*Starting price as of 8/15/2017
If you are looking for a narrow wheelchair, your search ends here: this helpful guide will walk you through your options and help you make the best purchase for your needs. If you are looking to buy a manual wheelchair, please visit our wheelchair category.
The wheelchair width is a measurement people often don’t take the time to consider, but for anyone with narrow doorways and tight spaces in their home or facility, finding a narrow wheelchair is very important. After all, what’s the benefit of a mobility aid that doesn’t provide true mobility?
Besides for the obvious reason of fitting through narrow doorways, the overall width can also be an important consideration for transport and storage purposes.
The following is a guide to some of the most narrow manual wheelchairs available on the market today.
Narrowest Wheelchairs: 16″ Seat Width
- Cruiser X4 Lightweight Wheelchair: 23″ wide
- Blue Streak Wheelchair: 23″ wide
- Silver Sport Reclining Wheelchair: 23″ wide
The three narrowest manual wheelchairs are the Cruiser X4 Lightweight Wheelchair, Blue Streak Wheelchair and the Silver Sport Reclining Wheelchair. These three wheelchairs from Drive Medical offer a rim-to-rim width of only 23″ when you choose the 16″ seat width option.
Of these three options, the most lightweight wheelchair is the Cruiser X4, which weighs an incredible 32 lbs. However, many people prefer the Blue Streak Wheelchair since it’s durable, attractive and best of all, is the cheapest 23″ wide wheelchair.
The final option, the Silver Sport, is a fully reclining wheelchair that offers all the features of a regular reclining wheelchair without the extra bulk. However, keep in mind that if you are shopping specifically for reclining wheelchairs and can afford a little bit of a wider chair, there are several options to consider – see below for more details.
Narrowest Wheelchairs: 18″ Seat Width
- Silver Sport 1 Wheelchair: 24″ wide
- Blue Streak Wheelchair: 24″ wide
- Poly-Fly Two-in-One Wheelchair: 24.5″ wide
For users who need a slightly wider seat width, there are plenty of narrow options for the 18″ seat wheelchairs, as well.
At only 24″ wide at their widest points, the Silver Sport 1 Wheelchair and again, the Blue Streak Wheelchair, star as the narrowest 18″ wheelchairs available on the market. Another option is the Poly-Fly Two-in-One Wheelchair, which can be converted from a transport chair to a manual wheelchair by snapping on the included 24″ wheels, bringing the overall width to a relatively narrow 24.5 inches.
The Silver Sport 1 Wheelchair is the cheapest option, while the Poly-Fly Wheelchair provides the lightest weight, weighing only 34 pounds with the larger wheels attached.
Narrowest Wheelchairs: 20″ Seat Width
- Poly-Fly Two-in-One Wheelchair: 25.5″ wide
- Blue Streak Wheelchair: 26″ wide
- Cruiser X4 Lightweight Wheelchair: 27″ wide
For a 20″ seat width, the overall width of all wheelchairs is already coming close to 28 inches, the standard width of most doors. However, there are still some options that may work for you, including the Poly-Fly Two-in-One Wheelchair, the Blue Streak Wheelchair and the Cruiser X4 Lightweight Wheelchair.
Of these three options, the Blue Streak Wheelchair is the most affordable, but comes with the price tag of an extra 10 pounds of weight over the others, which both weigh a mere 36 pounds.
Narrowest Reclining Wheelchairs
- Silver Sport Reclining Wheelchair: 23″ wide
- Viper Plus GT Reclining Wheelchair: 24″ wide
- Excel Reclining Wheelchair: 24.5″ wide
Although we mentioned earlier that the Silver Sport is the narrowest reclining wheelchair, you may want to consider the Viper Plus GT Reclining Wheelchair by Drive, which is slightly wider but weighs a significant 12 pounds less than the Silver Sport. Another wheelchair to take into account is the Excel Reclining Wheelchair by Medline, which is the widest of the three options but possibly the lightest reclining wheelchair on the market, weighing in at only 44 lbs. (Keep in mind that these measurements are for the 16″ seat width option.)
Other Narrow Wheelchair Options
Manual wheelchairs are available in seat widths up to 30 inches, but the larger sizes have not been included in this guide since the narrowest 22″ wheelchair already has a wider overall width than the standard 28″ door width.
Even for the 16″ – 20″ seat widths, we’ve only included a small sampling of the many wheelchair options out there, so if you need something you can’t find here, such as a wider seat, a lighter chair or something else, give us a call at 1-877-813-7799 and we’ll be happy to help you find the perfect wheelchair for your individual needs.
