LapStacker Flex
So often in life, it’s the little things that add up and make — or break — your day.
That might be some of the wisdom behind LapStacker, a “click-and-go” wheelchair carry system that uses retractable straps, magnetic buckles and finger loops to secure a wide range of objects on the laps of power and manual wheelchair riders.
Manufactured in New Zealand by Adaptdefy, LapStacker is the result of a collaboration between Mike Brown — who sustained a T10 spinal cord injury in 2012 — and award-winning designer Tim Cox, who set out to solve that everyday problem of efficiently securing items on wheelchair riders’ laps. The first prototype of LapStacker was completed in 2018; then testing began. That was followed by R&D work, a Kickstarter funding campaign, and in 2020, the production of LapStacker 1.0 for manual wheelchairs.
Those systems were distributed to Kickstarter backers, and word of mouth began, even as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. By 2021, Adaptdefy was producing LapStacker XD, designed for power chairs with a T-slot seat base; in 2022, Adaptdefy delivered LapStacker XD for Permobil, Quantum Rehab, and Sunrise Medical power chairs.
That was followed in 2023 by the LapStacker Flex, described by Adaptdefy as “completely redesigned to make it lighter, easier to install, easier to buy, and easier to use.”
“With its tensioned, retractable, straps, LapStacker is simple and intuitive to both install and use,” the Adaptdefy website said. “You pull the straps over the item(s) you’re carrying, clip the magnetic assist buckles together and roll with confidence. When not in use, it tucks away discretely by your side.”
LapStacker’s finger loop makes the system easy to use, even for wheelchair riders with limited hand function.
Finger loops help wheelchair riders — even those with limited hand function — to pull the straps over their laps. “Also, the buckles have a built-in magnet that guides the two sides together, so all you have to do is get them close and they’ll join like magic,” the company added.
Those magnets can additionally help a wheelchair rider to use LapStacker with just one hand, by pulling the first strap across the lap, grabbing the second strap, and then allowing the magnetic buckles to come together.
Lapstacker Flex, for manual rigid and folding wheelchairs, weighs approximately 11 ounces (300g), or “less than a can of soda,” as Adaptdefy pointed out. LapStacker XD for power chairs weighs approximately 21 ounces (600g).
Photos and videos of LapStacker users show wheelchair riders carrying suitcases, golf bags, groceries, stacks of pizza boxes and eggs, ice chests, firewood, office supplies, a basketball, and yes, a kitchen sink.
Adaptdefy currently has dealers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin, and it’s looking for additional providers to partner with. Interested providers can reach out to Adaptdefy via its contact page, or email Mike Brown: [email protected].
