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Old 06-05-2014, 08:29 AM   #1
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Name: J Mac
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wheel chair camping

Just out of interest, is there a suitable trailer for the wheel chair bound?
What have you seen?
State and Provincial campgrounds all seem to be h'cap compliant however I have rarely, if ever, seen wheel chairs in campgrounds. Have you?
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Old 06-05-2014, 08:49 AM   #2
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I have never seen a wheelchair bound camper either, but hope some get out and around. Have never seen a HC trailer but did help a fellow remodel an older HC Motor Home once. My first thought when reading your post was one of those new Sprinter based motor homes set up for HC accessibility.
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Old 06-05-2014, 08:53 AM   #3
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I have seen persons with disabilities who are wheel chair dependent camping but it is often with a trailer such as a toy hauler which has the ramp at the rear. I am a volunteer with para alpine athletes and I know a number of them go camping often and they have toy haulers as well. I know one mentioned that they had a fairly large motorhome that has been extensively modified & has a hydraulic lift at the door. I saw a few of those while in Arizona & Calf. last winter.

Compliant sites are more often than not being used at campgrounds I have stayed at. It simple means that the site is located close to washrooms for those with a mobility issue, wheelchair dependent or not and that it has power for any medical equipment required - as you know campsite in BC Provincial parks with power are not all that common.
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Old 06-05-2014, 09:27 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by J Mac View Post
Just out of interest, is there a suitable trailer for the wheel chair bound?
What have you seen?
State and Provincial campgrounds all seem to be h'cap compliant however I have rarely, if ever, seen wheel chairs in campgrounds. Have you?
quick google search:

Wheelchair accessible motorhomes
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Old 06-05-2014, 09:29 AM   #5
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I was going to say, the toy hauler/camper combos would work well. I've also seen people using vans with lifts but they'd be too small for someone to actually use the wheelchair inside. There are also accessible tents.

I have seen people use yurts with ramps in wheelchairs.

My boy with a wheelchair appreciates the curb cuts and wide trails even if he doesn't qualify for the paved campsite.
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Old 06-05-2014, 09:33 AM   #6
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Accessible also doesn't just mean wheelchairs- a friend of mine uses a cane and does not do steps well- having a ramp is important to her, and a campsite without gravel would also help (some of our campsites in the state parks are paved instead of graveled for the ADA site.)
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Old 06-05-2014, 10:00 AM   #7
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I have seen a few wheelchaired men camping. They have always been in pop-ups where the entrance steps are folded under the camper and the person does a transfer from the chair to the camper floor.
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Old 06-05-2014, 10:10 AM   #8
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Wheelchair Camping

My best friend was quadriplegic wheel chair bound since an accident in her early 20's. We grew up together and like sisters. Love the outdoors, so being in a wheel chair did not stop us from doing what we loved.
She had a Battery operated outdoor chair. We had two ways of camping.
1. Sleep in the Van We made a platform bed in the back of her van also had a lifted portapotti on a frame she could transfer to.
2. Slept in the Pop Up on a lower bed. Just inside the door. She would pull up to door and I would pull her inside on a pillow and roll her into the lower bed. Porta potti set up next to her bed for easy transfer. I hunted for a long time to find one that the floor plan worked for us. When found bought it and we used it for over 16 years. Only after her passing did I sell it and buy the fiberglass trailer.
3. Outdoor activities Unlimited. Always had outside kitchen set up, I cooked she washed dishes and drank wine. sit around campfire laugh and drank wine. We'd get up early make coffee and go critter watching. same in the evenings, critter watch. I'd photograph them.
4. Parks with Rail Trails worked best. She could go about 11 miles on a charge down the trail, what works for a bike will work for a wheel chair. I rode my bike. Sometimes we did it like canoes with a put in and take out place, other times we doubled back.
5. ***Handicap sites***: Almost always were taken up by some idiot in a big Huge RV, (They are paved sites) by selfish people not handicap in any way. What we found was that any flat site worked just fine. Bathrooms must be accessible!!!! Accessible picnic tables and fire pits are a big plus but not absolutely necessary. We used a easy up Quest Shelter 12 x 12 with wind walls for outdoor huge room, she got around in it just fine.
6. WEST VIRGINIA STATE PARKS, congrats to them for all the efforts they have gone through to make their State Parks totally wheelchair accessible! Much better than Federal Parks hands down. We lived in Virginia and I haved camped all across the USA, and am very proud of WVA. We would stay a week in the fall there, sometimes got snowed on but were comfortable. *Electric a must* After she was in the camper I would back up her chair and set it up to recharge at night.
7. Dress for it, prepare for it. We also took the Manual chair in case the electric broke down. And two types of heaters, one in case we had no power.

Most people newly in wheel chairs are young, as a result of spinal cord injury...a lot of the time they were active people, thus the result of their activities. Just because you do not see wheelchair bound people when you camp does not mean they are not out there camping and doing other outdoor activities. My friend went river rafting, canoing, camping, did trails, para gliding, sit skiing, and had and raised two children after her accident successfully. Live life to the fullest! Her license plate said "Can Too" She was the exception, but please, do not put limits on the things people can do.

This was the last picture I took of her and miss her dearly to this day. There was no one I would rather spend time with outdoors than her.
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Old 06-05-2014, 10:44 AM   #9
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D Davis
Great story. I'm sorry about your friend. What a great friends you were to each other. BTW any chance you would have pictures of the van you ended up getting and using for 16 years?

KevinScamps
Thanks for the google search but I was thinking more of something in the $15,000.00 price bracket not the $200,000.00 price bracket.
Nice to know that the RV manufacturing people are including H'cap rigs in their inventory now.
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Old 06-05-2014, 11:35 AM   #10
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J Mac, She went through several Vans in the 16 years. Chevy worked best. She had a lift, and hand controls. If you are thinking of using a van to sleep in then try to find a lift that is unobtrusive on the interior. She finally went to the swing type where you connect the chair to an arm that swings out of the side sliding door and connected the chair to it. It took some getting use to but took up far less room and did not break down like the elevator types. The other thing about using a van to sleep in was while being easy for her to transfer to the bed in back from her chair, I could not stand up in there. It was not comfortable for me. I could not pack everything we needed to camp with, along with her stuff in there.
Mostly used the Pop up camper for sleeping as it was easier for her to transfer to the potti then to the low bed. And we could talk to each other at night and have separate beds. Also, because she would get cold easily, I could keep the pop up warm at all times no problem. Just much more comfortable for us than her sleeping in a van. The floor plan was the big thing, I knew what we needed and it took a lot of research to find a floor plan that would work. had to have a low bed, and wide doorway and wide floor space. Also consider the price, I paid $6,000 for the pop up new and used it 16 years. The cost of an RV was out of the question for me. We never missed out on anything not having an RV. If you can find accessible campground bathrooms, then that is the biggie, because even in an RV, transferring can be problematic.
I would always check out campgrounds first hand to see if they would work for her. Then if they did, it was a go. I could tell you the horror stories about Federal campgrounds I made reservations at by phone. They would tell me they were accessible...Even the Great Smoky Mt Campground here in the US was probably the worst...after a six month reservation and numerous calls, arriving to find, were they put us , she could not get into the bathroom!!!!! We gave our expensive tickets away and headed into the National Forest and had a great time.
The other thing about a site, they usually put handicap sites in a place you may not choose to camp. We liked more private natural sites, so if it was flat it was Okay with us.
I wish you all the best. Remember this, "Where there is a will, there is a way"! You can do this!
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Old 06-05-2014, 01:19 PM   #11
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J Mac, my older brother is close to wheel chair bound, and cannot get around without his scooter. He has a rig in the back of his Chrylser van that electrically/hydraulically extends out and down with his scooter, and when he is done, retracts right up back inside. I know they make stuff like this for wheelchairs, but I think it's pricey.

My brother hauls the Chrysler van behind their big motor home so he has transportation access whenever/wherever they stop.

Best of luck to you!

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Old 06-05-2014, 01:35 PM   #12
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Name: J Mac
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Thank you to all. I'm researching for a friend. Sorry for any confusion. My friend rapidly declined into a wheel chair and misses camping a great deal. Any and all input is fore worded to him.
Thanks
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Old 06-05-2014, 02:46 PM   #13
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Long ago in my youth, an older gentleman whom I had adopted as a surrogate Grandfather asked me to help him re-cut a dim and seriously overgrown road (trail) so an even older, old fellow getting near the end could get to back to a favored camp site from his youth. We chainsawed, hacked, and beat a lot of brush out of the way for him to get waaaayyyy back in the swamp to a campsite he remembered from 50-60 years before. It did not look like much to me but obviously meant a lot to him from the look on his face when we finally got him back there for a few days. The power of nature should never be underestimated. The force be with you.
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Old 06-05-2014, 02:51 PM   #14
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I bet you could get a Lil Snoozy customized. All it would need is possibly a wider door and a ramp. Ramp at the back makes it easier to do, and the layout should work as is.
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Old 06-05-2014, 06:43 PM   #15
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I was going to say, the toy hauler/camper combos would work well. I've also seen people using vans with lifts but they'd be too small for someone to actually use the wheelchair inside. There are also accessible tents.

I have seen people use yurts with ramps in wheelchairs.

My boy with a wheelchair appreciates the curb cuts and wide trails even if he doesn't qualify for the paved campsite.
He is a cute little guy for sure,looks like he has a good helper on those trails too.

You know you could always ask,you never know until you do.
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Old 06-05-2014, 08:09 PM   #16
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We saw a guy at Yellowstone camping in a converted box van - you know, like a delivery truck. I don't know who did the conversion, but he had windows cut in the sides and the entire back opened up like a toy hauler with a ramp so that he could roll his wheelchair in and out. It looked simple, not too expensive and very easy to use. We thought it was an ingenious solution.

When we were shopping for the motorhome that we had quite a few years ago, we looked at a rig (maybe 32' or so) that had a modified entry door with a wheel chair lift. The bathroom had been customized to be wheelchair accessible. There was no door to it, just a pull around curtain and it contained a toilet with grab bars, sink and shower with a seat and grab bars. A very nice rig, but I imagine it was pricey.
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Old 06-09-2014, 11:38 AM   #17
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If not so rare, I would recommend a Trillium Sportsman:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...-fl-46733.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...0-a-64478.html
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...man-57672.html
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Old 06-09-2014, 11:43 AM   #18
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I bet you could get a Lil Snoozy customized. All it would need is possibly a wider door and a ramp. Ramp at the back makes it easier to do, and the layout should work as is.
That is an excellent idea! Lil Snoozy might even consider a WC model, something the market could use? The camper would be perfect.

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Old 06-09-2014, 07:06 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Antonia View Post
I have seen a few wheelchaired men camping. They have always been in pop-ups where the entrance steps are folded under the camper and the person does a transfer from the chair to the camper floor.
I have friends, the husband is in a manual wheelchair and has developed awesome upper body strength. They had a motorhome fitted with a transfer lift chair at the regular entrance door. They hated it, because it was always breaking down. I told them about this site and they were ecstatic! They wanted to keep it simple so they bought a regular 13' Burro, minimally equipped, and towed it with a Subaru. The curved doorway of the 13' Burro made it easy for him to transfer from the chair to the floor in the doorway where he could pull himself up into the front dinette. (They made the rear dinette a permanent bed) With the small layout he could transfer to anywhere he wanted to be inside with a wheeled stool; His chair stayed outside. They used to tent camp before his accident, and they liked getting down to the simple things again.
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Old 06-09-2014, 07:48 PM   #20
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That is an excellent idea! Lil Snoozy might even consider a WC model, something the market could use? The camper would be perfect.

Frank
Actually, the video on the Lil Snoozy website says that they chose the door they use specifically because it is wide enough for an electric wheelchair to pass through. With a ramp, and the Snoozy's low floor height, it might work pretty well.
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