If you have looked into buying a manual wheelchair, you may be surprised to discover the large differences between them. This article will touch on the the advantages and disadvantages of a few of the different manual wheelchairs.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various kinds of manual wheelchairs?
The primary advantage of a foldable wheelchair is that it is able to be folded and put in the car trunk with out removing the big back wheels. This one single advantage has made the foldable wheelchair one of the most selling type of wheelchair. In some parts of the world as much as ninety percent of manual wheelchairs are foldable. But there are numerous disadvantages to foldable wheelchairs. A folding wheelchair requires many moving parts in order to fold. These moving parts give the wheelchair a lot more weight. The joints which allow the folding permit vibration and a loss of energy causing them to be significantly less efficient when the wheelchair user pushes on the wheelchair . As the foldable wheelchair ages, these joints may become even loser and even less efficient. In addition, many inexpensive manual wheelchairs don't fit well to the wheelchair user, causing them to be uncomfortable when used for a lengthy time.
A rigid adjustable wheelchair has the benefit that its dimensions can be adjusted to fit the body size of the wheelchair user. If the wheelchair user finds the fit of the wheelchair is not ideal, the wheelchair can usually be adjusted to meet their needs. But adjustability requires brackets, bolts and screws. Similar to folding wheelchairs, adjustability results in added weight and loss of efficiency. Plus the extra parts add several pounds of weight. Although typically, adjustable wheelchairs are lighter and much more efficient than folding wheelchairs, some of the high quality folding wheelchairs are starting to reach the quality of adjustable folding wheelchairs.
Of the various types of manual wheelchairs, a wheelchair with a rigid frame which has been welded (rather than held together with brackets and bolts) has the smallest number of movable parts. Since it has little or no adjustability, a welded rigid wheelchair custom-made to fit the actual body shape and size of the individual who will use it. Once made, the welded rigid wheelchair may not be able to be used by any other person. But with few movable parts, a welded wheelchair is usually extremely lightweight and very efficient. Plus a welded wheelchair has the advantage that it is designed to fit the body of the original owner practically exactly giving probably the most comfortable fit. Obviously, as a result of the lack of adjustability it's extremely crucial that the individual who does the fitting from the welded wheelchair be extremely experienced so that the fit is as perfect as possible. A welded manual wheelchair is not suggested for a first time wheelchair user or to a person whose body shape could be expected to change.
