Wheel Chair Ramp

Folding Wheel Chair

Find a variety of folding wheel chair designs and styles to meet your temporary or permanent accessibility needs.

Folding Wheel Chair

When deciding on a manual wheel chair, you need to determine if you want a folding wheel chair or a ridged framed wheel chair.

A folding wheel chair can be advantageous when travelling over uneven terrain as the frame of a folding wheel chair will bend to take into account the surface you are travelling over. That being said, a ridged framed wheel chair is more stable over hard, flat surfaces.

Prices for folding wheel chairs range from $1000 to over $3500. This is due to the fact that some folding wheel chairs are lightweight, where others are heavy-duty. Your personal requirements will help you determine which is best for you.

Some folding wheel chairs offer hand brakes on the back handles to aid anyone pushing the occupant of the wheel chair. This can come in very handy when traversing uneven or steep terrain.

Below are listed some pros and cons to folding wheel chairs:

Pros: 

• Folding wheel chairs are more flexible, and therefore able to keep all 4 wheels in contact with uneven surfaces
• Able to be folded up and transported in a vehicle
• Comes with swing-away leg rests as opposed to ridged framed wheel chairs that have an inflexible front end
• Can be easily stored out of the way at home.
• Folding up doesn’t require the removal of any parts
• Locking rear wheels
• Some models offer a reclining back rest for maximum comfort

Cons:

• Less durable that ridged models
• Harder to maneuver than ridged framed wheel chairs
• Removable and/or adjustable parts that could be lost or broken
• Seat angle is not always adjustable
• Sometimes heavier than ridged models
• May not be sturdy enough for some activities or sports

Before buying any wheel chair, be it a ridged frame or folding wheel chair, be sure to try several models out to find the type that is best suited to your personal needs.