• Pirky
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    4 months ago

    There’s a pretty cool guy on YouTube called JerryRigEverything. He started a non-profit company called Not A Wheelchair that makes electric wheel chairs that can be used off road.
    I’m on mobile so linking is hard, but check out notawheelchair.com to see what they make.
    Edit: Oh, it auto links. Neat.

    • @[email protected]
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      94 months ago

      I remember when he was prototyping that for his then girlfriend (not sure where they are in their relationship now) and when he announced that it was going to a bigger scale and the proceeds were going to go to some really good places I was stoked. He’s come so far from where he started!

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      $5k is pretty wild for something that looks like it was DIY’d in someone’s garage with square tubing…

        • @[email protected]
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          4 months ago

          You realize this is Not a Wheelchair, right?

          Wheelchairs are medical devices and sell with the appropriate taxes applied. Hence why it’s called Not a Wheelchair.

          • @[email protected]
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            4 months ago

            You realize that’s a medical insurance grift right? Just like it doesn’t cost $20 for one advil unless you are in the ER

            • @[email protected]
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              4 months ago

              You realize that’s exactly the point I was making, right?

              This is Not a Wheelchair, and thus not susceptible to such grifts.

      • @[email protected]
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        14 months ago

        It doesn’t look like that at all. It looks pretty good, actually. Try building one yourself and show us how good yours looks.

        • @[email protected]
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          -64 months ago

          LOL yes, let me spend dozens of hours of my time building a wheelchair I don’t need with tools I don’t have to placate idiots on the internet.

            • @[email protected]
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              -14 months ago

              No I did not agree. You just pulled that out of your ass. I could absolutely do it. I’ve built much more complicated things for much less.

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      That looks more ch more useful and gentler on nature. Also easier for someone to fetch when it inevitably breaks down. Seems like you should have a seatbelt, maybe some sort of leg guides, useful racks, a phone/go-pro mount, etc

  • @[email protected]
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    294 months ago

    I’m chair bound and have used my regular chair while camping several times. I can’t just wander into the woods of course, but every campground I’ve been to has had well used trails that are hard packed enough to use a normal chair on. That thing looks like a maintenance nightmare that destroys nature more than explores it. Someone in this thread already posted one that seems a better fit. This just seems more interested in being tank like than useful.

  • THCDenton
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    284 months ago

    From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel.

  • @[email protected]
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    254 months ago

    There is also the “Joelette” that allows disabled people to access trail.

    It’s a kind of all terrain one wheel wheelchair, you need two person to assist you but I’ve seen quite a few people using it and it seems to be working quite well.

    There is even version with an electric motor.

    Joelette

    • @[email protected]
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      44 months ago

      This is quite cool. I guess disabilities and trails are so many and varied, there’s not going to be a single device to cater to all requirements.

  • NickwithaC
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    194 months ago

    I read:

    All-terain wheelchairs have started arriving as skate parks

    and now I want to see someone take one of these onto a half pipe.

    • @[email protected]
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      84 months ago

      Quick! Someone clone Tony Hawk, and mix it with Stephen Hawking!

      We can call him Tony Hawking! He’ll develop the theory of the wheelchair 1080°!

  • @[email protected]
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    154 months ago

    Until the people who just don’t want to walk, or like to play around like children, get them and ruin it for everybody else. lol

    • PP_GIRL_
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      144 months ago

      I was part of a team in uni who worked with a state park to develop a plan for one of these and this was one of the biggest concerns for us. We ended up deciding that it was a self-selecting process anyway. Speaking candidly, very few obese people have any interest in going outdoors and it’s not like these chairs are super comfy or easy to ride. The people who take the initiative to schedule one and go through the orientation/training process probably have valid reasons for needing the chair and are most likely motivated to go outdoors, as well. It’s been a few years since I talked to the park ranger we worked with, but it seemed like that was there hadn’t really been any issues w/r/t your concerns.

      • @[email protected]
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        44 months ago

        Please forgive for hijack, but I have thoracic damage that makes posture about like lifting weights where I fade to failure fast sitting or standing. Do you know of anyone working on support for issues like this from your time in Uni?

    • @[email protected]
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      4 months ago

      Yeah 100% this is going to carry fat people all day and absolutely wreck the nature they want to visit. Daily groups of 400+ kgs on treads will do that

      • @[email protected]
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        34 months ago

        Have you ever seen that in real life? I haven’t.

        To the contrary, my only experience is how my mother has behaved. Yeah, she’s very overweight but has legitimate mobility issues. As she started up having more trouble getting around, it was really hard on her pride and sense of independence to accept any mobility aids. I finally had to get blunt: your grand-kids are doing X: if you want to see them, you need to use a chair. I’ll push, I’ll rent, I’ll carry, but I’m not trapping my kids at home for your pride

  • Transporter Room 3
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    144 months ago

    When one of my friends was in a wheelchair after a car accident, it quickly became evident to us how limiting being forced into a wheelchair 24/7 is.

    This is fucking rad. I’d be stoked to come across someone powering through the trails in one of these.

    The size is still limiting for sure but I’d happily volunteer more time at the local parks to widen trails if we had these.

    Lpt: if you ever want things to happen with local hiking/equestrian/cycling trail parks, look for mountain biking communities. They can be some of the friendliest, most helpful outdoorsy people you can encounter. They can and will volunteer all their time to update local trails to accommodate something like this

  • Xanthrax
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    4 months ago

    This is already a thing. They’re just not shaped like tanks.

    Are they providing them rent-free, to people with disabilities? If not, fuck them. Also, it’s more about the trails than the vehicle. You need a wide, flat trail. You can’t risk flipping a mobility scooter. It can kill the rider, and they’re heavy as fuck, even if they survive.

    Edit: sorry this ticked me off. Do you have an article?

  • @[email protected]
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    74 months ago

    That thing looks pretty badass to be honest. I’m sure lots of perfectly healthy folks would also love to ride it.

  • @[email protected]
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    4 months ago

    This might be the one created by the owner of Action Sports in Marshall Minnesota. I believe it is a son and a son in-law, around 2006 one of them had an accident and became paralyzed. Next year, the other had an accident and became paralyzed. This guy made this wheelchair for them. He sells the wheelchairs as well.

    Googled it. Called the Action Track Chair.