Powerchair - what do you drive and why?

LaughingLolly

I've been through about ten second hand chairs last year and a few ads ons. I currently rely on my NHS manual script with Amber wheels, an report for nipping about and a fox as !y main powerchair. Does anyone else have experience with the Fox? What things do you like it struggle with? Do you have a favourite chair you settled on and why? If love to hear about peoples relationships with their chairs and how your choice affects especially enhances your life please? 

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @LaughingLolly and thank you for sharing this. I think the relationship we have with our mobility aid can have a significant impact on our lives! I never have had a power chair but my manual chair did have a bit of a love hate relationship! I guess it was part of a process of coming to terms with the fact I needed to use one. What has been your favourite chair so far?

Connie00

Hello @laughinglolly

My Name is Connie00

I am one off the community Champion’s here at Scope.  

 it’s really nice to meet you.

I hope you are having a good day today?

I have a Sirocco powerchair, this has given me independence, and my life back.

I have a mobility car so the wheelchair just drives straight in. I hated the fact that somebody had to push me around I am no light weight, so if we came to a slight incline, I felt so uncomfortable that I almost didn’t want to go out anymore.  My relationship with the chair is quite good its two years old now, brought from new.

Enjoy the rest of your day

 

@connie00

 

Chloe_Alumni

How are you getting on with this @LaughingLolly?

LaughingLolly

Well. I would have enjoyed more response but that's just how it is 

Chloe_Alumni

I understand that! I'll see what I can do

Rhona

I have had a number of second hand powerchairs over the years. The MS has left my left hand side too weak for a manual as I can only push myself round in circles in those and I hate making others push me. I was lucky enough to get a Sunrise Medical Samba second hand. The rising and tilting functions gave me lots of independence and it was good to drive. Unfortunately it was written off after an accident but I've now got a Q700M from the same makers. With help I've managed to buy it new and I appreciate having a chair made to my measurements for the first time ever. 

GeorgiaVine

Hi @LaughingLolly
I've had a few powered chairs too, however the ones that I've had have all been big, weigh a lot and not been that outdoor friendly, with my first electric chair not even having a kerb climber on it. At the time this suited me and did what I needed it to do as I was only using my powered chair indoors but as I've got older I want to use it more and go out more to gain independence. So, I have previously bought a Pride Igo which is a lot lighter than any other powered chairs I've had. I'm taking this chair with me on my summer holiday abroad of which is a completely new experience as I always take my manual and I'll admit even though I'm happy to be gaining independence I'm also slightly terrified! I have got more confident with using an electric chair over the years as this past year I've had to get  more confident to get around the university campus, but it is a lot more nerve racking than I thought. I completely understand I wish I could just go down the road and pop the the shops in my chair alone but I'm scared. I'm hoping that taking it on holiday will improve my confidence and I do plan on trying to use my electric chair more over the summer. I hope this helps! 

Ursabella

Hi, I was issued with a manual wheelchair by wheelchair services here in Norfolk where I live, and it was good that it it was easily dismantled for getting into my Suzuki Swift.
I didn't like relying on someone else to move me around and being left in one spot in the shop for example felt just awful, as I don't have enough energy to self propel.
After some research, I settled on the Foldalite Trekker, which is the most robust of the series. It folds up and fits in the back of my small car, with one seat free.
I find it very comfortable to ride in and have found it excellent for shopping trips etc. I am planning to take it with me on a trip to India in November. My wheelchair will travel free.
The only drawback is that it is too heavy for me to lift, but I am blessed with a lovely friend who is strong and likes driving.
I also now have a light mobility scooter which dismantles and easily fits into the car. The components are far lighter than the wheelchair. (Li-Tech Air)
I still prefer my powerchair though, as I have quite complex problems, and in the chair my arms are more relaxed than in the scooter.
Both of my mobility aids were bought from CareCo.
I am fortunate enough to have working legs, although I am not able to walk far.

pollyanna1052

Hi, my current powerchair is a script one from Wheelchair Services. I`ve had it about a year. It is a mid wheel drive Quickie Salsa. It`s nippy and good at turning in small spaces. I am getting a new back support for it soon as it`s original one offers very little support. I had the solid tyres swapped for pneumatic ones, due to spinal pain.

I would recommend it. But wish it had a feature my previous chair had ie a kerb climber.....it was great for getting into shops which have a low door threshold. I cant climb anything higher than about an inch now.

I use my chair from between 3  and 9 hours a day. I have a good pressure care seat cushion, but get a sore bum most days. A wheelchair therapist told me there isn't a chair or cushion which can be sat in all day without some discomfort.

newborn

The chair is a substitute for legs plus shoes. Nobody tries to tango in Wellington's,  nor to clamber through countryside  in flipflops.  Really,  the ideal is a wardrobe full, or in this case a garage full,  of choices.

In Tenerife, one centre sets out to be disability  friendly.  (Can't remember,  but probably los christianos.) They have drop or no kerbs, access  and parking everywhere,  and loads of rival hire shops and services.  It's  a chance to test drive chairs.  The ones with  lots of power to  sail up and down hills and elevate users to  equal head height are interesting.  The drawback is that they are seriously hefty, so not good for travel. 

(They also do a lot of disability centred accommodation,  including an interesting german designed one with a hoist access hydrotherapy swimming pool, next to a kiddies pool, to  remove the excuse for mixing incompatible user groups.  They are rented or owned apartments   with  their own small kitchens, some with private gardens.)

There are many ideal chairs, but not for all purposes.   The lightest, most easily split up, is good for travelling but won't  be much use for serious sightseeing.   The smallest  wheels are good in shopping centres,  but tend to stop dead and hurl you out, if they find a major hurdle such as needing to climb all the way over a matchstick! 

A soft tyre absorbs shock, but also absorbs the energy of pushing.   A fat tractor type  tyre is good for rough ground,  but  won't  permit movement on a carpet. (And, it will drag mud and worse indoors, firmly stuck into the grooves). The smallest turning circle and smallest footprint is great in shops, but  tends not to be compatible with  elevation or reclining.   

There  is or was a wheelchair guy's  site, including  a comparison  table. He is an engineer and believes every standard chair can and needs to be customized.   

My inclination is to strip off the projecting bits:
1/Footrests, (which can be substituted  by something  like a bungee just for lifting feet, but which do need a different  substitute  of a some hefty retracting device to replace  the  function of using the footrests to ram-raid/crash into doors!)

(There needs to be a not yet marketed invention, something  like a fairy light covered hula hoop, surrounding  the chair, assisted by something like a framework to hold balloons attired with wigs and facemasks.  The reason is, people's  peripheral  vision, and their brains, cannot deal with the idea that someone is moving through a crowd, not at similar  head height  to their own, but at the height of a person sitting down.  As a result,  they tend to either trip and sit on you, or else stray suddenly in front of your ankle-slicing footrests.)

2/Handles at the back,  (which  pull everything off shelves and racks of clothes, and which are humiliating invitations to people to push you about or rest on you, and can be replaced by locked down invisible folded handles if necessary)

3/Long armrests set in an unnatural position no ordinary  human would choose, for prolonged sitting .

4/Above all the control block, which  for most users would be better  positioned centrally, close to the body, in the same way any human would naturally  hold any object. 

newborn

Forgot the sloped angle option.  For self propelled,  it matters. You can't go fast with upright wheels.  But you can't get into doorways with splayed sporting wheels.

April2018mom

What about a TiLite wheelchair? Can anyone recommend it? 

LaughingLolly

 Like the idea of having a wardrobe full of mobility equipment and sadly have exactly that. Also amazingly been offered an NHS electric wheelchair which isn't too shabby a fit so if lockdown ever ends I should get that to help with the wardrobe idea.