Lightweight budget friendly wheelchair?

[rewardsinlife]

First, I hope this is in the right place

Second, I am in need of a lighter wheelchair that is budget friendly. I had bought one about 9 months ago for long trips and vacations. (yes, I have a disability that prevents me from walking long distances). Our family bought annual passes for this year for DL, and we have been using them frequently. ( enough that it was getting expensive to continually rent out the wheelchair there). So...bought one that was on sale and lighter.

Now, the problem is that the chair is getting too heavy for me to load and push. (I believe it is 41 pounds) I don't want to have my family push constantly..I would like to help out if I can. ECV are out of the question b/c of cost, space, and personal maneuverability issues. I do much better with a manual.

In short, I need a manual wheelchair that is...
- budget friendly
- folding
-lightweight
- sturdy enough to last awhile( my disability is progressive)
-smaller and less bulky. ( one of the main reasons I have trouble pushing myself is that the arms come up too high and the push is awkward )

An ideas/thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Piper]

This won't help you with a new WC, but can you take the arms off the old one? I haven't had the arms on mine in forever--much more comfortable.

 

[peemagg]

Seeing that the issues you have is progressive, will you health insurance pay for any of it?

When I was looking for a chair ( I went with a custom one due to my disease issues, that weighs about 25lbs with wheels - Tilite ZRA series 2), I looked at the site Spinlife for different chairs. They list the weights and other info. You might look at the chairs made by Karmen. They are lightweight chairs that range in price.

 

[rewardsinlife]

My insurance is Super slow at approving anything. By the time they agreed to pay for the chair my pass would be expired!

 

[Deesknee]

I have a mediline. I'm not sure of the exact weight, but is much lighter than my other one.. I know they offered to change the arms on my old one, but I had other issues with durabilty as well, so I went with the mediline. Although it is light I find for every day outside use my old one was much more ... solid, if you will. The new one I feel doesn't give as smooth a ride.

I believe the mediline was around $250 - $300. I THINK that was about the cost.
Good luck.

 

[thesaurinis]

I would check with your ins company. Something like that they may not be slow on. We just went through the process for my son and it was literally about 1 month. His chair is wicked light and folds up nicely and the wheels come off for easier lifting too.