Rope Ladder

How to choose the right Rope Ladder

Ladders are an essential component of fire safety equipments, rescue missions and evacuations, and even in sports like climbing. And for each of the above mentioned situation, you will need a different kind or set of ladder. There are two kinds of fire escape ladder, the permanent ladder and the portable ladder. The permanent ladder is commonly used as an escape route in cases of emergency and should be included in the list of must have in fire escape equipments. It is an essential component of fire exits and is usually found at the side of every building. It is commonly used on two storey high buildings or higher and they are mounted permanently.

The portable ladder on the other hand can be easily stored and just like the exit stopper, it can be easily installed. Portable ladders are usually needed especially in cases of emergency and rescue missions that sometimes involve aircrafts or water crafts. One specific type of a portable ladder is a rope ladder. The advantage of using a rope ladder is that it can be easily deployed in emergency situations and can also be easily stored even when there is a limited storage space. Or in some instances when the object to be climbed or descended upon is too curved to use a rigid ladder. It is also very important to know the ladders weight rating so you will be able to keep the weight that will be put upon the rope ladder to a minimum. Another difference between a permanent and portable ladder is that a portable ladder may have rigid or flexible rungs. For those who have no idea what a rung is, a rung is a step of a ladder. And the standard distance between two rungs is set at 350 mm.

Using a rope ladder requires more skill than climbing a rigid ladder, because the rope ladder has a tendency to swing from side to side. Besides some differences, both have the same purpose during emergency situations and that is to provide you with the shortest possible route to safety.

Some tips on buying a rope ladder:

1. A rope ladder may be subjected to a lot of environmental factors that can affect the durability of the item. So it is important that you choose the one that will be more applicable or suited to the kind of environmental factors it will be exposed to.

2. Notice the strength of the rope ladder. Ladders have something that is called a weight rating. This is very important, because you need to know the maximum weight that the rope can support.

3. The anchors are also important because it helps your rope ladders to stay in place. The anchors also have a rating system for weights so be sure to check them to avoid accidents or breakage.

4. Check the rungs. There are many varieties to choose from for rungs like rope, or plastic, or metal, or wood or whatever it is that suits you or provides you with ease when using it.

Rope ladders are not the only alternative if you need to get out of the house in case of fire emergencies. There are also metal ladders and ladders made out of chain that are also safe to use.