Earlier quoted context omitted.
My bike cost £75
A decent bike for a child costs more than that these days in North America. You either bought this bike used, stolen, in 1989 or are trolling.
I bought it used. Why does that discount my statement?
A $1k Wheelchair
451–456 of 456 posts
Re: A $1k Wheelchair
#452Custom fit lightweight wheelchairs are expensive. My Ti-Lite (one of the most popular lightweight chair brands) Aero Z starts at $3k and goes up quickly with wheels and backrest and casters and various other options that I need for sitting 16 hours a day without creating more problems. Insurance covers this for me every 5 years, but of course that's not a luxury every one has. Most plans don't cover DME 100%. What Za…
I just want to add some context here because i feel like there is a large gap in understanding of what a wheelchair actually is. Please click through these and get an understanding of the level of detail required to be properly fitted for a wheelchair. https://permobilwebcdn.azureedge.net/media/hylifiyf/creative... - note the clinical rationale and notes sections on each of these options. https://permobilwebcdn.azure…
This is a bit like saying that an ill-fitting bicycle can cause more harm than good: technically true but missing the point. Sometimes it's valuable to have a cheap bicycle that you can expose to the elements without worrying about messing up the high-end components on your more expensive bike.
These seem to be mainly intended as secondary chairs or for part-time wheelchair users, rather than as primary chairs. My wife has three wheelchairs and I can see a case for buying one of these as her fourth.
Mind you, the situation with electric wheelchairs is very different. Many electric wheelchair users are at elevated risk of pressure sores, may not be able to get in and out or reposition themselves independently, etc. The profit margins on these chairs are still inexcusable, but the amount of custom fitting and memory foam everything is warranted because the user may well be in this chair, in that position all day every day. The cupholder and the umbrella mount are must-have accessories.
Re: A $1k Wheelchair
#453Earlier quoted context omitted.
A manual wheelchair is less complex than a bicycle, and I can get a decent bicycle for a few hundred bucks. The fact that basic wheelchairs are crazy expensive has little to do with the chairs and a lot to do with insane bureaucracy.
Yeah, but can you climb chairs with a bicycle? There are wheelchairs that can do that.
Presuming that you mean "stairs", these exist and impress Hacker News users who think any problem can be solved with enough overengineering, but nobody really uses them because they're so much worse at everything else. I've used one to board an airplane embarking from the tarmac, that's about all they're good for.
Re: A $1k Wheelchair
#454Late to the party, but I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to see an accessibility-related post on HN that isn't about a bunch of able-bodied MIT undergrads winning awards from able-bodied judge panels for building a product that disabled people can't use to solve a problem that disabled people don't have.
There is effectively zero overlap between problems that able-bodied people think that disabled people have, and problems that disabled people actually have.
Re: A $1k Wheelchair
#455Re: A $1k Wheelchair
#456This looks like a very cool project and I'm happy to see it. But please, to the author: give us some real price comparisons! I don't know how much a wheelchair costs. After reading this article, I still don't. Just be crystal clear and say "a simple manual wheelchair, approved by insurance, is often $4k, with $1k paid out of pocket" or whatever.
You're in the right ballpark, though a good chair can easily get you into the 5 figures. Top-end is perhaps $20k.