In a message dated 9/4/2007 8:52:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
It takes awhile to get used to. You can help steady it by resting your hand on the control and cupping the joystick, holding it between the side of your thumb and the first joint of the index finger. Keep your speed down. My chair is a 400# [200 + 200] gorilla! I have relocated the toilet bowl a dozen times, once tipping it a bit. Every doorway in this 220 yr old house has been scarred multiple times. Alton, who has to ride with both cushions - the steel plate below has no give. On Sep 3, 2007, at 1:0914 AM, Kevin Wolfthal wrote: Hi All, I've been doing some research on the wheelchair that I tried out on Friday. It's the cheapest one in the line, Invacare model M41, and it only has a ground clearance of one inch! The thresheld to my condo is more than that I think. I now think the salesman was giving me a hard sell, probably because they make the most profit on that model. I'm going to call him and tell him I want a better model or forget it. At least I didn't sign anything. It was Friday and I guess he was rushing me for the long weekend. At least my insurance will cover most of it, I hope. One question for anyone who uses a power wheelchair, it needed a lot of correction with the joystick to get it to go straight. Is that common? He said that's not unusual, it's like driving a car. If my car drove like that, I'd think something was very wrong with the wheels! I figure it's just getting used to using a joystick. I only tried it on the carpeted hallway outside my condo. Good labor day all, Kevin I know that you may not want to hear from me Kevin, since you never answer my email to you, But...I recently had to get a new wheelchair and it is like a gold mine with only one exception... It is made by Invicta, and is a "Storm DX3". It has all of the bells and whistles...actually, there are no bells or whistles, but it does everything that we complete para or quads need. Mine cost just under $27,000.00, which I think is unbelievable, but that's the truth of the matter. The legs raise as if you are in a recliner chair, the back will lie perfectly flat if you need it that way for tests and/or rest, then, although I find it unneeded and scary, the whole chair will tilt completely in case you have the urge to do a head stand. Mine is run by two joystick type of 'handles". It has, I believe, five modes to drive in: indoor slow, medium and fast, but in my house I keep it down to a bare minimum; then there is an option for outdoors medium/flat and easy terrain; one for outdoor slow for rough stuff like gravel or sand, but not deep sand. My favorite, because we have five acres of pet moles and God forbid if we were ever to catch or harm one of them...anyway, my favorite is called "curb/ramp" and will climb fairly steep inclines, but I'm not good at measurements. The chair will climb over 3 or 4" curbs and takes those mole holes like they were little ant hills. With my regular ROHO cushion it feels like I'm riding on air most of the time. One option that we had to pay extra for is the one that raises the seat 10" so that I can look people who are standing in the eye as we speak. That was $2,000.00, but absolutely worth it to us. Plus, I can reach things that have been previously unatainable (2 n's at the beginning of unnatainable)...you get the picture. For some reason, it was unavailable to get the feature that lowers is to 2 or 3 inches from the ground and I was looking forward to being able to garden again, but I wasn't able to get it. Had something to do with the hydraulics, I think. Well, those are the basics of my chair...oh, it has one more speed and that is indoor/flat surface and fast. There are lots more specifics I will get for you if you are interested. Of course, you can look it up for yourself as well. That's all I know. I hope I have helped you some. Take care of yourself, Judy "Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great Glory that will last forever" 2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
