One of the experiences I most missed when I had to make the transition from crutches to a wheelchair was hiking. There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by the natural landscape, whether it’s forest, field or mountainside, far from the noise of cars.

I am a fairly strong person, and I have a good chair, but I quickly found that my equipment was woefully inadequate on any unpaved terrain. I also didn’t have thousands of dollars to plunk down for a purpose-built all-terrain wheelchair, so I started to do some research into alternatives.

One of the easiest (and least expensive) ways to get off the paved path is to install all-terrain rear wheels on your wheelchair. The standard 1 inch wheelchair tire sinks easily into grass and dirt and has a hard time gripping uneven surfaces like gravel. In this post I’ll talk a little bit about different all-terrain tires as well as offer some advice on casters that can complement rear wheels. Continue reading →