Living in NJ, my carry options are very limited. In the last few weeks I've read the several threads here - new and old - about canes. Thanks to Carl, Deltaboy and many others, I recently bought two - the elephant cane from Nasco, and just the other day, a beautiful Blackthorn Walking Stick from LollySmith. I think I feel a collection starting. The elephant cane is great when walking the little dog at night - we have some nasty 4-legged critters in the Pines. The Blackthorn is my "goin out" stick because we also have our share of nasty 2-legged critters. I'm old enough so it doesn't attract unwanted attention, but I do plan to "carry it with pride" and, if necessary, use it with vigor.
Anyway, thanks to all for a lot of very informative reading.