In a Nutshell:
Recommended For: Busy, on-the-go people weighing up to 300 pounds, who don’t want to spend a ton of money on a good travel chair.
Are you on a bit of a budget? Looking for a chair that’s priced well and light enough that you can use it both day to day and as a travel chair? Or perhaps you like your everyday chair just fine and are simply looking for a low-cost backup chair to keep around for when you’re on the road?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you’re going to love this Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 review. The Traveler L3 is a fantastic, versatile little wheelchair that’s capable of stepping into a variety of roles, depending on what your needs are at the moment.
Sure, as a value-priced chair, it does have its limitations, and we won’t shy away from describing them in this review. Even if you ultimately decide to go in some different direction, we think you’ll agree that the Traveler L3 hits most of the right notes and is a fantastic standard to compare other options again.
In the sections that follow, we’ll detail everything this chair has to offer. If you’re in the market for something new, read on, and let’s take a deeper look at what this model has to offer.
An Overview of the EJ Traveler L3 Wheelchair
The thing you’ll notice first about the L3 is that it sticks to the convention. There’s nothing flashy or showy about this model. It does sport mag wheels, and they look nice, but that’s the only nod to form the design team made. This chair looks like just about every other chair out there.
That’s not a bad thing.
Designing a bold-looking chair is always risky, which is why you almost never see it done at the low end of the price spectrum. There’s little point in risking alienating a big chunk of the market if they decide they don’t like the look of your chair.
So, the L3 isn’t exciting.
It’s functional. It looks like it’s got a job to do and is ready to be about it.
Most people are totally fine with that since most people who need a wheelchair care more about functionality than looks. If you have your heart set on an amazing-looking chair, though, we’ll tell you upfront here in our Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 review that this one isn’t the model you’re looking for.
Before we get into the specific features on offer here, let’s press pause long enough to review the basic stats that define this model. Here they are:
The best way to view these numbers is to think of this chair as the offspring of the Advantage LX, which is one of the least expensive chairs the company makes.
This one is marginally more expensive and offers a step up in terms of functionality and capability. For instance, the LX’s seat isn’t height adjustable. It is on the L3, which is why there’s some variation in the overall height of this chair.
The seat dimensions and supported weight are identical when comparing the two models, but the design team managed to shave six pounds off the weight when compared to the Advantage LX. That makes this the superior travel chair, in our view.
Adjustability and Comfort
Where the Advantage LX only offers one adjustable feature (length-adjusting leg rests), the EJ Traveler L3 Plus offers two. This Hemi-Height chair allows you to set the seat height to 18” or 20” at your preference. If your legs are long enough, setting the chair to its low setting may be enough to allow you to propel the chair using your feet.
Like the LX, this model also offers length-adjusting leg rests. Taken together, these two options give you quite a bit of freedom and flexibility in terms of tweaking the chair for an optimal seating experience.
In terms of comfort, you’ll find padded armrests that aren’t height-adjustable, but they do swing up and out of the way, making transferring into and out of the chair a simpler proposition.
Note too that the armrests are desk length. We feel that to be an excellent choice for this model. Desk-length arms make this an incredibly versatile chair. While not as comfortable for long periods in the chair, they allow you to roll right up to a computer desk and start working without having to transfer out of the wheelchair.
Similarly, if you’re with family and friends and want to enjoy a meal together, you can just roll right up to the dinner table and not have to worry about transferring to a dining chair. That makes your life simple and convenient.
Unfortunately, the leg rests for this model don’t come with calf pads or even a calf strap, so there’s no real help on the comfort front from that quarter.
The chair is upholstered in durable, breathable nylon, providing a reasonably comfortable experience for sitting in the chair for shorter periods. If you’re planning to spend 4 hours or more at a stretch in this chair, then you’re almost certainly going to want to invest in some additional padding, a seat pad at a minimum, and possibly something for the seatback as well.
Extras and Options
Everest & Jennings has been in the game for a long time, and they have an excellent eye for detail.
They’re one of just a handful of companies that regularly include little finishing touches like onboard storage in the chairs they sell. The Everest and Jennings Traveler wheelchair is no exception and boasts a modestly sized chart pocket behind the seat.
It’s a small thing, really, but we love it because so many people want storage on their chairs.
Yes, you’ll almost certainly want to invest in additional storage capacity, but the fact that the company made an effort here really makes us feel good about recommending them.
That, however, is the only extra on offer where this model is concerned. That’s not a huge shock, really. It’s rare to find a budget-priced chair with any extras at all, so we certainly weren’t expecting two!
The good news, though, is the fact that there are so many options and possibilities out there offered by third-party vendors that you’ll be able to customize to your heart’s content.
Even better, since this chair doesn’t cost a ton of money, you’ll probably have plenty of cash left over to do that!
Before leaving this section, one final thing to note is this: This chair comes with an impressive five-year warranty (1 year on the front rigging). That matters because most insurance companies will spring for a new chair every five years, which means that if you buy this one, you’re under warranty until your insurance approves its replacement.
It’s a small thing, right up until the moment that it isn’t. If something goes wrong with your chair and you skimped and got something with a 1-year warranty, then you’re on the hook for replacing it. A chair like this with a longer warranty gives you peace of mind.
There’s value in that.
Portability & Ease of Use
Again, we can’t really help but compare the Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 Plus to the Advantage LX, also offered by Everest & Jennings. Where the 40.2-pound LX only scores average marks in this area, the little Traveler L3 fares much better.
It’s just a lighter chair, and that makes it both easier to store and move around in.
When folded, this chair presents a profile that’s just 12.5” wide. That, combined with its relatively modest weight, makes it easy to store in the available trunk space of most full-sized sedans. If you have a hatchback, SUV, van, or truck, you should have no difficulty whatsoever.
Airlines, however, are a different matter. Every airline company has a different policy dictating what is and is not allowed. We can say that in approximately 80% of cases, you should be just fine traveling with this chair.
Your best bet, though, is to call whatever airline you’re planning to fly with to be sure you understand their policies and how much they’re going to charge you for bringing this chair with you on the plane (assuming they allow it, of course).
Since the chair is narrow enough to slide through a standard-width doorway, you don’t have to contend with the challenges that arise when that isn’t the case. You’ll find that it handles quite well, even in somewhat tight or confined spaces, since its overall measurements are about average and its weight is on the low side.
Note too that the default wheels have a bit of tread on them. Granted, these are rough terrain wheels, but they do allow the chair to tackle slightly uneven terrain where many wheelchairs simply can’t.
That makes this design more versatile and useful. If you’re planning to tackle a hiking trail, though, or use this chair regularly in rough terrain, it would still be in your interest to upgrade the wheels to something optimized for that type of use.
Pros & Cons of Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 Wheelchair
There’s not much to complain about where the Graham Field Traveler L3 chair is concerned. It’s inexpensive, has the basics covered where adjustability is concerned and is light enough to travel with.
It also comes with an impressive 5-year warranty, and it’s offered by a company that’s been in the industry for decades, has tons of design experience, and has a reputation for standing behind its products.
That said, this is a budget chair, and it has all the limitations associated with that. If you’re looking for something that’s loaded with safety features like a safety belt and anti-tippers, this isn’t the model you want (it has neither). Sorry, this one will disappoint if you’re looking for something sporty and stylish to tool around in.
If you’re looking for a relatively lightweight chair that can serve either as your everyday chair and simultaneously be light enough to take on trips with you or as an inexpensive backup chair used exclusively for traveling, this is a fantastic option that won’t disappoint.
The only real weak spot in the design is the leg rests. While they swing away, are length-adjustable, and removable, they don’t offer any kind of calf support, which is a limitation if you’re planning to spend the better part of each day in the chair. Other than that, though, this is a great design.
Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 Review Conclusion
We admit here in our Everest and Jennings Traveler L3 review that we kind of love the chair. The only real weak spot is the aforementioned weakness in the design of the leg rests, and most people would regard that as a forgivable sin.
We were impressed, and we think you’ll love this model. We recommend it.
References & Resources:
- Graham Field, Official Brand Website.
- Wheelchair and Power Mobility, PM&RknowledgeNOW.
- Manual Wheelchair Use, Exercise and Calorie Burning Examined, Science News.
- Identifying and Measuring Factors That Impact Manual Wheelchair Rolling Resistance, D-Scholarship.
- Important Wheelchair Skills For New Manual Wheelchair Users: Health Care Professional and Wheelchair User Perspectives, Semantic Scholar.