Getting Out and About Again: A Spring Mobility Checklist

A Mobility Plus guide, family-run and Kiwi-owned since 2005.

Quick answer: Before your first proper outing of spring, check five things: the rubber tip on your walking stick, the brakes and tyres on your rollator, whether your wheels suit footpaths and grass rather than carpet, how you will manage a longer day out, and how the equipment gets in and out of the car. Most of it takes ten minutes. A worn cane tip alone costs $9.95 to fix and is one of the most common causes of a slip we hear about.

It is the first week of September and the days are finally getting longer. After a winter of short trips between the car and the front door, this is the time of year the phone starts ringing about markets, grandchildren's sports, the beach, and the first proper walk in months.

Equipment that has been sitting in a cold shed or a damp garage since May is not always in the state you left it. Here is what we suggest running through.

1. Check the tip on your walking stick

This is the one people skip, and it is the one that matters most.

The rubber ferrule on the bottom of a walking stick is a wear item, like a tyre. It works because the tread grips and because the rubber is soft enough to deform slightly against the ground. Once the tread has worn smooth, or the rubber has gone hard and shiny, it stops gripping. On a wet footpath or a damp wooden deck, that is a genuine slip risk.

How to check it. Turn the stick upside down. If the base is worn flat and smooth, or worn away on one side, or you can see the metal insert through the bottom, it needs replacing. If the rubber has gone hard and does not give at all when you press it with a thumbnail, replace it even if the tread looks intact. Rubber ages.

Replacement is a two minute job with no tools. Measure the diameter of your stick's shaft first, because tips are not one size. Our rubber replacement cane tips are $9.95 and come in 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20mm to suit canes, walking sticks and trekking poles. If your stick takes a fair bit of weight, the hard-wearing tip with a metal insert at $9.95 lasts longer because the insert stops the ferrule chewing through.

Two others worth knowing about. The weighted self-standing foot at $29.95 lets the stick stand up on its own instead of clattering to the floor in a cafe, which is a small thing that stops a lot of bending down. And if you use hiking poles for stability on tracks, the rubber ferrule for hiking poles and sticks is $9.95.

Buy two while you are at it. They are ten dollars and the spare means you never walk on a worn one.

2. Check your rollator brakes and tyres

Cable brakes stretch over time and damp storage does not help. Give yourself five minutes in the driveway.

• Squeeze both brake levers. They should firm up well before they touch the handgrip. If a lever pulls all the way in, the cable needs adjusting.
• Push the frame forward with both levers squeezed. The rear wheels should not turn.
• Push both levers down into the park position. You should hear or feel them click, and the frame should not move at all when you push it. This is the position you rely on every time you sit on the seat, so test it properly.
• Spin each wheel by hand. Listen for grit and look for a wheel that wobbles on its axle. Grit in a bearing after a winter in the shed is common and worth cleaning out.
• Look at the tyre tread. Solid tyres wear flat on one side if the frame has been leaning in storage. Pneumatic tyres lose pressure just sitting there.

If you have the Freiheit Freedom Stroller XC, its 12 inch pneumatic tyres want 30 to 50 PSI. Check them with a gauge rather than a thumb. Soft tyres make the frame feel heavy and vague, and people often assume the frame has worn out when it just needs air.

Also check the fabric. Seat slings and under-seat bags go mouldy in a damp garage. A replacement under-seat bag for a Mobilis walker is $49.95 rather than a whole new frame.

3. Is your walker right for footpaths, grass and the beach?

This is the one that quietly ruins outings. A frame that has been perfect on carpet and vinyl all winter can be close to useless on a grass verge.

Wheel diameter is what does the work. A small wheel drops into every crack, catches on every lip, and stops dead in gravel. A bigger wheel rolls over the same obstacle without you noticing. That is nearly the whole story.

The honest trade-off: the XC is the one that will get you across the lawn to the deck chair, and it is also the heaviest at 9.1kg and the one you will notice most lifting into the boot. It folds to 27cm wide despite the big wheels, and its seat sits at 61cm which is higher and easier to get off. If lifting is the problem rather than the terrain, the carbon fibre X4 at 6.7kg is the easier chair to live with, and its 9 inch wheels still handle a normal footpath well.

Sand is its own category. No walking frame we sell handles soft dry sand, and we would rather say so than sell you one that disappoints. Firm wet sand below the tide line is manageable with 12 inch pneumatic tyres. Dry sand above it is not.

The full range is in all-terrain walking frames and walking frames and rollators.

4. Would a transit wheelchair make longer days possible?

This is the conversation we have most often in spring, and it usually starts with somebody saying they had to turn back.

A transit wheelchair is not a replacement for walking. It is a way of making the distance stop being the deciding factor. Plenty of our customers walk with a stick or a rollator for most of the day and use a transit chair for the long bit: the botanic gardens, the airport, a market, a wedding, the school gala. The chair goes in the boot and comes out when it is needed.

Transit chairs have small rear wheels and are pushed by somebody else. That is what makes them light and compact. If the person needs to propel themselves, you want a self-propelled chair instead, and there is a full comparison in our transit vs self-propelled guide.

Two things to weigh up. Weight capacity and seat width are separate numbers, so check both. And the lightest chair is not automatically the right one: the Goldfern at 9.6kg is the easiest to lift, but it is rated to 100kg, where the $279 chair takes 136kg and weighs two kilos more. Whoever is doing the lifting should be part of that decision.

One caveat on the $279 chair, because it matters outdoors: it has wheel-lock parking brakes but no attendant brakes on the push handles. That makes it fine on flat ground and gentle slopes, and not the right chair for a hilly park. Ring us if there are hills involved.

The full range is in transit wheelchairs. We also hire wheelchairs and walkers across the North Island, which is worth knowing if you only need one for a single weekend.

5. Plan for sun, water and somewhere to sit

New Zealand spring sun catches people out. The temperature says September, the UV index says otherwise, and a lot of the people we deal with are on medication that makes skin burn faster or makes dehydration hit harder.

The practical version:

• Hat and sunscreen even on a cool day. Cloud does very little.
• Take water with you rather than planning to buy some. A rollator with a seat and a bag carries it easily.
• Plan the route around where you can sit down, not around the distance. Knowing there is a bench at the halfway point changes what feels possible.
• Go earlier in the day. Energy and balance are both usually better in the morning.
• Tell somebody where you are going and roughly when you will be back.

If your walking stick is your main aid and there is nowhere to sit on your route, the Deluxe Walking Stick with Seat at $79.95 is a cane and a folding seat in one. It is not a comfortable chair and it does not pretend to be. It is somewhere to sit for three minutes when you need three minutes, and that is often the whole difference between getting out and not bothering.

For carrying things, the wheelchair accessory bag is $135.95, and the extra-large 48 litre scooter backpack at $179.95 fits a jacket, a thermos and the shopping without anything ending up on your lap.

6. How will the equipment get in and out of the car?

Half the outings that do not happen fail at the car, not on the walk.

Work out in the driveway, before the day itself, exactly how it goes. Who lifts the frame. Which way it folds. Whether the boot lip is higher than you remember. It is much better to discover a problem at home than in a carpark with people waiting.

Three small things solve most of it:

• The car exit bar at $34.95 slots into the door striker and gives you a solid handle to push up from. It is one of our best sellers, and at that price it is the cheapest useful thing on this page.
• The swivel seat cushion at $79.95 lets you turn to face out of the car in one movement instead of shuffling round, which takes a lot of strain off hips and knees.
• The Easy Reach seatbelt grabber at $19.95 saves the twist and reach over your shoulder.

If lifting the frame is the sticking point, that is a reason to look at a lighter one rather than to stay home. Two kilos sounds like nothing on paper and is very obvious at chest height.

7. If you are on a scooter, think about being seen

Longer days mean more time out on shared paths and more traffic around you. Scooters sit low and drivers do not always pick them up.

A safety flag is $28.95 and is the single cheapest visibility upgrade there is. A hi-viz headrest cover at $37.95 and a hi-viz heavy duty basket cover at $59.95 do the same job from front and back.

Spring weather in New Zealand does not commit to anything, so a wet weather poncho at $74.95 is worth having under the seat, and a universal windshield at $99.95 takes the edge off a cold headwind. Check your batteries and charger too. Batteries that sat unused all winter often do not hold what they used to.

Frequently asked questions

How often should you replace a walking stick tip?

Check it monthly and replace it as soon as the tread is worn smooth, worn away on one side, or the metal insert is showing through. For daily use that is usually every six to twelve months. Also replace it if the rubber has gone hard and shiny, because aged rubber loses grip even with tread left on it.

What is a ferrule on a walking stick?

The ferrule is the rubber tip on the bottom of the stick. It grips the ground and absorbs a little shock as you plant the stick. It is a consumable part, like a shoe sole. Ferrules come in different diameters, commonly 10 to 20mm, so measure the shaft of your stick before ordering a replacement.

How do I check my rollator brakes are working?

Squeeze both levers. They should firm up well before touching the handgrip, and the rear wheels should not turn while you push the frame. Then push both levers down into the park position and try to push the frame again. It should not move at all. If a lever pulls all the way in, the cable needs adjusting.

What size wheels do I need on a walker for grass and gravel?

For footpaths, 8 inch wheels are fine. For light gravel and short grass, 9 inch is noticeably better. For real grass, bark chip, gravel drives and rough ground, you want 12 inch pneumatic tyres. The trade-off is weight: a 12 inch frame is around 9kg against 6 to 7kg for a footpath rollator.

Can a rollator be used on the beach?

On firm wet sand below the tide line, a frame with 12 inch pneumatic tyres will usually manage. On soft dry sand, no frame we sell will work, and pushing one through it is exhausting and unsafe. For beach outings, a transit wheelchair pushed by somebody else is generally the more realistic option.

What is the difference between a transit and a travel wheelchair?

Transit describes how it is driven: small rear wheels, pushed by an attendant rather than self-propelled. Travel usually just describes a chair that is light and folds small, and most travel chairs are transit chairs. The numbers that actually matter are the chair weight, the folded width and the seat width.

How heavy is a transit wheelchair to lift into a car?

The ones we stock range from 9.6kg to 16.6kg. Around 10kg is manageable for most people lifting into a boot. Above about 14kg it becomes a two-handed job with a straight back, and it is worth thinking about who will be doing the lifting several times in a day before choosing on price alone.

Do you deliver mobility equipment across New Zealand?

Yes, we deliver NZ-wide and delivery is free on most of the range. Our Putaruru showroom is open by appointment if you would like to try something first, and we hire wheelchairs, walkers and lift chairs across the North Island if you only need equipment for a weekend or a holiday.

Ring us if you are not sure

None of this needs to be complicated. If you tell us where you are trying to get to, we can usually tell you in two minutes whether what you already own will manage it, or whether a $9.95 tip will fix it, or whether it is genuinely time for something different.

Call Kellie on 022 022 9956 or email info@mobilityplus.co.nz. A real person answers, and we will happily tell you to keep what you have got.

Enjoy the longer days. That is rather the point of all of it.

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