18 replies to this topic

[Scrappy]

So I'm just curious how many people take the breaks off their wheelchair and why. What do you benefit from doing it and how do you keep.from rolling away in.certain situations like on a slant or hill?

Take*

[trynity7]

i have never heard of this. i absolutely need mines. once i was at chuckee cheese and there was this little girl who kept grabbing ahold of my chair and pushing me around. she was so sweet and i was so embarrassed i kept telling her to please stop and she would not. i had to put the brakes on her. that is just one of my many uses for them

[Zack]

So I'm just curious how many people take the breaks off their wheelchair and why. What do you benefit from doing it and how do you keep.from rolling away in.certain situations like on a slant or hill?

Take*

Ok, Now you have me curious if Anyone even did, and what lead you to ask. Did you take yours off or ever meet someone who did? I've met hundreds of W/chair users and never met one who removed their Breaks!

[SequinScandal]

I actually seen a thread where someone wanted to not have breaks on their chair but their PT insisted so they gave in and got them. Honestly I can't see any reason to not have breaks on your chair no matter how advanced of a user you are you never know when you may need them.

[Scrappy]

So I'm just curious how many people take the breaks off their wheelchair and why. What do you benefit from doing it and how do you keep.from rolling away in.certain situations like on a slant or hill?

Take*

Ok, Now you have me curious if Anyone even did, and what lead you to ask. Did you take yours off or ever meet someone who did? I've met hundreds of W/chair users and never met one who removed their Breaks!

I've been curious since my accident 2 years ago when I was in a rehab center in reno, bc and a guy in a chair came in and talked to a couple of us there. The guy coached the wheelchair basketball team at UNR and he had no breaks and he showed me his vehicle and it was an excursion with hand controls and he got up with no breaks and took his chair apart, not to mention he was on a slanted parkinglot. And another guy I met that was on the basketball team and he also had no breaks and he drove a car. I asked him y he removed them and he said he can get longer strides without running your thumb into.the break (when u use the whole tire). I have removed them before and I understand how that is and the chair is a lil lighter. But I use my breaks quite a bit when I go workout. And I decided to post the ? Because I was adjusting my breaks

i have never heard of this. i absolutely need mines. once i was at chuckee cheese and there was this little girl who kept grabbing ahold of my chair and pushing me around. she was so sweet and i was so embarrassed i kept telling her to please stop and she would not. i had to put the brakes on her. that is just one of my many uses for them

Haha my nephews do that to me all the time and I have to put the breaks on them to haha..

[greybeard]

People have posted before that they used their chairs without brakes, but I can't remember their names. I must be getting old.

[nomis]

I suppose when you break your brakes they might as well be removed but mine haven't broken and I've still got and use them.

I've known many image-conscious paras who've removed their brakes but none that I'm currently in contact with. It'd be interesting to know if they replace them later in life when practicality is more important than image.

[Billyt]

The brakes on my first chair didn't work too well & needed constant adjustment, so I just got used to not using them & took them off. So went for 10 or so years & 2 chairs without brakes.

My last chair I was just going to order without again, but the salesperson insisted, only because they were free anyway & you can always take them off, so I went with his logic but rarely used them.

Most of the simple transfers I just see brakes as a safety blanket type thing, It feels like the chair will roll away, but you can hold it in place with the hand on the chair side. In some cases when i'm in a tight spot I feel its better to transfer without the brakes on, as I can push the chair away a little on the way over for leg clearance etc.

If i'm on a slope, i either position the chair sideways so it can't roll or just lean my elbows on the wheels. When I am transferring in/out of the car, if there is a slope, I always try to park the car facing down, so the chair can only roll into the door. If no other choice & have to face up a steep hill for the car transfer, that is the only time I will use the brake now (After having my chair roll off down a hill once when I got a bit snagged getting in the car & couldn't grab it in time :o )

I push with my palm/thumb on the tire, so smash my thumb on the normal push/pull type brakes, even if low mounted. I have long arms. The only practical brakes for me are the under seat type scissor lock brakes which are sometimes a pain to engage.

Well, now for years being in the "brakes are for whimps club", I am handing in my membership. A few months ago I was transferring off my ride-on mower, which is a bit of a long x-fer and landed a bit awkwardly on the front of the seat, pushing the chair away & landing on the concrete on my knee, fracturing my lower femur. If i took the 5-10 seconds to engage the damn brakes, I could have saved the last few months of recovery, including surgery, 2weeks in hospital & another month couped up in the house in a leg brace. Not to mention the ongoing complications this is going to cause.

So guys, learn to love your brakes. You might not need them 95% of the time, but the time you do could save you alot of hassle. Being paralysed is bad enough, you don't need extra complications added ontop of that, trust me.

[greybeard]

So guys, learn to love your brakes. You might not need them 95% of the time, but the time you do could save you alot of hassle. Being paralysed is bad enough, you don't need extra complications added ontop of that, trust me.

Good point and exactly the reason I still retain my anti-tips. At my age I'm not about to start kerb jumping anyway.

[Scrappy]

I suppose its just something you can get accustomed to. And whatever you feel more comfortable with..

[wheelie182]

The only time i use my brakes is when at the gym for the hand bike. Mine dont get in the way and dont exactly weigh much so it sounds silly to remove them.

[Ratticis]

Not in this house! I already go from the living room ti the kitchen if I sit still w/o them. The whole damn house is on an angle

[Tetracyclone]

Rat-
Yes! I just hate when I roll back from the dinner table just as I lift a spoonful of soup from the bowl...

[MTB John]

Not in this house! I already go from the living room ti the kitchen if I sit still w/o them. The whole damn house is on an angle

After the Christchurch earthquake I had the reverse problem. Really annoying when your trying to put a heavy pot on the bench.

I agree with BillyT - I think about taking them off every time I skin my knuckle on them and as soon as I lose about 10psi of tyre pressure they barely grip anyway. But they are useful at times, I throw my chair in the car whole so they do stop the chair rolling around in the back.

Edited by MTB John, 28 April 2012 - 03:31 AM.

[T A]

One of the first times across the grass I tore my thumb nail off on the standard brake when the wheel spun free because the anti-tip hit on the uneven surface....both the brakes and anti-tips were taken off - that was 22 years ago.

A bungee cord comes in handy for holding a chair while transferring in the truck, plus nothing gets caught on them when they aren’t there. Having the chair set up for your body also helps, I site low so I can use the tires for arm rest and my elbows for brakes

[IzzMonster]

I haven't had brakes on my chair for five years now. If I need to stop on a hill I turn myself sideways and if I'm on a flat area I stick the toe of my shoe right under one of my casters and that seems to work pretty well. Well, maybe not for my toes but I have a little extra room so I haven't hurt any of them yet and it keeps me from rolling away!
Everywhere I go though people ask me why I don't have brakes/why I don't use them but then again they also ask me why I don't have push handles. (because I don't need them and because when I had them people would grab me and push me around like a shopping cart)
I agree with the thumbs being ripped up issue, you should see the scars I have from my old scissor brakes. And like TA I sit low enough that my elbows work well for brakes.

[MarcosX]

i have never heard of this. i absolutely need mines. once i was at chuckee cheese and there was this little girl who kept grabbing ahold of my chair and pushing me around. she was so sweet and i was so embarrassed i kept telling her to please stop and she would not. i had to put the brakes on her. that is just one of my many uses for them

That is so cute, and funny. To the OP, I myself am also wondering if I should remove the brake assemblies off my chair as well. The chair just seems so light, as if I don't even need them but I suppose on situations just as listed above it would be necessary lol

[Scrappy]

One of the first times across the grass I tore my thumb nail off on the standard brake when the wheel spun free because the anti-tip hit on the uneven surface....both the brakes and anti-tips were taken off - that was 22 years ago.

A bungee cord comes in handy for holding a chair while transferring in the truck, plus nothing gets caught on them when they aren’t there. Having the chair set up for your body also helps, I site low so I can use the tires for arm rest and my elbows for brakes

Do you work out or go to the gym? If you do, do you use anything to stop you from moving? Thats the only time I really need my breaks

[megatrig]

^{This just goes back to us all being individuals as always!!!}

I know a lot of people who don't have brakes on their chairs or never put them on.

Personally I need them to transfer but other than that I hate having my brakes on as I like to just push and roll. maybe I am just "fidgetty"?? LOL