Gutter Frames & Forearm Support Walkers

A gutter frame — also called a gutter walker, forearm support walker or arthritic walking frame — carries your weight through padded forearm troughs instead of your hands and wrists. You rest your forearms in the gutters, hold the upright grips lightly, and the frame takes the load a standard walker would put through your hands.

That makes a gutter frame the usual choice when gripping a normal handle is painful or unreliable: arthritis in the hands or wrists, a weak grip, recovery after a stroke, or rehab where an occupational therapist or physio wants weight kept off the hands.

How to choose a gutter frame

• Trough height — stand upright, shoulders relaxed, elbows bent to about a right angle. The troughs should meet your forearms there. Check each frame's adjustable range against that measurement.
• Brakes — wheeled frames such as the Pacer Gutter Walking Frame have handbrakes for footpaths and slopes.
• Only one hand that works? — after a stroke, a single brake lever that stops both wheels lets you control the frame one-handed. Choose the left-hand lever or right-hand lever Super Stroller gutter frame to match your stronger hand. Made to order.
• Weight capacity — up to 180kg on the X-Fold PLUS with Gutter Arm Kit.
• Folding for the car — the X-Fold with Gutter Arm Kit and the Sanson Gutter Walker both fold.

Need forearm support but not a full frame? Gutter crutches give the same trough support in a crutch.

Gutter frames are often recommended by an occupational therapist, and we prepare quotes for OTs, Enable, ACC and WINZ. Not sure which is right for you or your whānau? Read our free Walker Buying Guide — plain-language help choosing, or call Kellie and the team before you buy.

Most orders are dispatched within 1 working day with fast NZ-wide delivery; made-to-order frames take longer, and the lead time is shown on each product. You can also browse the full walker and rollator range or compare walkers side by side.