Wheelblades, wheelchairski

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=9362&lang=entranslated!

FreeWheel

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=15468&lang=entranslated!

Put salt next to the car before snow falls…!!!

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=15740

Reflectors and Illumination

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=5699&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4162&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=882&lang=entranslated!

Moutainbike Winter Tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1311&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4829&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2068&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4759&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair auxiliary snow chains

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4928&lang=entranslated!

Running direction of “Schwalbe” tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2271&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair tyre cleaning carpet

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1328&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair tyre slippers

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=3298&lang=entranslated!

Christmas Tree remote control

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4397&lang=entranslated!

Special wheelchair for removing snow

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4239&lang=entranslated!

Story referring to the picture

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4582

Miscellaneous

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=750 http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4636 If you have good ideas, as usual e-mail to rollinator@eigude.de

Translator BL

Low Budget Wheelchair Lighting

It seems to be the general opinion that all wheelchair bound folks have got to be home before dark, which is currently in the wintertime at around 4 pm. Otherwise, those intelligent people who design wheelchairs would show a little more concern about the visibility of wheelchairs in the dark and in traffic.

I can’t fathom that hand-operated wheelchairs only have two tiny red reflectors in the back.
With a little luck there may be some reflective lights somewhere or better yet reflective tires.

I find it controversial that no active wheelchair that I know of comes with a reflector to the front, let alone a front or rear tail light.
I wrote about this problem in former articles (click here).

I recently installed a small red LED tail light that flashes when needed, at the rear of my chair frame. The light is quite bright and it is called Froglight.

Frog or Froglights

Froglights are originally made for handlebars and seats on bicycles. They are available in red and white LEDs and they flash.

For us wheelchair bound folks these little lights are great, because the rubber bands can simply be wrapped around the frame tubes and easily switched on by pressing on them.

They are available for a mere 3.00 € and up on EBay or Amazon.

In addition I attached the reflective tape of a 2.00 € safety vest to my backpack and the backrest of my chair.

Click on the image below to watch a small video that shows how bright the Frogligts are.

Translator BW

Low Budget Wheelchair Lighting

It seems to be the general opinion that all wheelchair bound folks have got to be home before dark, which is currently in the wintertime at around 4 pm. Otherwise, those intelligent people who design wheelchairs would show a little more concern about the visibility of wheelchairs in the dark and in traffic.

I can’t fathom that hand-operated wheelchairs only have two tiny red reflectors in the back.
With a little luck there may be some reflective lights somewhere or better yet reflective tires.

I find it controversial that no active wheelchair that I know of comes with a reflector to the front, let alone a front or rear tail light.
I wrote about this problem in former articles (click here).

I recently installed a small red LED tail light that flashes when needed, at the rear of my chair frame. The light is quite bright and it is called Froglight.

Frog or Froglights

Froglights are originally made for handlebars and seats on bicycles. They are available in red and white LEDs and they flash.

For us wheelchair bound folks these little lights are great, because the rubber bands can simply be wrapped around the frame tubes and easily switched on by pressing on them.

They are available for a mere 3.00 € and up on EBay or Amazon.

In addition I attached the reflective tape of a 2.00 € safety vest to my backpack and the backrest of my chair.

Click on the image below to watch a small video that shows how bright the Frogligts are.

Translator BW

I have already pointed out several times that you are hardly seen by the car drivers as wheelchair user in the dark, and that the upgrade with reflectors on the wheelchair can actually prolong one’s life (see older blogpost).

For the 18-year-old kids who think their highly tuned 65 hp small car would need apart from the blue-red blinking footwell area illumination an absolute highlight on the outside there are luminescent valve caps.

When the wheels are turning the battery-driven lamps in different colours are starting to glow or blink.
It’s quite impressive and immediately attracts the attention of the police… wasn’t there something about road traffic regulations…

For us wheelchair users these little lamps are great. You are turning the wheel a little bit, it is blink-blinking, and you are well noticed in traffic and also at street fairs by pedestrians.

You can buy them for just a few Euros in Ebay, partially even directly from Hongkong. So far all shipments from China have arrived undamaged at my home.

These lamps are working for months without changing the batteries.

I am using them on my beloved FreeWheel (see blogpost), a single spoke wheel which is clamped to the footrest of the wheelchair.

I have given a set of these lights to my wheeler friend, and he screwed them directly onto his wheelchair.

He was really stopped by the police when he was just coming out of the pharmacy, and he should have paid a ticket because of the illegal illumination of his wheelchair.
For each running wheel 5 Euro fine because of blue instead of orange illumination, and because the valve caps didn’t have an off-switch another 2 x 5 Euros on top.

What a nonsense… these are the regulations for a bicycle…

20 Euro fine because the police can’t distinguish a wheelchair from a bicycle…!!!

My friend asked the officers to send him the ticket with the corresponding paragraphs home and announced the probable publication of the incident on the EIGUDE internet blog.

Unfortunately we are still waiting for the ticket to be sent since a couple of months now

Translator BL

Here is a collection of links with tips and odd stories around the subject winter.
Sorry, but not all blogposts referred to are translated yet!!! More to follow…

Wheelblades, wheelchairski

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=9362&lang=en translated!

FreeWheel

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=15468&lang=en translated!

Reflectors and Illumination

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=5699&lang=en translated!
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4162&lang=en translated!
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=882&lang=en translated!

Moutainbike Winter Tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1311&lang=en translated!
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4829&lang=en translated!
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2068&lang=en translated!
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4759&lang=en translated!

Wheelchair auxiliary snow chains

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4928&lang=en translated!

Running direction of “Schwalbe” tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2271&lang=en translated!

Wheelchair tyre cleaning carpet

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1328&lang=en translated!

Wheelchair tyre slippers

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=3298&lang=en translated!

Christmas Tree remote control

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4397&lang=en translated!

Special wheelchair for removing snow

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4239&lang=en translated!

Story referring to the picture

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4582

Miscellaneous

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=750
http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4636

If you have good ideas, as usual e-mail to rollinator@eigude.de

Translator BL

In general I don’t give way to panic and usually am not even afraid when I am carried up or down a stairway, provided that the volunteers don’t have 1,5 per mill blood alcohol level and are able to stand on their own.
The only thing which makes me uneasy is to get in and out of the car in the dark – we wheelchair users are not always home after dark although this is the general opinion.
In this process the car door has to be completely opened for the whole time, and I don’t want to end up as figurehead of another car driver.
To be seen better in the dark by other car drivers and provide a nice view to passers-by I have decorated my

driver’s door type Christmas tree

a little bit:

• Red plastic reflectors from car accessories attached to the driver’s door from the outside which are also visible from the front.
• Red adhesive reflectors, stuck to the inside of the door.
• A small battery-operated white LED lamp is stuck to the door with double-faced adhesive Velcro tape!
• The absolute highlight is a blinking neon yellow-green battery-operated fluorescent bar.
  I have introduced this part already in my blogpost from 09.03.2011(see older blogpost).

Safety instruction: The fluorescent bar causes nausea and insanity in the long run.
As you can gather from my words I am already beyond saving for years!

Translator BL

On carnival Monday I was at a costume party with live music. Wisely the wheelchair table was at the end of the hall.
Great idea when almost all other people are standing in front of the stage.
You are easily overlooked in the crowd so that the beer or cider shower seems inevitable.
Some weeks ago I have bought a battery-operated

neon yellow-green fluorescent bar

in a do-it-yourself store which can also be set to „blinking“.

So you are glowing in the dark

With this thing you are seen very well in the crowd, found again by friends, and nobody dares to stand directly in front of you.

I have been around 15 meters away from the stage and have actually seen the singer every now and then. The beer shower was cancelled.

After the party, my friend has guided the taxi driver with the fluorescent bar as if he was on an airfield.

Click on tag „reflectors“ to read other illuminating tips.

Translator BL

I have got the impression that there is the general opinion that all wheelchair drivers are going to bed before dark.

Otherwise it is inexplicable for me that non of the wheelchairs I have seen has but one reflector on the front side.

This is a striking lack of safety!!!

Safety regulations of that kind are not known to me. One could almost think that we are allowed to be knocked over in traffic.

With luck one has at least a bicycle reflector put in the spokes.

The big discounters every now and then offer silver-coloured

spokes reflectors.

These were not allowed for bicycles for a long time, but are perfect for wheelchairs.

For bicycles it is: front white, side orange, rear red.

My tip:

Paste your wheelchair especially on the front with adhesive reflectors, buy orange bike reflectors, spokes reflectors, or even better reflective

tyres.

Reflectors for arms and legs

for cyclists can e.g. be sewed on the backpack.

With a head light you can see holes in the ground at night

(see older blogpost).

Blinking rear light of a bike, figure something out, be creative, paste reflectors at the inside of the car door so that it is seen from far when it is open.

I don’t have the desire to be run over by a car because of serious safety lacks on a wheelchair which apparently nobody is interested in.

The “Stiftung Warentest” (German product test foundation) is not interested in testing wheelchairs either
(see older blogpost). (My latest status).

Translator BL

The selection of wheelchair tyres should not be under-estimated.
For the driving wheels it has to be decided first:

Full cushion or pneumatic tyres?

Many active wheelers are using

Pneumatic tyres Schwalbe Marathon Plus (until 10 bar*).

There is a persistent rumour that it completely doesn’t matter how the tyre is mounted as no wheelchair tyre ever has a running direction.
Very convincing!
Due to the stud axles on the wheelchair the tyres can be switched from right to left.
Because the profile of the tyre is not equal there hast o be a difference.
I don’t have much power and noticed the difference immediately when the tyres were exchanged, but this wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Now I wanted to know and wrote to the company Schwalbe.
I have already received a reply on the next day:

The tyre is mounted in the designated running direction so that it has a low rolling resistance.
If the tyre would have been fitted in the opposite direction it would have a better traction as e.g. for

ice and snow,

but then with a higher rolling resistance.

So this secret was disclosed as well.

At the next

tyre change

you should mind that you get tyres with additional reflector stripes.

Thus you will even be seen when you are rolling home from the club at night.

* Tyres should have 8 bar pressure.
The other one has to feel it when you ride across his foot!

Translator BL

As wheeler out in the wild you are not really noticed by the pedestrians.
This is getting extreme in bigger crowds like sports events or festivals.
It is quite funny if at a street fair the girls take a seat on your lap because you have been again overlooked. But the whole thing gradually gets a little irritating when the number of “hitchhikers” increases towards evening in the dark.

My tip is a

head light

Ideally a blinking one.
These things are simply great.
The pedestrians see the light between their legs, are totally confused, and a gap is formed as if Moses had parted the sea.

Because H4 spotlights on a wheelchair are quite rare such a head light is very recommendable for nightly excursions.
With it each pothole is seen and can now be driven around, depending on the condition of the wheeler.

Not only alcohol but also the taking of pills can reduce the fitness to drive. Opium for the people. Drive slooooowly!!

Translator BL

Nach meiner Entlassung aus dem Krankenhaus wurde ich vom Sanitätshaus von den unterschiedlichsten Hilfsmitteln versorgt. Darunter natürlich auch ein (neuer) Rollstuhl für den täglichen Bedarf.
Ich musste ich mit grausen feststellen das der Sicherheits- und Qualitätsstandart von jedem
„Bobby-Car“
höher ist als bei Aktiv- Rollstühlen. Ich habe seit Oktober 2008:

• Den 3.Kippschutz (verbiegt sich wenn man beim Drehen z.B. am Küchenschrank hängen bleibt)
• Den 3. Satz (immer verschiedene) Lenkräder wegen ständiger Lagerschäden und
• die Röllchen des Kippschutzes klappern beim Fahren, da nicht gelagert.
• Sicherheitsmangel besonders im Dunklen: Kein Rollstuhl hat vorne einen Reflektor.
• Der Sitzbezug des Rollikissens war nach 6 Monaten durchgescheuert.

U.s.w.…..
Nach meinem momentanen Wissenstand braucht 14 Tage nach Einführung eines neuen Rollstuhls nur das „Grundmodell“ eine Abnahme. Danach scheinen die Hersteller oder Sanitätshäuser die Anbauteile selbst bestimmen zu Können.
Bei einem PKW muss bekannter Weise alle An- und Umbauten vom TÜV/Dekra abgenommen werden.
Nach meinem technischen Verständnis hätte der Kippschutz von 2 mir bekannten Rollstuhlherstellern niemals montiert werden dürfen.
Ich bin in einem Fall trotz Kippschutz im Krankenhaus rückwärts mit dem Rollstuhl umgefallen (Knorpelschaden Finger).

Sie haben 1998 Rollstühle getestet.
Die Ergebnisse waren nicht so positiv.
Hatten Sie in der zwischen zeit noch einmal getestet?
Ich würde mich jederzeit bei einem erneuten Test zur Verfügung sehen.
Sehr viele „Behinderte“ haben weder das technische Verständnis, oder
es interessiert sie nicht, wenn der Kippschutz klappert, die Lager krachen und die Räder quitchen.
Für mich ist der derzeitige Zustand untragbar!

Laut Bedienungsanleitung des Herstellers müssen Aktivrollstühle einmal im Jahr durch einen Fachhändler gewartet werden.
Mir ist nicht bekannt, dass sich jemals das Sanitätshaus zur Jahreswartung angemeldet hätte.

Antwort:
Leider können wir Ihnen derzeit keinen Test von Rollstühlen anbieten oder ankündigen.

Stand Heute: 4.Kippschutz