Crutches, walking sticks, and the like

A walking stick, or the like, comprising a riser, a foot defining a supporting polygon, a ball-and-socket joint connecting the riser to the foot, resilient means for maintaining said riser in a determined position relative to said foot, such that when the foot rests on substantially horizontal ground and said resilient means are in the holding position, said riser remains in a substantially vertical position, said supporting polygon being defined by five end pieces disposed substantially at the vertices of a pentagon, said resilient means comprising a ring of resilient material substantially in the form of a truncated cone including a small base, a large base, a void interior defining an opening in the small base of the cone which surrounds and imprisons that portion of the riser which is closest to said joint, and an opening in the large base of the cone which is fixed to the foot around said socket of the joint, and wherein said means for fixing the ring to the foot are constituted by a shoulder forming an integral portion of said foot and defining the ball-receiving socket in the center thereof, said shoulder being resiliently deformable, and a sleeve surrounding said shoulder, said sleeve including an annular groove in its outside face suitable for imprisoning a complementary shaped portion of the ring.