Fire ladders

[Cgrutt]

Anybody keep a fire ladder in their home/bedroom. Bedroom is three levels up from windows. We bought a fire ladder several years ago but never tested it. Today my son asks if he can test it out. At first I dismissed the idea but it might be something worthwhile in the grand scheme of preparedness. I'll be damned if I let him climb out the third story window on a rope ladder absent a fire, but it might be time to get out the climbing gear, lol...

OK, spent the afternoon running some safety drills with my family. They're troopers for putting up with me, lol. Going to do a little write up on the Dial Safety Ladder Corporation fire safety ladder. According to manufacturer, maximum weight is 600 lbs and it comes with five year warranty. Don't recall what it cost but I'm thinking in the $200 range for three story ladder. It is designed for emergency use only, but I think it was a good exercise today learning how to use it in a safe environment.

Here's a pic of it ready for use.



Was very simple to use, just open up window, remove screen, unfold hooks, place hooks over window sill and open the red velcro strap. We had to manually "unwind" a couple of rungs, but for the most part it just opened up through force of gravity.

More below...

[thughes]

video!

[thughes]

I don't have one but you've got me thinking. If I can get across the hall to the bathroom there is the porch roof for a safe exit but if trapped in the bedroom it's a two story drop onto the concrete patio.....maybe I should look into one.

[Cgrutt]

Safety first. In an actual emergency we wouldn't have the luxury of some climbing gear. Found a new use for the gun safe today, lol.



I took some pics while I had the climbing gear out and will do another thread on basic climbing knots and gear.

Three stories doesn't seem like much until you find yourself hanging off a rope ladder, lol...



View from side.



My son actually went first with his new Go Pro, lol...



Proud of that kid...


Ladder worked perfectly but was a little "squirelly" going down. Definitely would rely on it in an emergency and would recommend one to anybody who lives above ground level.

[usmcveteran]

I am pretty sure those ladders are going to damage your house when you use them which is no big deal in an emergency. You could build a mock window sill or something that isn't really high and test it on that and have your son climb up and down it from a safe height.

[Cgrutt]

Packing it up was easy enough.

First lay it out straight with "stand offs" pointing up. Take out slack between steps.



Starting at bottom, twist every other step (without stand offs) and fold it up like an accordion.



Continue to top. It should look like this when done.



Fold hooks over.



Replace strap and store in a convenient and accessible spot near planned exit.

[Cgrutt]

I am pretty sure those ladders are going to damage your house when you use them which is no big deal in an emergency. You could build a mock window sill or something that isn't really high and test it on that and have your son climb up and down it from a safe height.

No damage at all.

[thughes]

Thanks for this thread Chris, may just save a life someday.

[usmcveteran]

Wow thats awesome! Thanks for taking photos and posting it up!

[dwa12479]

Nice! All three of our bedrooms are on the 2nd floor. One bedroom has the porch roof under a triple casement window at the front of the house for escape, but I have these ladders under the beds in each of the other 2. I haven't actually climbed out the windows on them, but did a mock deployment with each after I got them. Super simple like yours. Hang it on the window, pull the rip cord, and away you go. The closet of each bedroom also has a small, wall mounted fire extinguisher. My greatest fear in a fire is being cut off from the kids rooms and unable to assist them to escape.

http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-Two-Stor...ds=fire+ladder

[GUNSICK]

Where are the pics of you going down? Are you scared from the toilet seat incident? I think that was rated at 600lbs also, right? You can tell your girl I'm impressed she did it in crocks. If I had a fire I'd have to throw my old lady out the window and aim for the bushes lol!

[Cgrutt]

LMAO, yeah, I'll wait for the fire (God forbid). I'm not very good on extension ladders nevermind rope ones. I don't trust my wife belaying me although I've done it before with her.

[24Pink14Stink]

I just taught my 7 year old how use a fire extinguisher with one that is pretty much toast. He loved it!. The only bedroom at our place that needs one of those ladders is usually empty, but it's probably not a bad idea to get one.

Thanks for posting CG!

[Lord Timelord]

As a previous Firefighter/EMT, I approve of Training ahead of time for an emergency!

BTW, if you think that climbing out of a window from 3 stories up is intense, try doing a 'ladder bail out maneuver' from a 5th story window! Now THAT will get you an Adrenaline Dump!

If I had to do that today, I'd do a rapid egress with my 100 feet of webbing and 2.5 Ton Biner Bail-Out Setup. I always carry it in a bag on trips in case I needed to do an emergency egress out of a window at a hotel. Out of the window and down to the ground in a jiffy!

[Cgrutt]

If I had to do that today, I'd do a rapid egress with my 100 feet of webbing and 2.5 Ton Biner Bail-Out Setup. I always carry it in a bag on trips in case I needed to do an emergency egress out of a window at a hotel. Out of the window and down to the ground in a jiffy!

Well, post it up!