It’s all a question of hardware…!!!

Today I was on tour with my Minitrac (see older blogposts) for the first time in the snow.

With its tractor tyres it is a perfect technical aid.

Translator BL

Empty detergent bottle to be used as “One-Hand Salt Shaker”

The topic of how to get through winter in a Rolli has been on my mind for quite a while (see earlier articles).

In one of these former articles, I advised putting salt in front of your car before the snow arrives, so that the wheelchair would not slip away while getting in and out.

I always salt my wheelchairramp (ski slope) at the front door at the same time.

One can easily imagine how “professional” it looks when a wheelchairdriver balances a bucket full of salt on his knees and tries to spread it on the driveway. This really does not work well!

One thing’s for sure, the seat cushion on the chair as well as other “sensitive parts” will no longer freeze.;-)

After years of research the Rollinator team finally found a solution.

One-Hand Salt Shaker

(special wheelchairdriver)

The One-Hand Salt Shaker stands out with its ergonomic form, which allows the user to aim more accurately when spreading the salt using only one arm.

You can pretty much modify any empty liquid detergent bottle. However, I advise against those XXL-supersize bottles because of the excessive weight. During laboratory trials wheels burst and users got thrown out of their vehicles (just kidding).

To fill the salt shaker, a proven method is simply rolling a newspaper, advertisement, brochure etc. to make a quick funnel.

To prevent the salt shaker from dropping you could attach a key chain to the handle and hang the bottle around your neck as some sort of a trophy – but don’t get strangled… !!!

The special One-Handed Salt Shaker is also 98.74 % pedestrian and walking frame user friendly.

Translator BW

Recently I wanted to go, as it is a Hobbit tradition, to a Punch and Judy show, or rather a show of the Kikiriki Theatre (puppet theatre for adults) in the “Union-Halle” in Frankfurt.

I drove with my car until the gate of the Union premises and asked the gatekeeper (since I am in the wheelchair even gate keepers are usually quite friendly) for admission onto the premises, hoping that I could park near the hall entrance.

He refused in spite of several requests and relegated me to the quite new Union car park which would be located at the rear side of the former brewery ground.

At last a conscientious employee who consequently adheres to his guidelines. He exemplified “Inclusion”, nobody was privileged, to say:

“You’re not coming in!”

I asked him several times if there are disabled parking places. The disabled parking permit behind the windscreen and my wheelchair behind me in the car could hardly be ignored.

When I stood in front of the car park I had to discover with surprise that steel brackets were raised on the two disabled parking places in front of the car park.

It is a mystery to me how you turn down the brackets, maybe I should have tried it with the European disabled toilet key, or with the password “Little bracket duck yourself!”

I don’t know…, I surely don’t have to get out of the car before, any ideas? Please write a comment.

If I have seen it correctly there are two stairs at the entrance/exit of the new car park, these are nice to look at for a wheelchair user like me, but the usage of the car park is therefore very limited.

I found a suitable parking place on the other side of the street.

After I got out of the car at last and sat in my wheelchair again I missed a lowered curb nearby.
I rolled on the street to the alleged rear entrance of the Union premises which wasn’t exactly safe, there my wife helped me over the curb between the parking cars.

Then… I stood in front of it,… a beautiful steep concrete staircase with seven stairs, I was quite speechless, and this happens very rarely.

I could imagine that the usage of the staircase with the missing handrails has already caused difficulties for some partially walking disabled guest of the “King Kamehameha Club” which is located on the same premises

I assumed that there might be an underground access from the car park to the premises, why the gatekeeper should have sent me there otherwise? This was not the case.

In the end my called-up companions (we were a group with theatre tickets) carried me up the stairs. I hate these soaring flights…!!!

I spared myself to point out to the gatekeeper his “great advice” with the car park. Was probably better for both sides.

When I finally stood in front of the entrance of the hall I wasn’t too surprised about the aluminium ramp because I had used it once four years ago, however I was hoping that it maybe had flattened a bit in the meantime…

The ramp winter service probably had its company holidays this week, otherwise the ice and snow on the 25° ramp (max. 6% gradient are normal) are not explicable.

With combined pushing efforts I arrived upstairs at the entrance after all.

It reminded me a bit of a ski jump!

After this precedent “expedition” my laughter to the jokes in the theatre was a bit more modest. I was thinking already about my way back.

After the show my companions decided with me that it would be saver to carry me down the entrance stairs instead of using the “jump” again.

With such training conditions we should consider to introduce wheelchair ski jumping at the Paralympic winter games!

A contact approach with a person in charge is in process

Click on tag “ramp” to read other nice stories.

Translator BL

2 years ago I had the biggest difficulties in winter to get from my wheelchair into the car.

After the snow fell, it froze on the ground to a single layer of ice right next to my door. This caused my wheelchair during transfer to constantly slip which was terrible

After my friends had removed the ice shelf next to my “Ferrari”, came the nice men from the county road service to clean the street and pushed a mountain of snow right next to my car.

So I still could not get in to the car!!!!!

Before the next snow fall I had all of a sudden salt already laying there next to my door for immediate defrosting. Miraculously, the salt seems to be falling from the sky, as there is hardly ever any ice and snow on the road next to my “Pole”…!!!!!

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The low budget mountainbike wheelchair tyres
(see older blog post),

constructed by myself are indeed a big relief for me on bad ground conditions, but the small front tyres are for sand and snow by far the worst solution.

Well, with some special skating wheels as front tyres you might be able to illuminate the snow, but you are not moving any faster anyhow.

Actually I don’t understand it, but the engineers at the wheelchair companies don’t seem to know neither snow nor sand. Even after longer consideration I couldn’t think of any country which would not have at least one of it. Probably they live on trees, otherwise there would be adequate summer and winter equipment for each wheelchair as a standard.
Some day I will build in old MacGyver manner out of an inflatable physiotherapy ball and a hand fan a mobile mounting set with which my rolling vehicle turns into a ground-independent hovercraft wheelchair

Until I get there I continue combing through the technical aids scene to see what the colleagues are developing.

I am living in the city, but last year even my hometown Frankfurt was full of snow.

As formerly alpine skiing obsessed who was skiing with 2 meter skis in the Alps still in 2007 (no carving ski in children’s length) I already thought several times to cut my 2 cellar decoration skis in homeopathic pieces and screw them to my wheelchair instead of the front tyres to be able to leave my flat in last year’s snow chaos.

A seating test in a monoski on a fair was quite nice, and I was extremely surprised how stable I was sitting in it, until I asked my friend behind me if he was standing on the ski?

He said yes, took off his foot, I fell over, and the project monoski was postponed for the time being…!!!

Who was it, a Swiss man…!!!

When I read the post of a wheelchair hotel in Oberstdorf known to me I was immediately impressed.
Patrick Mayer, what a coincidence, a wheeler himself from Switzerland, who certainly has much more test snow than me each year, developed the Wheel Blades.
The

www.wheelblades.ch

are small blades which can be clamped with an iron clip anytime easily (even for quadriplegics) to the front tyres of the wheelchair.
The front tyres remain on the wheelchair!!! The binding is individually adjustable.

There was a real expert at work. Look at the Video,
he rolls down a flat ski-slope with these things on his wheelchair. The envy factor increases, ok I grant it to him.
He has even added slide rails to the blades so that they keep the track on the slope. Excellent, chapeau!!!

The Wheel Blades can be ordered in advance from October 2012, I will do it.
To anticipate anything, they might get paid by the employer’s accident insurance at best, or you have a good lawyer at the social court!!!

I haven’t heard anything yet about test rides in the snow board half pipe, and the snow and waterski suitability still has to be proved

Translator BL

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

Wheelchair tyre cleaning carpet

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1328

Wheelchair tyre slippers

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=3298

Christmas Tree remote control

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4397

Special wheelchair for removing snow

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4239

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

Of course I am quite taken with such conversations, but unfortunately usually there are rarely results.

On Saturday I received the January newsletter!

There it was, the first Rollinator PR Blog, and the whole thing without any more discussions, great thing!

** client offers advice for free

Internet – Steffen L., wheelchair user and **client, writes in his Blog “Eigude” about odd experiences from everyday life and innovative ideas for wheelchair users:

“News from the Rollinator” – this title shines above the comprehensive Web-Blog of Steffen L. The hobby internet editor is in a wheelchair only since 2007, but in this short time he has collected already a considerable amount of information.

“When you, sitting in a wheelchair, have left the hospital or the rehab the drama begins. You are left on your own, and everybody has to re-invent the wheel to manage everyday life.”
“Therefore this blog with a lot of tips and tricks.”

Interested persons can find the website onwww.eigude.de
As expert for individual technical aids solutions the author offers advice for free!

** Contact details of the travel agency can be requested as usual on rollinator@eigude.de

More than 150 clicks in 24 hours, uff…

Translator BL

Quarterly 10 € Surcharge Donation

at the doctor is inevitable for me, even in bad weather conditions.
(Translators note: For medical consultation all patients insured by a public health insurance in Germany have to pay 10 € private surcharge per quarter.)
I always feel a bit pressed at the start of each quarter.

Without donation no dope!

To donate at all you currently need a lot of doping merely for the journey.
Before my accident I was often in the alps in winter and used to quite a lot.
But yesterday’s trip with wheelchair to my general practitioner reminded a little of a polar expedition, and that in the middle of Frankfurt.
When I finally arrived against all rarely worth mentionable odds in the street of my doctor at some time, I just had to overcome this

Wheelchair test track type ice skating rink.

Here no snow was shovelled for about 14 days. No snow, everything ice.

The inner desire comes up to chain the responsible person naked to the handrail on the right until the ice has melted!

On the other side of the street there is currently a well-prepared cross country ski run on the horse racetrack.

Translator BL

As already mentioned in several blogposts I am convinced that a set of

mountainbike wheelchair tyres

should be provided with the basic equipment of the first wheelchair.
Somehow a secret is made around the big advantage of these tyres.
For me, these tyres are no surplus luxury goods, or poser sport equipment, but a medical necessity so that a justification for the prescription of a medical device, the request for approval at the health insurance, is basically given.

Due to the wider-based tyres the security increases especially in cities with cobble stone because you don’t get stuck in the joints so often anymore.

Many shocks due to bad ground conditions are absorbed by the tyres, thus the spinal cord respectively the whole body is not strained so much anymore. Your back and bottom will be happy.

The wheelchair pusher is relieved very much on bad trails, mud, ice and snow…

The argument that you make no headway with these wheels is very much depending on the tyres, but not overall correct. The advantages predominate. I recommend a Schwalbe Land Cruiser as tyre.

The disadvantage of the wheels is the broadening of the whole wheelchair. Too bad if you don’t fit into the garage anymore.

I don’t know to which extent it is medically important for the health insurance that the wheeler can leave his home even in snow drift. You could catch a cold, but the groceries of the most important things like coffee, chocolate and condoms… should be ensured in winter as well.

With prices for a set of mountainbike wheelchair tyres from 560 € – 900 € from the wheelchair producers I understand everybody who refuses to buy them because actually these are “only” wheelchair tyres with a 10 – 20 € bicycle rim with bicycle tube and tyre.

As a matter of principle I refuse to pay such exorbitant prices. For the same money you can get already a really nice complete mountainbike. Thus I have let me built two wheelchair tyres for around 220 €.

Yesterday I have found a wheelchair replacement part company in the nearer abroad who charge per piece

wheelchair mountainbike tyre 117€

This price is more than reasonable.

You shouldn’t forget the insurance aspect. With do-it-yourself constructions you can get into trouble if something is happening.

The company is currently closed until January.

I have ordered a quite special

wheelchair hand rim for quadriplegics

from this company with which I hope to ride a little out in the snow by myself.

Of course I will write if the ordering should work.

Company name enquiries to me:

Contact: rollinator@eigude.de

From a snow height of 2 meters even my tyres slowly reach their limits.

Click on Tags “Wheelchair tyres” to read more blogposts.

Translator BL

The chain-drive

Off-Road Wheelchair, Type: Renegade.

Whether on sand, snow, dirt road or creek bed, with this hell of a chair you get through almost every terrain.

Unbelievable, but true, watch the VIDEOS.
The wheelchair has a 7 gear hub in the driving wheels.

It has winter accessories, with

snow chains, blades

and a

snow shovel,

to clear the gateway from snow. The

fishing rod holder

is rather funny I think, but the

gun holder

beats almost everything I have seen so far.

The price is fair, the basic model is available as of 4500$.

One time with this thing through the city of Frankfurt!!!
If the gun has a medical device number?

Source: Renegade USA

Translator BL