New user from California

You dont have to, but its interesting!

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New user from California

Postby MenCallMeGimpy » 18 Nov 2014, 21:57

Hello All,

I'm originally from the UK (London), but have been living in sunny California for the past eight years. I've got FSH Muscular Dystrophy, which has now reached the stage where I'm about to say goodbye to forearm crutches and hello to wheelchairs.

This site has been an invaluable source of information for me over the past couple of months I've been lurking and it seems to be a great community, so I'm looking forward to participating fully.

Now I just need to find the chair that's right for me, then sell a few vital organs to be able to buy it, all the while wondering how a seemingly straightforward mobility device with a few convenience options can cost as much as a well appointed family car.
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Re: New user from California

Postby Burgerman » 18 Nov 2014, 22:18

Because they can get away with it.
The competition is al but non existent.
The US medical insurances and UK NHS generally pay for it.
Etc...
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Re: New user from California

Postby MenCallMeGimpy » 18 Nov 2014, 22:38

Burgerman wrote:Because they can get away with it.
The competition is al but non existent.
The US medical insurances and UK NHS generally pay for it.
Etc...


That's what I gather from the reading I've done here and on other mobility sites.

It doesn't help that the US Social Security Administration (which funds the vast majority of wheelchair purchases here, and guides the policies of private insurers) is adamant that it will only pay for chairs that improve mobility inside the home. I guess once you're disabled, you're supposed to retire from the world so as not to upset the "normals." Presumably, the NHS operates on similarly Victorian principles.

The result seems to be an almost total stifling of research and development. Throughout my life, I've kept an eye on the power chair market, optimistic that, by the time I needed to use one, chairs would be light as racing bikes, run for 500 miles on a watch battery, climb mountains like a goat and, possibly, hover. Roll on 30 years and, though the world is unrecognizable in so many ways due to the march of technology, the mobility market is stuck in a time warp. Everything is clunky, heavy and borderline industrial. Seemingly simple problems (like getting up standard curbs or running on uneven surfaces) either haven't been solved or have been solved in the least elegant, most brute-force manner possible.

I can see why you ended up building your own chair. I'm very strongly considering following in your footsteps, so let me just take this opportunity to thank you for posting your build process so clearly and completely.
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Re: New user from California

Postby Burgerman » 19 Nov 2014, 01:06

Well now you see why I did.

And can in fact make something much better, and cheaper, with a huge development budget of 1 powerchair (cost), in a bedroom, by hand, using a team of me only, using components bought in 1's at a time retail, as a paraplegic end user...

Makes you think doesn't it.

www.wheelchairdriver.com/BM3-construction/
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Re: New user from California

Postby MenCallMeGimpy » 19 Nov 2014, 02:10

Burgerman wrote:Makes you think doesn't it.


It certainly does. Very very dark thoughts.

I've just spent a happy hour going over your BM3 build notes again, and the chair impresses me even more than when I first read them (probably because I now know a lot more about the limitations of what's available in the market). My fabrication skills are pretty rudimentary, so I'd definitely need a skilled machinist to take care of the trickier bits, but even so I'm sure I could put something nice together for a lot less than the £15-20k they're asking for a "high end" chair around these parts (it's like they price these cast iron behemoths by the pound).
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Re: New user from California

Postby Burgerman » 19 Nov 2014, 11:31

If you cant do this and absolutely understand this, in detail yourself - then probably better to start with some project a bit simpler. As you will be unlikely to get any outside "engineer" to do it correctly or to a suitable standard. Many have tried.
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Re: New user from California

Postby MenCallMeGimpy » 19 Nov 2014, 18:46

Burgerman wrote:If you cant do this and absolutely understand this, in detail yourself - then probably better to start with some project a bit simpler. As you will be unlikely to get any outside "engineer" to do it correctly or to a suitable standard. Many have tried.


Thanks for the warning. There are at least three elements of the build that are beyond my capabilities, so I definitely think I'll adopt a walk-before-I-run (oh, the irony) strategy. I'm more comfortable tinkering with LiFePO4s, controllers and motors than bending and welding metal, so I'll probably start by looking for a chair with the greatest scope for in-situ "upgradeability". Time for some intensive forum spelunking, I think!
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Re: New user from California

Postby robnnorthaustin » 13 Dec 2014, 03:50

MenCallMeGimpy wrote:Hello All,

I'm originally from the UK (London), but have been living in sunny California for the past eight years. .


Welcome to this great forum. If you have or are willing to learn the technical side of mobility chairs/scooters this forum will help you save money and to obtain the best chair for you. I too have MD and my mobility needs were gradual. I would only suggest you to be proactive and don't wait to look or buy until you need. Nice to meet you, Rob
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