Shortly before my second year of college, I received a few orientation and mobility lessons for learning how to navigate with low vision and a blindness cane. These lessons were helpful for learning general travel skills, but I noticed they didn’t get into specifics about navigating college campuses or using university resources available for students with vision loss. One lesson that would have been really helpful is tips for using a blindness cane in the rain and how to get around campus when it’s pouring rain, so I’ve created the College O&M series to share my most-used tips and strategies for learning about this topic and others. Here are my tips for walking in the rain on my college campus as a student with low vision who uses a blindness cane.
Disclaimer
I am not a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), and I strongly recommended working with a COMS from the state department for visual impairment or vocational rehabilitation to determine the appropriate mobility solution for individuals. The tips and strategies shared throughout this post are informed by my lived experiences using a blindness cane (white cane) on my college campus.
Why is it challenging to navigate in the rain with low vision?
Rain impacts far more than just visibility; rain can change how sound travels, how surfaces feel, and how reliable familiar landmarks are. Open spaces echo differently, traffic noise can be drowned out by the sound of rain hitting the pavement or other surfaces, and visual landmarks like stairs or curb edges may blend into the ground due to glare and reflections.
From an orientation and mobility (O&M) perspective, traveling in the rain often means slowing down slightly to gather more sensory information, and choosing routes that provide more consistent cues. For me, this means relying more heavily on tactile and auditory feedback from my cane, paying closer attention to environmental textures, and being intentional about where and how I travel during heavy rain.
Using a marshmallow/roller tip cane
When navigating a college campus in the rain, I strongly prefer using a marshmallow or roller tip cane with the constant contact technique, since wet surfaces can create glare or reduced contrast. Using the constant contact technique provides continuous feedback that can alert users to subtle changes, which is especially useful when rain reduces visual and auditory cues or when it creates puddles near curb ramps, ramps into buildings, or uneven brick walkways. A rolling tip also makes it much easier to detect changes in surface textures such as standing water or mud, uneven pavement, or outdoor mats located near building entrances; with practice, I learned how to detect puddles and other surface changes.
This is a personal preference, but I often use my bright yellow cane when I am walking in the rain whenever possible. Between gray skies, dark clothing, and reduced visibility, having a higher‑contrast cane makes me feel more confident when crossing streets or navigating parking areas near my dorm. While white canes are reflective, bold color contrast can stand out more in poor weather conditions.
Related links
- Decoding The Tips of Blindness Canes
- How To Order Custom Colors for Blindness Canes
- Five Questions To Ask When Buying A Blindness Cane
Trailing building lines to stay oriented
One O&M strategy that becomes especially helpful in the rain is trailing (sometimes called shorelining). This involves traveling parallel to a consistent edge such as a building line, grass line, curb edge, or covered walkway boundary, and using the cane to monitor that edge. On campus, this might look like:
- Following the edge where sidewalk meets grass to stay aligned
- Using a building wall to guide me toward a specific entrance
- Staying close to covered walkways
When rain makes wide‑open areas harder to cross safely, I’ll intentionally stay close to a reliable boundary until I reach a known landmark like stairs, a doorway, or a textured entrance mat. This strategy pairs well with GPS confirmation if I am traveling somewhere I might not be familiar with, since my phone can confirm I am at the correct location (thankfully, my phone is water resistant).
Why I don’t use an umbrella
There are areas of my college that can feel like a wind tunnel, especially when it is raining, so most students do not use umbrellas when walking to class. Trying to manage an umbrella while using a blindness cane eliminates a free hand, which can make balance and safety more difficult. A rain jacket with a secure hood is a much better option, since it keeps both hands free while ensuring I can still use my cane. Even my more creative early attempts (umbrella hats, backpack‑mounted umbrella holders) were unreliable and often unsafe in windy conditions.
Wear rain boots or shoes with traction
One time during the first semester of my freshman year of college, my friend and I got caught in a torrential downpour when walking back from class, and I almost slipped multiple times when trying to walk in the rain because my shoes didn’t have the best traction. I got back to my dorm and noticed that I looked like I had just fallen in a pool, and I needed to make sure that my rain boots were in an easy-to-locate location for the future. After that experience, I have never taken my rain boots for granted again, and they are very important for being able to walk safely when it’s raining or very wet.
In heavy rain, it is important prioritize routes that offer more consistent cues (building lines, covered walkways, predictable edges) and fewer ambiguous areas with open spaces to ensure safe navigation. The main reasons why I came close to falling were because we were walking across several uncovered walkways, cut through a parking lot, and I also wasn’t aware of alternative routes that I could use to get to class yet. This experience inspired me to learn more than one route to get to my classes, including at least one route optimized for covered paths/building lines.
Related links
Using alternative transportation
Another thing I learned after getting caught in the torrential downpour was that my college offers a campus shuttle that I could use to get to central points on campus. While it wouldn’t completely protect me from having to walk in the rain, knowing where the campus shuttle stops helped me minimize the amount of walking necessary during severe weather.
Students who are blind or that have low vision may also be approved for disability transportation services at their college. Disability transportation services allow for students and staff with documented short-term or long-term disabilities to have access to door-to-door transportation between their dorm and other buildings on campus as needed. The exact method of transportation varies between colleges, though my college uses golf carts driven by student employees. Each college has different rules for how, when, and where students can schedule rides, but it’s an extremely helpful service to have.
In one situation involving my friend and I getting trapped in flash flooding, campus security provided a vehicle escort when it wasn’t safe to walk. While not a regular transportation solution or substitute for developing orientation and mobility skills/using human guides, this is something to keep in mind if sidewalks are flooded, lightning is nearby, or if a route becomes unexpectedly dangerous. It is better to choose a safer route alternative than continue on a dangerous route.
Related links
- How I Learned To Use The City Bus System With Low Vision
- Using Disability Transportation Services In College
- Navigating Campus In The Dark: College O&M
Can blindness canes be used in thunderstorms?
Short answer: no!
Blindness canes (white canes) are generally not safe to use during thunderstorms with lightning, as many contain metal. Since it can be difficult to predict lightning activity, it’s best to avoid traveling outdoors during storms whenever possible or avoid using a cane. If there is lightning, I also try to avoid windows, since lightning flashes can resemble strobe lights and make me disoriented. If the rain is loud enough to mask traffic cues, treat that as an increased‑risk condition and shift to alternatives (shuttle, rides, security escort, waiting for a lull).
Still need to get things done on campus but can’t go outside? Some alternative options for getting tasks accomplished on campus include:
- Contact professors about virtual attendance or remote attendance or arrange to attend office hours to review information.
- Use delivery services for getting food; the dining hall may be able to assist with this for on-campus students
- Access digital library resources and virtual study groups
- Coordinate with human guides or transportation services to get to buildings or wait until weather conditions improve.
If a storm comes through while I am in another building, I just wait until it stops raining or until there is a break in the weather if it is expected to pass quickly. Checking weather alerts on my phone is helpful in these situations, and I also have alerts on my Echo Dot that let me know if/when rain is expected in my area. If I am outside and see lightning, I immediately go inside the nearest building.
Related links
- Options For Attending College Classes Remotely
- How I Take Notes During Video Lectures With Low Vision
- College Libraries and Low Vision
- What If I Miss Assignments Or Classes In College?
More tips for using a blindness cane in the rain
- Rain can make it harder to hear traffic noises. I try to prioritize routes with taking/audio crosswalks (APS) or will use GPS apps to find alternative routes. Learn more about using GPS applications on campus in Using GPS Apps On College Campuses: College O&M
- Need tips for walking in the snow? Read Walking In The Snow: College O&M
Published January 23, 2020. Updated January 2026