| Over
the course of 25 years as a wheelchair user, I’ve spent hundreds of
nights camping. I love the whole experience: campfires, hot coffee on
cold mornings, even the sound of rain pattering on the fly. But there
are parts of camping that are more of a pain than they need to be. | |
The
prime offender is the sleeping bag. Trying to zip up one up around a
spastic, paralyzed body with limited finger function? No thanks. I
choose to shimmy into an already-zipped bag, but that takes a few
minutes of wrestling, and then the hood is likely to be covering my
face. If I have to wake up to cath, it’s two more wrestling matches.
This is why I was intrigued by The North Face’s announcement of its Universal Collection of “inclusive outdoor gear, ” including the Universal One Sleeping Bag.
With a unique double wing design, it looks way easier to get into and
out of than a typical sleeping bag. The GIF showing how it opens is
mesmerizing. Instead of zippers it has magnetic closures that should
make getting opening or closing it a snap. Will it hold heat as well as
typical zippered bag? No idea, but given the level of thought North Face
put into the design, the chances seem good. | |
| Other items in the Universal Collection include the Universal Wawona 3 Tent,
which has a lowered threshold to make it easier to roll your wheelchair
into, a large vestibule to keep your chair out of the elements once
you’ve transferred out of it, and a few features like an attached
rainfly and easy-catch pole mounts designed to make setup easier. North
Face also released the Universal Daypack
with oversized zipper pull loops, a magnetic fastening top, a flat
bottom designed to keep the pack standing while you load it and webbing
straps made specifically to slide onto wheelchair backrest bars. | |
Everything
in the Universal Collection looks to have legitimately useful
accessibility features. “This is the first time we’re seeing
accessibility innovations starting with the adaptive community and
flowing up to everyone else, rather than the other way around, says
Maureen Beck, an adaptive rock climber on North Face’s athlete roster,
who helped in the design process. “The Universal Collection is proving
that designing for accessibility just makes better gear for everyone.”
Amen to that. Now, to get our floppy fingers on some demos for testing… | |
New "Not a Wheelchair" Offerings | |
In other outdoor product news, Not a Wheelchair, the mobility equipment manufacturer started by YouTubers Zack and Cambry Nelson, is about to release an update to its “The Rig” off road device. The Rig 2.0
has a variety of improvements over the previous models: an updated
suspension system, a seat with built in dump that should hold you in
place better and a fold down steering column that makes it easier to
transfer into.
The base model is two-wheel drive, starts at $5,999 and is now available
for preorder. They have also released a four-wheel-drive Big Rig
capable of handling much rougher terrain. Check out the video below for a
comparison of the two new rigs, along with a preview of the upcoming
“Giga Rig,” a super high torque model that can do things like climb a
flight of stairs with three adults riding on it. | |
| Not
as flashy, but equally helpful, Not a Wheelchair also offers manual
wheelchair accessories that will work on most manufacturers' chairs and
follow NAW's “solid quality at about half the price” business model. Wheelchair Armor
($29.99) is basically super durable, translucent vinyl stickers
designed to interlock and follow the contours of your wheelchair frame
to protect it from the dings and scratches of everyday life. Not a
Wheelchair’s wooden handrims feel nice on your hands and don’t transfer heat in cold weather like metal ones do. I tried a pair of Lignorim wooden handrims
back in 2023 and loved them so much I’m still using them. But Lignorims
start at $490 a pair and Not a Wheelchair sells theirs for $199.
Similarly, Not A Wheelchair offers aluminum scissor wheel locks for $90 that look identical to the ones I paid $150 for just a year or two ago. | |
A Bring-it-Yourself Aisel Chair | |
| Adaptive mountain bike company Bowhead has recently been expanding into everyday mobility products. Bowhead’s latest offering is the Nano Travel Chair.
The Nano is compact enough to serve as a light-weight shower chair or
an airplane aisle chair. It weighs less than 10lbs and quickly folds to
fit underneath your seat or in an overhead bin. You propel yourself by
pushing/pulling yourself on seats or other fixed objects. Because of the
balance and strength needed to transfer into it and move yourself
around, it’s likely better for paras or low quads with solid arm
strength. | |
| Like everything Bowhead, it’s a super functional design with high quality execution. The Nano is priced at $1,499 and Bowhead also sells a custom, shower-friendly cushion for $299, both of which are scheduled to start shipping in June. Stay tuned for our real-world review and video of the Nano. | |
(Slightly) Updated TiLites and Easy-Adjust Brakes | |
In March, Permobil announced its new versions of their flagship titanium manual wheelchairs, the ZR and the TR.
The updates are around the edges, with aesthetic and component changes,
including “redesigned machined caster bullets, slimmer fork caps, and
streamlined CoG systems.” I use a TiLite TR myself, and I’ve never been
one to worry over the girth of my fork caps, but I guess incremental
improvements do add up. TiLite says there's a 13% weight reduction on
the TR and a 6% weight reduction on the monotube ZR.
Doug Garven, a manual wheelchair user and product manager for TiLite
says that “When we were designing the new iteration of the TR and ZR, we
were always thinking about ways to cut weight and make the geometry as
compact as possible. I feel confident that we’ve achieved that.” | |
| Lastly, Hands on Concepts,
the company that makes super-bespoke titanium wheelchairs, released
“Quick-Turn Brakes.” The innovation is that you can quickly adjust the
brake position with a turn of a knob. Anyone who switches between on-
and off-road wheels — or just gets annoyed when you have mushy brakes
because you’ve lost air pressure in your tires — knows how nice it would
be to not have to reposition the whole mechanism with an Allen wrench. | |
| They are available in Scissor or Push-to-Lock styles for $325 from the Hands on Concepts store, or you can buy just the posts for $175 and bolt on your existing aluminum wheel locks. | | |
