FYI - Specs for my new chair

[chasmengr]

Thank you everyone who responded to my questions. You really helped!!

This is my first owned chair, so it's adjustable. (My borrowed Q2 doesn't adjust to the settings I think I want.) I chose aluminum over titanium because I've read aluminum does wear out, and it's stiffer. In five years or so I should have all my settings dialed in, then I may seek a fixed, titanium, modified-box frame (e.g., TiLite TR). I got an L-frame this time, and I've sensed that an L-frame titanium chair might be too flexible. And the published base weights of the AeroZ and ZRA are only 2# apart; Plus I can stand up and walk a little to lift the chair.

And for those of you that like Too Much Information, the specs follow:

• TiLite AeroZ

• 17”x16” seat w/standard taper w/ solid aluminum seat pan.
• Invacare InTouch Stabilite Gentle Contour cushion <3” thick compressed> (VA recommended – I sat on one, and it's really comfortable.) - ordered separately
• FSH (with / without cushion) = 20.5 / 17.5 (requested adjustable range 17.5-18.5)
• RSH = 18 / 15 (range 15-17)
• Front angle = 80
• Seat to footrest = 18 /15 (range 13.5-16.5 – TiLite customer service said 3” range exists.)
• 3.5 front-end taper = 11” footrest width.
• Flip-back Footrest (so I can stand up easier)
• Folding, adjustable height (14”), adjustable-angle (92 deg), lock-when-folded, aluminum seat back with standard-height, 4”-deep rigidizer bar, integral push handles, and velcro adjustable upholstery.
• COG = 3
• rear-wheel spacing = 3/4” (extra spacers requested)
• camber = 2 degrees
• Front caster 6x1.25 silver aluminum with soft-roll tire
• 24” standard Spinergy wire wheel. (I have bursitis in both shoulders, so likelihood of retrofitting power assist is high. Why spend the money on LX?)
• SS QR axles
• Spartech, black, non-marring, solid, treaded rear tires (VA recommended) Are these the Spartech/Alshin Shox?
• Hand-rim = Natural-Fit Super Grip (I tried these out at a DME awhile back, and loved them.)
• Wheel locks = D's Locks - ordered separately
• Fold-down, rigid, aluminum standard side guards
• Swing-away tubular armrest with Ultrasuede (I didn't ask for them, but DME suggested it's easier to buy them now than later)
• User-friendly anti-tips (my vanity doesn't like anti-tips, but they're better than a trip to the ER – with MS I have minor hand tremors and dysmetria)
• Impact guards
• several Ti storage products
• color = midnight blue pearl and (if VA buys – which I doubt) Sapphire anodized package and navy blue upholstery

• Overall chair length from my trig-based calculations (some SWAGs involved) = 32.5” back-of-rear-tire to front-of-front-angle
• Overall width (TiLite spreadsheet) = 25-9/16 (+/-3/8) (Natural-Fit claims no added width)
• My specs: 68", 200#, MS with C7 & T7 lesions incomplete

There you have it. Now I need to find something else to obsess over.
Oh wait, my wife and I are house hunting!

Thanks for all your help. Now the waiting begins (CAD sign off & 4-6 weeks?) . . .


Chas

[SCI_OTR]

Originally Posted by chasmengr

• color = midnight blue pearl and (if VA buys – which I doubt) Sapphire anodized package and navy blue upholstery

Thanks for all your help. Now the waiting begins (CAD sign off & 4-6 weeks?)

Chas

What do have doubts about the VA purchasing?

[chasmengr]

Originally Posted by SCI_OTR

What do have doubts about the VA purchasing?

Because the fitting VA staff told me that VA typically doesn't pay for added-cost color choices. And that's ok with me. If I were paying out of pocket, I wouldn't pay. They bought everything else I wanted.

Chas

[SCI_OTR]

Originally Posted by chasmengr

Because the fitting VA staff told me that VA typically doesn't pay for added-cost color choices. And that's ok with me. If I were paying out of pocket, I wouldn't pay. They bought everything else I wanted.

Chas

Per VHA Handbook 1173.06 Wheelchairs And Special Mobility Aids...

Unless it is contraindicated by the veteran’s size, physical condition, or medical condition, beneficiaries who are permanently confined to a wheelchair are to be given a choice of style and colors of wheelchairs available, including the choice of manufacturer, under existing VA contracts.

[chasmengr]

SCI_OTR, the added colors would be nice, but I am not one to make waves when everything else is going so smoothly. I made my color requests; the order form from which they're working has my color choices marked. If my color choices get overridden along the way, oh well . . . Like I said, I wouldn't pay extra for them out of my own pocket. Proper fit & function are supremely more important to me than than trim colors (I am getting the frame color I want).

To me arguing over trim-color payment is worth neither the risk of slowing the ordering process nor tainting the fabulous relationship I currently have with the staff.

I remain supremely grateful to the quality of care I'm getting from Omaha VA. I was enlisted only four years, never left the states, and have no service-connected injuries. I am blessed.

Thanks for the link, quote, and comments.

Chas