A Ladder You Can Wear
We're all familiar with the concept of a ladder in tights, but have you heard of a ladder in a t-shirt? The ladders we're talking about aren't the result of a snag, but instead are there by design, as a way of customizing and reworking old t-shirts into something new, and a good way to keep teenagers occupied during the holidays. All you need is a t-shirt and some scissors, so it couldn't be easier. You're going to be cutting the t-shirt up, so don't do this with your favourite one! Start by deciding where you want the ladder to go and how big it will be. The easiest place to [...]
Wooden Ladders for Firefighters?
Nowadays most fire departments across the world use aluminium for their ladders, both freestanding and vehicle-mounted types. It makes sense: aluminium is cheap, pretty durable, won’t catch fire and has a fairly high melting point, making it the go-to material for firefighting ladders. Why, then, does the San Francisco Fire Department insist on using wood, a flammable material? The SFFD make their own ladders in their repair workshop, where they also recondition and refurbish wooden ladders dating back around 100 years, so these ladders are certainly durable. The main reason they use wood is the durability of the material compared to aluminium. While the soft metal is susceptible to stress damage [...]
Solo Ladder Climb Breaks World Record
A while ago we reported on the achievements of the Kent Fire and Rescue Department after they reclaimed the world record for the longest distance climbed on a ladder. They took just eight hours to climb nearly 43,000 metres between six people and raised money for the fire fighters’ charity as a result. In Warminster, one man hoped to break the world record for the longest distance climbed on a ladder as a solo attempt: a record that stood at 13,120 metres climbed in 24 hours. 46-year-old roofer, Keith Saunders, wanted to raise money for Raleigh International, a charity that helps people living in the third world, so decided to undertake [...]
Is it worth investing in a mobile scaffold tower?
For the serious DIYer and anyone who lives in a building that requires ongoing maintenance, this is a question you may have asked yourself several times. For clearing guttering, repainting exterior walls and touching up old window frames a scaffold tower is a much better alternative to a ladder, as you can stay working at height for much longer than if you were standing on a ladder rung. Once the tools and equipment are on the scaffold, there is no need to keep going up and down the ladder for bits and pieces and you can actually get jobs done much quicker. Because you also have a bigger working area than [...]
Crossing a River by Ladder
A ladder could be used as a rudimentary bridge across a small river in an emergency, but it is not the sort of equipment you would normally have to use in order to cross a river. Unfortunately, villagers in Venpala, India, found themselves having to use a ladder to cross the Manimala River after local authorities failed to secure the land to build approaches to a new bridge. The bridge was built last year at a cost of £340,000, but the Kerala State Construction Corporation stopped work after building the bridge itself after they learnt that the local authority had not acquired the land needed to build the approaches. With [...]
Domestic Step Ladders – Which One Do I Need?
Step ladders are one of the more commonly owned types of ladder: found in nearly every home and business they are small, light and versatile as well as being much safer to use than straight ladders. Many people refer to smaller stepladders as kitchen steps, because they are often used and stored in the kitchen, as opposed to other areas of the home. Stepladders for Indoors Kitchen steps are ideal for reaching the highest shelves and cupboards, changing lightbulbs and extraction hood filters, dusting the tops of cabinets and cleaning kitchen units. They are also useful as a makeshift chair if extra seating is needed in a pinch. The Little Giant [...]
Wrestling – Worst Injuries Sustained During Ladder Matches
If you are not into wrestling you probably have no idea what a ladder match entails, so we will enlighten you. A ladder match involves, as the name suggest, a ladder. The ladder is usually in place as a route to some kind of prize, whether it is a belt or a suitcase full of cash, but it often comes into play as a weapon or launching point for a full body attack. As you can imagine, this is potentially very dangerous and although wrestling matches are choreographed (at least to some extent), there is still scope for serious injury. Let’s take a look at the worst injuries sustained during ladder [...]
Ladders For The Daring Only
Following on from our post about beaches that are only accessible by climbing a ladder we are going to look at ladders that are only accessible for people going on a long hike. We start in Peru, close to Machu Pikchu, a common tourist destination and the site of the most familiar buildings of the Inca civilization. The peak behind this important historical site offers fantastic views over the estate and the surrounding river valley and it can be climbed by the intrepid hiker. Called Phutuq K'usi, the mountain gets its name from the round shape that faces Machu Pikchu, which translated from native Quechua means 'budding cucumber'. Peruvian Ladders The [...]
How Can You Get Stuck up a Ladder in a Canoe?!
Canoes and ladders are not often thought of together: canoes are for traversing bodies of water and ladders are for covering heights on dry land. For one unlucky kayaker in Michigan, however, getting stuck up a ladder in a canoe became a reality. You may have guessed by now that we're not talking about any ordinary ladder, but a fish ladder. Fish ladders are installed within man-made river barriers to provide a route for migratory fish back to their spawning grounds and can take several forms. The most common type, and the one in question in this case, is the pool and weir type. A series of small dams and pools [...]
What Can I Do With a Sectional Surveyors Ladder?
Surveyors use ladders to inspect buildings of varying sizes and they need to be easy to transport in a car. Telescopic ladders are useful for surveyors as they require very little space for transportation and storage, but they do not offer much in the way of height: the tallest model is 3.8 metres long, and this is not enough for many surveying jobs. Of course, inspecting old or single storey buildings with a telescopic ladder would be achievable, but for anything else a longer ladder is needed. Telescopic ladders do not have the rigidity required for tall heights, due to the nature of the construction, so to make a portable ladder [...]
