Special features

Just a thought - - - Harbor Freight used to have a periodic giveaway of some small 1" diameter cylindrical black aluminum LED flashlights. They have recently substituted a rectangular blue plastic flashlight in their giveaway program, but the black aluminum units were still for sale when I was in the store last week. The on-off switch is button under a rubber bump on the non-light end of the flashlight. They have 9 LEDs and are pretty bright, and use three AAA batteries that seem to last quite a while.

Several years ago, I made a wooden holder that mounted one of those flashlights in the tailstock of my lathe to make it easier to see inside vessels for hollowing. The holder was a simple spindle with a 1" hole to receive the flashlight and with a morse taper to fit into the lathe tailstock, and a hole in one side that I could stick my finger into to press that on-off button.

I would think that I would not be too difficult to incorporate a similar axial hole in the handle of a cane to receive one of those flashlight. If I were to do it, I would design the handle so that the portion that holds the flashlight is forward of the shaft, while the portion of the handle that the user grips is aft of the handle - that was, any weakness in the handle caused by the cavity for the flashlight would not affect the structural integrity of the cane itself.

Thanks for the kind words Dana. Keep it up and my head won't fit thru any doors.
The pumpkin canes I made used LEDs with 2 AA batteries and a 10 ohm resistor hid in the handle. I found the circuit design online. The light is more decorative than useful. It also turns out there isn't enough meat in the handles where they meet the pumpkins. I broke one I was using. A design flaw on my part. I plan to re-drill the handles and add a piece of pipe inside to fix them. I haven't done it yet because I know it's going to be a pain.
Flashlight canes have been around since at least the 1930s in various styles, including one really hideous modern one I remember seeing. I don't know how practical they are as a light source ( I prefer headlamps over flashlights these days) but the older ones are pretty cool. Louie's idea is good.