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All About Portable Wheelchairs

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Anonymous

11y ago
Updated: 9/18/2019

Persons with wheelchairs often have it rough when it comes to travel. When dealing with planes, buses and cars, their wheelchair usually has no place to go, taking up great quantities of space and getting in the way. Usually special equipment or storage is necessary, and it is not unusual for people who use wheelchairs, even when only traveling long distances, to need to call ahead and make necessary reservations. Fortunately, it is not necessary for them to eliminate travel completely, provided they make use of a portable wheelchair.

Portable wheelchairs are designed to break down when not in use. While it is common for wheelchairs to be designed so they can be collapsed when not in use, portable wheelchairs take this a step further by being able to fold up the footpads and the handles in addition to the central seat. Many of them have smaller, lighter frames and smaller wheels as well in order to enable them to fold up tighter. Some are even made out of carbon fiber composite instead of aluminum or steel to further decrease their weight. Portable wheelchairs are also much sturdier than their everyday companions so that they can be bumped and bounced around in luggage compartments or the bellies of airplanes without being severely damaged. They may also have special carrying cases to help prevent them from being damaged in transit.

Portable wheelchairs are generally less comfortable and more expensive than their traditional variants, and the need to be able to break down for storage constrains much of their design. For the most part, they are used to ferry disabled persons to and from a train or airplane. In recent years, attempts have been made to make them more comfortable and functional, or to make full-service wheelchairs which have many of the attributes of portability found in traditional portable wheelchairs. This includes electric wheelchairs as well as more traditional and high performance models, however most semi-portable wheelchairs are of the standard variety. Notable advances have been made, however, persons who are using airplanes, buses or trains will still find that traditional portable wheelchairs will be the ones they are loaned or encouraged to bring along.

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Wiki User

11y ago

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