My day chair doesnt have enough at 1.5" and is not adjustable (aside from caster height), my hunting chair is good at almost 3" and luckily is adjustable as it was delivered with 1" dump.

3" and it's all good!

Off to see an Occupational Therapist this morning - hoping to drop down to 3"!

To me, more dump makes you feel like you're in the chair, instead of sitting on top of it.

If that makes sense...

Hi,

Have you thought of adding a hard wedge under your cushion to increase the angle? I was given a 'Jay' hard foam wedge by my local wheelchair services to put under my Roho cushion. (I need greater bucket than the Roho can give on its own as my rubbish Bromakin chair was built far too flat. Because of Scoliosis/pelvic obliquity, I cannot get away with the Roho Quadtro alone, so, until I get my new DaVinci chair, I'll have to continue using a Jay wedge under my Roho Quadtro to give me the 'bucket'/'dump' I need). (The wedges are a triangular shaped piece of hard foam and are usually 1.5 inches high (at the front/highest point) by 18 inches wide (but you trim them to the width you need) by 14 inches deep. If you need a greater wedge or greater width, Sunrise Medical can apparently make custom cushions. In the UK, they did cost about £52 for a 'standard' "base wedge" a few years ago so I don't know how much they cost now (probably nearer £100) or in other countries. (Have just found the right document for the US in the "Jay Price Book" (see: http://www.sunrisemedical.com/media/product_media/mpd_seating/US_print_media_literature/JAY_Price_List_111308_v2_m56577569830557915.pdf. They say a 'base wedge' costs $82 - see p15.) The order code is in the "Foam Positioning Devices" section and is B114. "4cm base wedge" ("For adding posterior, anterior or lateral wedging under cushions.") Contact your local rep or Sunrise Medical Direct and ask them.

They say the 'base wedge' is for the Jay J2 or Jay J2 Deep Contour cushions BUT you DO NOT need to use a Jay cushion to benefit from a Jay Base Wedge if you need more 'bucket'/'dump'. (Interestingly, Sunrise Medical used to say the "Base Wedge" was compatible with more of their cushions.) It may not work with all cushions. (It won't work if the base is contoured/curved).

There may be other places which do hard wedges that you can put under your cushion to increase the bucket/dump so have a look round. (There is a disadvantage to doing it this way instead of having a chair that either has the amount of bucket/dump you need or can be adjusted - if you add a wedge under your cushion, you then have to get up higher to sit on the cushion, your knees may be too high to go under a table (as mine are with my rubbish Bromakin chair which was built too flat - the wedge makes my knees too high to fit me & my chair under most tables!) and you may find that your footplate(s) are not in the correct place (I have to use a webbing strap to hold my feet as my chair was built wrongly and with needing the wedge, my knees are higher because of the wedge so, naturally, my feet need to be higher up too.)

The only other option is to have a drop-seat attachment. Various companies do them at a variety of prices. I don't know which is the lightest. As chairs vary (including placement of seat rails/cross rails etc), it may be that some don't fit a particular chair - this is only supposition as I've not actually used one myself - this is only from looking at catalogues/manuals. A drop-seat may be the best for some people as it is possible to change the angle of the seat (you don't have to lower the front end) - this option will alter the seat angle without necessarily raising the seat height. (I've been considering this to try to make my Bromakin chair more workable but a new chair was the only answer to give me a chair that meets my needs.)

There is not a single clear-cut answer - different things will suit different people. Ask companies to try things (you can't lose by asking) and find the best answer for you. A wedge/drop-seat is definitely cheaper than a new chair in the shorter term!

Hope you find a solution!

Best wishes,
Cat

Thanks for the tip, I hadnt even thought of adding a wedge for that direction. I have a Jay Xtreme on my day chair and it came with abductor wedges which I dont use. Although they wouldnt work cause there would be a gap in between my legs causing them to fall in, I can maybe fashion something up myself as there are pouches to put something under neath too. My boyfriend recently bought some foam to use for a seat in his hunting stand so there is some extra around here that I can play around with too. The formation of the cushion along gives me less than an inch I would guess (although not sure how far I sink into the gel padding in the rear) but this is a great tip. My footrest is adjustable so no issues there. Knee height might be an issue so I will have to play around a bit. Thanks for the simple tip that 2yrs in this same chair I never even thought of.

Have you tired adjsuting the seat sling? Not sure if Jay cushions would like it though, they're a bit hard.
I create the £200 optional extra "ergo seat" on my chair my keeping the front of the sling tight, and adjusting the back of it so theres some dump in the sling, just on the last two adjusters. I use a roho cushion though, and it forms to it nicely. Keeps my hips from splaying outwards, thus keeping my knees togtheter too.

I dont have an adjustable tension seat sling so there isnt a lot of adjustment ability to begin with. I did try to adjust it but it didnt sit right with my cushion and was worried about pressure sores too cause I wasnt sitting in the cushion as designed as it created more pressure around the sit bones area it seemed like. Not a lot but I think we all know that even things that are minor can be more of an issue that it seems.

QUOTE (gsp23 @ Nov 25 2008, 05:14 PM)

QUOTE (Bagpuss-wheels @ Nov 24 2008, 09:36 PM)

Have you thought of adding a hard wedge under your cushion to increase the angle?

Thanks for the tip, I hadnt even thought of adding a wedge for that direction. I have a Jay Xtreme on my day chair and it came with abductor wedges which I dont use. Although they wouldnt work cause there would be a gap in between my legs causing them to fall in, I can maybe fashion something up myself as there are pouches to put something under neath too. My boyfriend recently bought some foam to use for a seat in his hunting stand so there is some extra around here that I can play around with too. The formation of the cushion along gives me less than an inch I would guess (although not sure how far I sink into the gel padding in the rear) but this is a great tip. My footrest is adjustable so no issues there. Knee height might be an issue so I will have to play around a bit. Thanks for the simple tip that 2yrs in this same chair I never even thought of.

Hi

Glad to be of help!

Even a 'softer' foam would still give a 'wedge' if put in the right way - you may even be able to use a combination of the abductor wedges and a softer foam to do what you need. When I had a grotty foam cushion from 'Wheelchair Services', after a while, it 'died' of old age and I built it back up by putting more foam under both the front and the side (I have scoliosis and so have to have the cushion higher on one side than the other.), they had to sort me out with the Jay Base wedge. I couldn't adjust the seat sling as I needed to have a flat firm base and a base board was replaced by the Jay Base Wedge. It was when I finally got a Roho Quadtro that the peops at wheelchair services decided that I still needed the wedge as well.

If your frame will take it without putting the wheel angle out, you could always see if you could put a 'washer' between your castor housing and the frame. Because my current rubbish Bromakin chair was built too flat (almost horizontal instead of at least 3 inches of 'dump'/'bucket'), they put a 1.5cm 'washer' between the frame and the castor housing. You have to be careful because it can make the castor housing too angled for it to swivel properly but it's another thought. (I presume you've either got the maximum castor size or you don't want anything bigger) A washer (even if it is not very big) may help too. (Again it will raise your knee height but if it helps it's a toss-up as to which is the worst of the two. (At least if you need to get under a lower table, you can drop your feet off the footplate for a short time if need-be whereas if you are sitting uncomfortably all the time, it can be both uncomfortable and become a physical strain.)

In the end, it all adds up!

The attached photo shows the lower portion of my Bromakin chair - if you look closely, the washers are do not have as great a diameter as the frame. You can also see the wedge (covered in a black cover) underneath the foam carved cushion (covered in a light-blue cotton Jersey pillow-case). You can also see my feet on the strap above the footplate - my chair wasn't built with enough adjustability in the footplate.

Hope you find a solution which solves your problems.

Best wishes,
Cat

I dont really want to mess around with the casters as you have mentioned as I would like to ensure they have the same angle and with Frog Legs like I have then I dont think it would work nearly as well as designed. The foam though was a good idea and I have added some underneath my cushion. Does seem to help a bit so that was a good tip.

my chair had quite a lot of dump in rehab, but i've managed to keep to the routine fairly well since.

QUOTE (gsp23 @ Dec 1 2008, 04:18 PM)

I dont really want to mess around with the casters as you have mentioned as I would like to ensure they have the same angle and with Frog Legs like I have then I dont think it would work nearly as well as designed. The foam though was a good idea and I have added some underneath my cushion. Does seem to help a bit so that was a good tip.

Glad the foam has helped s bit!


I personally wouldn't want to try doing anything to the chair myself but thought I'd mention about what I had to have done to the castor housing/fork on my current chair. It may work for someone else.

I can't wait until it my current chair is relegated to 'spare' as I'm in the process of trying to get a new one. I discovered that I've got 4 inches of bucket on my seat but if you include the wedge which the OTs said I have to have, I have a grand total of 5 inches of bucket. If I have less, I end up unable to hold myself up and, as I don't really want to have to have a strap or harness, 5 inches suits me. I also find that if I am sat 'flatter', I swell up from my knees to my ankles and it is painful. Also, sitting flatter makes my back hurt like stink too. I know that having so much bucket seems to be unusual but it seems to work for me. My new chair should enable me to sit more comfortably and I really want to do away with the wedge (but keep the same equivalent amoutnt of bucket it gave me) as I want to reduce the weight. (I'm having frogs on the new chair too - I'm hoping that they will give me a smoother ride.)

Best wishes,
Cat x