My father-in-law has this odd-looking cane with a rotating “spout” at the top. It’s right at crotch-level, leading us to conclude it must be for channeling pee. (God I hope we’re wrong.)
Any ideas what this is for? It’s just a standard tapered cane at the bottom, not pointed or anything.
Is it perhaps for resting something on? Maybe a rifle, as an aid to steady aiming?
He may use it as a cane, but it looks like it was meant as something else . . . like something slides into that movable piece.
And yeah, I hope you’re wrong about channeling pee.
Was he a hunter?
If it’s about, oooh, crotch height it IS for pee. It’s so that when he’s in all his heavy winter gear he can pee on that and not all over his clothes.
I’ve never seen one but when we cleaned out my grandparents house my dad described something he found that sounds similar to what you have a picture of and that’s what he said it’s for.
Now the one my dad described seemed collapsible (something about it folding in half, they thought it was some sort of shovel). It’s hard to tell from your picture, but I’m guessing that one is designed for when you have a bunch of people. You could mount it somewhere so they could all use it.
What kind of heavy winter gear (specifically, pants) would make it difficult to pee? When I lived in Alaska, in -40 weather, the most I wore was a pair of flannel-lined jeans and a pair of long johns, and I had no problem peeing. Unless you are wearing one of these, I don’t see how a pee stand is necessary.
The only reason for a “pee stand” that I can see is if you slathered deer pee on your shoes or something, and don’t want to chance splashback. It’s still nasty, especially a multi-person pee stand. Ewww.
What is it made from? Kinda looks like wrought iron.
The perspective in the photo makes it look like it’s about 7’ tall. Now that’s one helluva pee-er.
I’m thinking it’s wood.
My WAG: it doesn’t look like a cane. It looks like a crutch. If you had a broken arm and wanted to support the arm, that foldy bit would do it. “Thread” the arm through there, reattach sling.
I googled crutch arm support and found this:
http://quixoting.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554d7e2208833010535fa3467970b-500wi
You forgot the all important first step: check for dampness.
I’m having trouble seeing it as any kind of crutch/cane.
The corners of the crossbar (the horizontal edges, not the top outer corners) aren’t radiused/relieved at all, it’d make it a very uncomfortable cane.
My first impression is something to direct the movement of grain.
Does the “spout” stop securely as it’s shown in the second pic I.E. is that as far down as the “spout” goes? Does the “spout” want to stay open or closed?
Some dimensions would help too. 
CMC fnord!
It looks to be a rather nicely made and quite interesting object - no idea what it’s for, but I think it’s safe to generally say that people of all manner of cultures and climates have managed to urinate quite successfully for millennia now without the aid of any such devices.
Could it possibly be part of a firefighter’s gear? Old-style fire hoses had a spout that was about a foot long, tapered and with a flared end. It might fit in the tapered “spout” on the “cane” with the flared end of the hose keeping it in place once pressure was turned on. If you knelt down, the height of the cane would keep the hose at a level that would be easy to hold steady, and also easy to reposition.
It’s really hard to judge scale in the picture, but it seems about the right shape and nobody has shown up with an authoritative answer. I think the object is definitely not meant to be a cane (it doesn’t look very comfortable to hold), and if you were a hunter needing something to pee in, I think you’d just carry the spout part in your pack, instead of a cane that would weigh much more and keep your hands full.
Wow, I opened up quite a discussion here! And no definitive answers which makes it even more interesting.
People seem confused about the scale, but it’s a pretty cane-sized object - maybe six inches across at the top - I’m holding it at arm’s length in the photo. When held against the floor, it’s literally an exact fit for my bid’ness - hence the joke - so it’s too low for a rifle, fireman’s hose, etc.
Wouldn’t there be a danger that a damp anatomical part might stick to it in cold weather? :eek:
I’d suggest taking the object to an antique store and asking if they know what it is. I concur with those who don’t think it looks like its intended use was as a walking aid.
My thought, too.
“Crotch high? Who is this guy, Manute Bol?”
