddle’ at the top and an ergonomic hand grip, you get the best of both worlds. They look a lot better than many traditional crutches too – certainly a lot sleeker, slimmer and less drab than NHS crutches.

Mobilegs are difficult to track down in the UK but they’re available at Fish Pond right now. They’re easier to find in the US, where they’ve been used by a bunch of celebs (some of whom may only be familiar to American readers) including Halle Berry, Barry Bonds, NBA Basketball players Russell Westbrook and Ricky Rubio and NBA team owner Mark Cuban.

Let us know what sticks you’re using at the moment. Are they good or bad and would you change them for any listed here?

Please also get in touch if there are any other stylish sticks we need to add to our guide!!