The Flame Cane
Item:
Cane #5 (Flame Cane)

Episodes: 18 or 20
  • Wood cane painted black
  • Tourist handle
  • Flame decals around the bottom
  • Replica cane is available exclusively through Fashionable Canes, who claim to have designed and made the actual canes seen on the show
  • Appeared in 18 real-time episodes and in flashbacks for two more
  • House used this cane for a little more than a year, longer than any other so far.
  • Rumor has it that the original design idea came from Hugh Laurie
  • By far, House's coolest cane (that's not opinion, it is FACT!)
First Appearance:
Family
[S03-E21]
House visits an oddities shop in search of a new cane after Wilson's dog destroys Cane #4. House spots the perfect cane in the rack and with a grin calls it "bitchin'", but we don't actually see it until he steps off the elevator back at the hospital.
Demise:
House's Head
[S04-E15]
The episode begins just after a bus accident in which House has lost his cane. We never see the Flame Cane in real-time, but through a series of flashbacks in this and the next episode we will piece together the night's events, including the Flame Cane's demise.

Sort of.

It is suggested in this shot that the Flame Cane has flown away only to be lost in the wreckage. However, the cane depicted has no flames and looks suspiciously like a CGI addition. We could debate the symbolism of the cane 'losing its flames' or we could just assume the effects guys were in a hurry... either way, we're meant to believe that this is the last time we see Cane #5.
Guilty Party: City Bus #4565 "Yeah... I'll, uh, start him on antibiotics in case it's transverse myelitis. You guys go sniff a city bus." - Foreman
Last Appearance:
House's Head
[S04-E15]
But really, the last time we see the Flame Cane and know for sure that it is the Flame Cane (at least we can safely assume it's the Flame Cane because it's actually in House's hand and it would seem awfully silly to bring the real Hugh Laurie in to shoot the scene and not bring the real Flame Cane in, too) is when House finally remembers the crash in detail. As the bus careens out of control after being hit by a garbage truck, House tries to keep himself in his seat just seconds before another impact overturns the bus, sending the cane flying from his hand and the passengers (House included) flying in every direction.

The cane will be seen again in the next episode, Wilson's Heart, but in true chronology of the night's events, this is the last time we see it.