HOW TO CHOOSE A WHEELCHAIR - Getting Fitted For My Custom Wheelchair

I go to Hands On Concepts to get measured and fitted for my custom manual wheelchair

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[madsinaportal]

I'm not disabled or a wheelchair user but I love seeing how wheelchairs and prosthetics/orthotics are made. I want to be a prosthetist when I am older

[anneharrison]

I'm 3+ years into a teal coloured wheelchair and completely happy with it, to the best of my knowledge it's never drawn extra attention, it's also really useful for identifying it in airports and hospitals and what not, any time I'm separated from it basically.

[Not_a_snake]

Ordered a bright pink wheelchair, 5 years later, still loving my choice. Next chair will be pink too. My spoke covers are pink donuts with sprinkles from a company called Izzy wheels.

[bayleighc.]

I’m currently in the process of getting a wheelchair because I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and I can no longer walk any long periods. This is super helpful. Mine will hopefully be hooked up to a power drive once my family raises enough money, because my joints aren’t strong enough for self propelling.

[CoolloserAri]

quick note to anyone else having the calf strap problem: if you don't have the money to get it sorted out properly a good bodge is to get some of that sticky velcro and put it on both your chair and the strap, so it will stay in the right place!

[wheelz]

No joke this video came out at almost the right time I hate the chair I have now and wanted a chair similar to yours.

[laurencook]

I don't need a wheel chair but it's cool to watch

[Picplosions]

I've had three wheelchair throughout my life but none of this was ever explained to me this well. Thank you!

[FreddotheWheelchairGuy]

This was a super helpful video that came at just the right time for me, and helped me make a decision to not buy a wheelchair that was not right for me! Thanks for the fantastic content once again man, great work! You really are doing a fantastic job for new wheelchair users ❤️

[Veronika.]

Maybe you will do a video about wheelchair types (from hospitals to sports (basketball) chair)

[margaretaaron]

I just wanted to share that I coach FLL Jr. Teams (a robotics team for kids in grades k-3) and the emphasis on accessibility is awesome. This year's game is called Boomtown Build. The students build a building that is strong, sustainable, and accessable. One team has a tree house restaurant with an elevator. Another built an apartment with an automatic door, smooth flooring, and an elevator to a rooftop garden that has a smooth path. I am pretty proud of what they have built. And I am thankful for to FIRST for emphasizing accessablity in it's curriculum.

[linolium]

I got my first wheelchair 3 years ago and it wasn't really measured correctly.
Last week I finally ordered my first "real" wheelchair that actually fits me. It's called Panthera X and it's the lightest wheelchair on the market.
I am looking forward to it a lot!

[sadiek]

Alternative title: how to be the best Zoomy boy you can be.

[eqmcgoon]

Nice chair. My first chair was a TiLite as was my second and the scripting process was quite extensive. Had a few changes in the second chair and a couple of after market mods. Had to deal with TiLite through a local agent (I’m in New Zealand) so the opportunity to have much factory modding was reduced. Then we had the pandemic years around the time I needed a new chair so what with the delays on imported stuff, I went local. They did such a good job, everything built on site, absolutely custom fit. Couple of things to note - got rid of the leg strap for same reasons you pointed out, it slid up or down, so ended up with a fixed padded crossbar at the right height which stopped my feet curling back and off the back end of the footplate. Thought carefully about using carbon fibre but I’ve seen it shatter and last thing I want is sharp shards where my hands go. Stuck with aluminium for the clothing guards, and lately ABS. We’ll see how that goes. Modded flip up footplate that rests on top of the front wheel fenders, means it doesn’t need a big hinge at the back, but it’s rock solid and will take my weight (over 100kg). Chair is heavy duty titanium. Had the slip forward problem but always considered that a problem with the cushion rather than chair design. I’m using Roho cushions, and the Spirit cushion has a rubberised frame and front (air for all the pressure point areas) which holds you in place quite nicely. I’ll never go back to an off the shelf model, the local fabricators are total pros at what they’re building and ongoing support is excellent.
EDIT forgot to say, when going completely custom, bite the bullet and do away with adjustable parts. The driving philosophy we went with was the less moving parts the better, the less complicated anything was, the better. Fixed frame, about the only moving parts are the footplate (an indulgence), the seat back which folds forward to reduce the size for pulling into the car etc, the brakes and the wheels themselves. No squeaks or creaks - magic.

[davidbrouwers]

I grew up among wheelies and that knowledge pays off now (besides skipping months of rehab), I had full say in my current wheels ordering and other than the cushion not being waterproof it's perfect
One thing that I can recommend, if you're extremely active, give your wheels a beating (my wheels where I go not the other way around like most), get a boxframe, some companies give that option, it makes them more sturdy and soft roll wheels reduce the amount of vibration that you get from hard casters, also think of their size, the smaller they are the quicker they get caught in cracks

[AndrewSmoot]

As a Spina Bifida T-11, I've spent every waking hour in a wheelchair since the age most people learn to walk; it was only with my current chair that I've felt like it was customized to my liking/needs, rather than just the most common needs for customers with Spina Bifida. Having been a wheelchair user since most people learn to walk, and I never noticed that wheelchair companies often make wheelchairs wider than necessary. In fact, in thirty-two years of consistent wheelchair use, the only chair I've had that hasn't been unnecessarily wide is the wheelchair I'm currently in. Being able to tell wheelchair companies NOT to make the chair so wide would've saved my parent's house from so much damage from misjudged turns over the years.

[tyreebrownart]

I had absolutely no idea what wheelchair fitting even meant going into my seating clinic and I got stuck with a heavy chair that doesn’t work with the ability I have at all. I wish I saw this video last year

[MsMorganThorne]

They make beautiful chairs! I really want one - I'm hoping my next chair is from HOC. I wish I had this video when I bought my first one. I found the abled salesperson was not the most helpful and I didn't get the chair I wanted. I found that they made assumptions about how I live my life and it was way off. I had the same issue, they gave me a wider seat than I wanted (and I insisted on smaller than they had suggested). I've lost some weight since getting a proper chair (I was in a hospital chair for over a year) because I'm able to hike and be way more active.


My chair is also better suited for someone who was an indoor user, so I've spent a lot of money upgrading various components so I can get out and do the things I love, which involves a fair bit of off-road stuff. Thankfully I found a local company that specializes in wheelchairs and is run by people in wheelchairs, rather than the large medical supplier I bought the chair from. If anyone is in the Toronto, Canada area, check out Bespoke 49, they are similar to HOC and a real lifesaver when it comes to getting the chair you want.

[masonx]

Wow, awesome video man! Another benefit of Hands on Concepts is that they had other wheelchairs that you could look at and sit in to see what you liked. Most of the time, therapists do measurements in rehab and you have to make decisions just by looking at a piece of paper because there are not any wheelchairs on-hand.

[tobiusholmes]

Wow, I never knew there was so much planning involved in a wheelchair! I have a power chair and all my therapist measured was the seat width, and that was it, nothing else was discussed and I had no idea what I needed or what would be best for me, I think I was just sold a chair for the sake of clearing their stock, it has been too long now to be able to return it, but I think I am going to see who can measure me for a proper chair for me.