Little Giant Type 1A Revolution XE Ladder
The Little Giant Type 1A Revolution XE Ladder is a great multi-use ladder for around the house, work or even those RV excursions with its versatility and general light weight.
Ease of Use, Performance: 20/25
Look & Feel: 20/25
Features 20/25
How much I enjoy 20/25
Total: 80/100
Starting a new style and model of Little Giant Ladders with all kinds of additional well designed features I now get to review a Little Giant Revolution XE ladder. The Little Giant Ladder is probably best known for those infomercials where they do all kinds of stuff with a ladder to show off its unique features and versatility.
The Revolution XE is quite a ladder and one I would be happy to own but the price is still a bit much for my tastes at about $429 for the smaller version. The Smaller model 17 of the Revolution XE can reach 15 feet as an extension ladder while the large model 22 can reach 19 feet and costs about $469.
Cost aside I took the ladder for a test drive, so to speak, and am impressed with some of their improvements over the old model and have one concern for an addition to the set. The Revolution XE can be used as five models of ladder at various heights depending on your circumstances.
You have your conventional A frame ladder and using the convenient Rock Locks that can extend the A frame from 4 feet to the maximum of 7 feet. The extension ladder goes from 9 feet to 15 feet and the scaffold is 3 feet tall by pulling the two sections off the inner one and using the plastic trestle brackets. To use the Revolution XE as a scaffold you will need to use a plank or scaffold platform that is not included with the Little Giant Revolution XE.
The Revolution XE can also be used as a 90 degree ladder to get you closer to your work or the wall and is about 4 feet six inches at its lowest and 6 feet six inches at its tallest. These heights including the ones for the extension and A frame are not the highest points you can safely step on the ladder but the height of the actual top of the ladder.
Due to the flexibility and various positions you can set the ladder up into the highest safe step you can use will of course vary. The Revolution XE Model 17 is a nice convenient size for around the house or just right for use on a recreational vehicle as an all around convenient ladder.
The various ladder configurations and positions are due to the general design of these multiuse ladders with a center section held together by a hinge and two removable leg sections. Each center leg section inserts into a channel of the outer leg section so the two outer legs sections are movable independently from the other.
You can also remove each outer leg section to create the scaffold with two A frame ladders made from the three pieces and the brackets. Simply remove the outer leg sections and using the plastic brackets connect the two leg sections together to create another A frame and place a plank between the two A frames.
You can have one leg section a step higher than the other to configure the ladder so one leg is higher than the other so you can use the ladder on stairs or to get you closer to the work. This is also quite handy for a portable ladder like use in a recreational vehicle where one ladder is all you would want to take with.
The use of the 90 degree and A frame makes for nice work for things like painting and working on fixtures and the extension makes a nice way to work on the outside of a one story home. The model 17 does not extend tall enough to be much use on the second story of my house though.
The extension does reach the bottom of my second story window but not any higher, I can use the extension to wash or remove the screens and other work but could not get to the very top of the window itself. The extension for the model 17 is the perfect height for a lower one story home but would be a bit inadequate for anything higher.