Wheelchairs are many things to many different people. They may be a short term aid for recovery or they may be long term primary meanings of locomotion. Which other ways you use them may vary but one thing is for sure, the modern wheelchair is a modern marvel in design compared to 100 years ago. Wheelchairs are divided into 2 main categories, the manual wheelchair and the power wheelchair. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The manual wheel chair is dived into two categories, the folding frame and the rigid frame. The folding wheelchair folds together (wheel against wheel) for easy compact transportation. The disadvantage of the folding frame is that they are heavier than a one piece rigid frame. The one piece rigid frames have no scissor arms that are needed for folding so a rigid chair frame is much light weight. Rigid frames are sometimes referred to as sport wheelchairs. Combined with new light weight metals like titanium, they are having the weight of the folding wheelchair.
There are manual wheelchairs and powered wheelchairs to choose from also. The advantages of each are contrasted with drawbacks. The manual wheelchair can be picked up and placed into the truck of a vehicle. Plus the manual wheelchair gives the user a physical workout in arm exercise. The power wheel chair gives you a 20 mile range in effortless locomotion. However the operating provides no physical exertions at all. The electric wheelchair can weigh over 200 pounds. Plus you must remember to recharge the battery ever night. They have a limited distance they travel on one charge that usual requires all night.
Dennis Evans has been in a wheelchair for 13 years. Check out my website that discribes all about the different wheelchair companies and wheelchair choices. http://wheelchairguides.com/