When climbing up a ladder, it doesn't matter how dirty are your shoes, because as you ascend, each rung presents itself as a clean hand hold. Going down is a different matter, as you will now encounter the rungs where your shoes have been, leaving all manner of nefarious matter.

Climb Down With a Clean Pair of Hands solves this problem. It does this by a simple variation on the standard ladder. This takes the form of two additional vertical supports which run from top to bottom; adjacent to, and parallel to the main supports.

The two extra supports create spaces up both sides of the ladder which are too small to permit the insertion of a foot, but the perfect size for each hand. Being made of light material, because they have no structural function, they do not add significantly to the overall weight of the ladder.
-- xenzag, Apr 25 2008

I take it that holding the sides of the ladder is not an option?
-- DrCurry, Apr 25 2008


I have been told that ladder safety protocol calls for only moving one foot or one hand at a time. I would think that using the rungs for a handgrip would be safer than gripping the sides.

Granted, I learned this as a child watching an adult climb down a decaying wooden ladder into an old mineshaft.

Although the title does sound like some politician's or murderer's idea of freedom from guilt.
-- normzone, Apr 25 2008


What you need is the "Disposable Roofmat"
-- james_what, Apr 27 2008


What's that then?
-- xenzag, Apr 27 2008


For removal of nefarious matter from the feet - which can only come from the roof - before the descent. You did scrape your feet on the bottom rung on the way up, didn't you?
-- james_what, Apr 27 2008


Tradesmen never wipe their feet. Their union forbids it.
-- Texticle, Apr 28 2008


I just wear gloves.
-- Sometimer, Apr 29 2008



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