Low Budget Four Wheel Drive Wheelchair

     Here is a short video that shows how we took a Quickie P 300 power wheelchair and converted it into a four-wheel-drive power wheelchair. The total cost was a little over $100. One of the problems I've always found was wanting to go outdoors more, but there were very few wilderness locations that were wheelchair accessible. Inevitably when I did find a place with fishing opportunities that was wheelchair accessible it would be very crowded with people and not so crowded with fish. This new four-wheel-drive wheelchair has opened up the world, and I'm having to rethink about the areas that are possible for me to get to. I can see now that the streams in the mountains will be accessible for fly fishing, and trails in the forests will be possible for bow hunting. In the past I have been to several beaches, but found out that my power chair would get stuck so they were inaccessible to me. Now this chair has proven that it can go through soft sand without any trouble, these areas are all going to be open to me! If you are like most people in wheelchairs and have a handyman in your back pocket, it really wasn't that difficult to build this thing and it only took my friend Garnet MacDonald about a week to do! Let me know if you want any better pictures or info on how this was built.

Easy Wild Game Roast Recipe

Easy Wild Game Roast Recipe

New Toy: Barnett Ghost 400

Quadriplegic Bowhunting

     Okay, now we're in the middle of winter and cabin fever is starting to settle in. It is time to start looking forward to the warmer weather that's coming. Up here in Canada winters are quite long and in my situation I need to stay warm, so barring being able to go south for the winter it is time to work on things that are indoors. Luckily a new toy arrived the other day!
    
     Deer hunting season around here only runs during November, which is one of our coldest months. Often times by the end of November I can't get outside very much (us quadriplegics are cold-blooded ) so I try to get most of my deer hunting in the beginning of November. If you are a bow-hunter you can start hunting big game in the first week of September while it's still warm outside. So my goal by this fall is to be shooting very well with the crossbow (people with disabilities can hunt with a crossbow up here ) by then, hence my new toy.

     The Barnett Ghost 400 should be able to fit the bill. It will fire a crossbow bolt at about 400 ft./s, and with the optional crank to load it, I should be able to get lots of target practise before the season starts. It only took about an hour to put it all together and mounted on my wheelchair, the next phase of it is to install the trigger pulling device that I clamp with my teeth. It appears that the crossbow will accept this adaptation very easily, so long before the winter is done I should be ready to get out and fire some bolts.

     Can't wait until spring, This is going to be fun!

Quadriplegic Soaring Free: Cowley Soaring Camp With CuNim

as published in Abilities Magazine
by Kary Wright

     The beautiful blue water of the Oldman Dam fills the windscreen, as we head South-East. To the left is the rolling Porcupine Hills, and on the right the Rocky Mountains shine in the sunlight, forming a chain that extends down into Montana. It's a warm July day and I'm soaking up the view.
“Let's turn downwind,”says Phil Stade from the back seat of the two-seat high performance glider. I move the stick to the right and the glider gently banks. As the Livingstone Range comes into view to the West I'm once-again awestruck by this incredible mountain scenery. I fly the glider parallel to the runway, setting us up for a landing.

Quadriplegic Deer Hunting

This story was published in Alberta Outdoorsmen in April 2010

Super Day!

“Click ... click!”

”Click.”

“Sh--!“

“Click ... click, clickety click!“

David immediately stops in his tracks and freezes. He knows the distinctive sound of electric wheelchair brakes disengaging and re-engaging, and is likewise familiar with the obligatory cussing. Nothing gets your undivided attention like the thought of a quadriplegic nearby, clumsily manoeuvring an electric wheelchair about in a confined propane heated space with a  loaded 300 Winchester Magnum rifle attached ( I mean, what could possibly go wrong?), and it has David on high alert. This frantic movement can signal only one thing to him ( unless you consider the heater) … a deer has been spotted and his buddy is trying to take aim.

New Mobility: The magazine for active wheelchair users

View Soaring Article In New Mobility Magazine

Here is an article I wrote for New Mobility on one of my passions, flying gliders at the Edmonton Soaring Club in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. It shows how I get lifted out of my wheelchair and into the glider. I think that this is a sport almost anybody can enjoy!

Quadriplegic Lifestyles: Glider Pilot

One of my passions is flying gliders. Here is a video that shows how a quadriplegic can get into and actually fly a glider. This was shot at the Edmonton Soaring Club near Edmonton Alberta, Canada.