Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
Does anyone know of any handbrakes for wheelchairs, or wheelchairs with handbrakes?
By this I mean "I get brakes for my wheelchair" rather than "someone stood behind me gets brakes for my wheelchair".
(there are *tonnes* of the latter around, but afaict none of the former outside of one company who make brakes for specific wheels in Texas)
Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@pastelbat i know my brother uses one that has brakes he uses with his hands that lock in place, they seem fairly common here.
i can ask him about the manufacturer if you want!
Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@tom I'm guessing they mean brakes that can be operated without moving your hands from where they need to be to accelerate and steer. If so, @pastelbat I haven't ever seen that. When I used a chair I got in the habit of catching the spokes with my fingers to break fast.
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@pastelbat isnt the wheelchair brakes for the person behind their legs? like cmon ur the abled person who may or may not be helping or pissing off the person in the wheelchair, just hold it there
god that pisses me off that theres none really available for the actual wheelchair users
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@kellerfuchs @audrey @tom Apologies, I realise now it's not 3am that "handbrake" would imply "parking brake" because cars
I mean brakes that are used for slowing while moving.
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@pastelbat @kellerfuchs @audrey Oh, sorry! Haven't really seen that, then... :/
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@pastelbat @kellerfuchs @tom ahh
that still sounds like something that someone operating the wheelchair from behind can deal with themselves tho, why tf are there so many options for them but none for the actual user of the wheelchair??
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
@pastelbat It definitely exists, I've used one (in an airporp), but I have no idea about the model or brand :(
Looks like there's a bunch of models from Karman that have it, like this one:
it's the handle you see, next to the wheel.
(I don't have any experiences with that brand of wheelchairs, so I can't recommend one way or another)
For what it's worth, it might be reasonably doable to DIY a handbrake for an existing wheelchair, but I totally get why you might not want to do that.
re: Wheelchairs, Venting, Info Request
Guh
If I had the energy skills & hardware to make secure custom mountings (for the brakes and the handles) I could just install some standard-ass caliper brakes
(like the ones on any roadbike, ever)
I however lack these things
So the formal options seem to be "buy some reeeeal expensive ones from Texas, including ditching my current wheel setup for buying their wheels"
or switch to some kinda electric wheelchair or electric hybrid setup (also expensive, a lot heavier)
Or the informal gamble of asking around the local hackspace to hire a random bike-modding enthusiast
Cuz I like self-propelling, but grip strength is not something I will ever be at the required level for "just grab the wheelrims with yr hands lol" to be reliable/safe/not-massively-painful