Things Worth Wanting 010 · Transformable access
Little Giant Conquest and Velocity: A Ladder With a Vocabulary of Shapes
The Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 and Velocity Model 17 each reach 18 feet 1 inch in extension form, fold to roughly 4 feet 7 inches for storage and turn into multiple working configurations. Little Giant did not merely make height portable. It made height adaptable.
The elegance of refusing either-or
One object can remember several jobs
My home-improvement process often begins with a heroic amount of optimism and ends with a phone call to a friend who knows what phrases such as “load path” mean without Googling them. Naturally, I am fascinated by a ladder that arrives with more practical vocabulary than I do.
Most objects have one settled shape. A chair remains a chair. A shelf remains a shelf. A conventional ladder may extend or fold, but its basic relationship with the room is usually recognizable. Little Giant's multi-position idea is more ambitious. The ladder can become an A-frame, lengthen into an extension configuration, offset itself across a staircase, stand at 90 degrees for close wall access and contribute two trestles to a plank system with the proper accessories.
That is not a collection of novelty poses. It is a response to the fact that workspaces refuse to stay geometrically polite. Floors change elevation. Ground slopes. Corners interrupt flat surfaces. Ceiling trusses create narrow access paths. The needed height is rarely the same from one project to the next. A multi-position ladder succeeds by treating configuration as a feature rather than a fixed identity.
The two Little Giant products featured here make that philosophy especially visible. The Conquest All-Terrain expresses it through high-visibility fiberglass, adjustable outriggers, a V-bar, Rapid Lock adjusters, wheels and a carrying handle. The Velocity expresses it through an aluminum structure, Rock Lock adjusters, palm-button hinges, Tip & Glide wheels and a five-position design.
Little Giant turned the ladder from a fixed object into a controlled system of states. Hinges change the overall form, telescoping rails change the height, locking mechanisms preserve the selected geometry and each configuration gives the same object a new working relationship with the space.
I love the idea because it respects both ambition and square footage. One piece of equipment can address a remarkably broad project range, then contract to a storage height of roughly 4 feet 7 inches in the Model 17 versions documented here. The cleverness is not only that the ladder reaches 18 feet 1 inch. The cleverness is that all of that reach can return to a compact, movable package when the work is complete.
That makes the Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity perfect subjects for a series about contemporary invention. Each one demonstrates a particularly modern design instinct: do not add capability by filling the garage with separate objects if one carefully engineered platform can change state.
Geometry as an interface
The ladder changes its answer when the space changes its question
A transformable ladder is a physical interface. The user chooses a state, and the object reorganizes its rails, hinges and locks around that intention. The controls are mechanical, but the logic resembles good software: expose a manageable set of options, make each state recognizable and prevent the structure from drifting away from the selected configuration.
The central hinge determines the relationship between the two major sides. Telescoping inner and outer rails determine length. Locking mechanisms constrain movement after an adjustment. Feet, outriggers or levelers meet the supporting surface. Wheels and handles manage the transition between storage and setup. Every subsystem answers a different part of the same sentence: what shape should reach take here?
That sentence is the breakthrough. A fixed ladder asks the room to accommodate the tool. A multi-position ladder has enough controlled freedom to participate in the room's actual geometry. Stairs can be met with unequal side lengths. A wall can be approached in a 90-degree configuration. An open area can receive an A-frame. Elevated access can use the extension form.
The transformation is also unusually legible. Palm buttons announce the hinge. Rail locks announce the adjustable length. An outrigger announces a wider and levelable base. Wheels announce that a tall tool has a life between jobs. The product makes its engineering visible enough to be understood and satisfying enough to demonstrate.
This is why multi-position ladders have such natural storytelling power. A single image shows a ladder. A short sequence shows an invention. Fold, unlock, articulate, extend, lock and place: each motion reveals that the product contains more than its storage silhouette suggests.
Conquest All-Terrain Model 17
A fiberglass ladder designed to negotiate with the ground
The exact Conquest All-Terrain retailer listing supplied for this project identifies an 18.1-foot reach, Type IA rating, 300-pound load capacity and telescoping multi-position form. Little Giant's detailed Model 17 documentation identifies SKU 17107-001 and expands the picture considerably.
Little Giant lists an 18-foot 1-inch maximum reach in the extension configuration for the Model 17.
The Conquest All-Terrain is classified Type IA, the 300-pound duty category.
The telescoping sections contract a substantial working range into a package roughly 4 feet 7 inches tall.
Little Giant lists the fiberglass Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 at 42 pounds.
Its name is unusually accurate. “Conquest” suggests capability, but “All-Terrain” identifies the defining system. Adjustable outriggers widen the support arrangement and provide leg-leveling capability. Each side can meet the ground where the ground actually is, letting the ladder establish a level working geometry across surfaces that do not share one elevation.
Adjustable outriggers
The outriggers extend the side support and provide leveling travel. Terrain becomes an input the ladder can accommodate through adjustment.
Integrated V-bar
The extension side includes a V-bar and angled feet designed for poles, outside corners, inside corners, walls and narrow access between framing.
Rapid Lock adjusters
Grip, twist, slide and twist again. The adjusters make telescoping length a deliberate mechanical sequence with a clear locked state.
Hi-Viz green fiberglass
The nonconductive fiberglass gives the Conquest a material identity, while the bright green finish makes that identity immediately recognizable.
Tip & Glide wheels
Integrated wheels let the ladder roll during transport. The transition to the work area becomes part of the product design.
Balanced carrying handle
Little Giant places a carrying handle around the ladder's balance, acknowledging that setup begins before the first lock is turned.
The Model 17 specifications show a stepladder range from 4 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 6 inches, with maximum stepladder reach of 11 feet 4 inches. In extension form, the working length reaches 14 feet 11 inches and the listed reach becomes 18 feet 1 inch. Folded for storage, the package is approximately 4 feet 7 inches high, 1 foot 8 inches wide at the base and 10 inches deep.
Those measurements tell a story of controlled compression. The ladder does not merely get longer. It carries a range of lengths within overlapping rail sections, then adds hinge-defined configurations and terrain-defined leveling. Height, shape and ground contact all become adjustable dimensions.
The V-bar completes the concept at the opposite end. Outriggers address the supporting surface below. The V-bar addresses the receiving surface above. Poles, corners, flat walls and narrow openings each ask for a different point of contact, so the ladder brings a more articulate upper interface to match its articulate base.
Velocity Model 17
The shape-shifting idea in aluminum
The Little Giant Velocity is the brand's five-in-one multi-position articulating ladder. The current official page identifies Model 17 as SKU 15417-001, built in aluminum and rated Type IA for 300 pounds in its folding configurations. Little Giant also rates the A-frame setup for use on both sides, with 300 pounds supported on each side.
A-frame, extension, staircase, 90-degree and trestle-and-plank forms give one product several working identities.
The Velocity Model 17 shares the same documented extension reach and 14-foot 11-inch working length.
Little Giant lists the aluminum Model 17 at 30.5 pounds, with wheels included on this size.
The Model 17 contracts to an eight-inch storage depth and a height of roughly 4 feet 7 inches.
Velocity is a perfect name for a tool whose defining feature is movement between states. Palm buttons release the central hinge so the major sections can articulate. Rock Lock adjusters release the telescoping rails so the working height can change. Tip & Glide wheels support movement between locations. The product has an elegant rhythm: move the whole ladder, choose the form, choose the height, lock the structure and begin.
Palm-button articulation
The hinge controls the broad configuration. Pressing the palm buttons permits the ladder to move among stored, A-frame and extension relationships.
Rock Lock adjustment
Rail-mounted locks let the inner section slide to the chosen height, turning reach into a graduated setting rather than one fixed dimension.
Tip & Glide movement
Integrated wheels on the Model 17 let the user tip the folded ladder and roll it toward the next work area.
Two-sided A-frame use
Little Giant rates both sides in the A-frame configuration, creating a shared structure for two people within the stated loading guidance.
Accessory ecosystem
Work platforms, trays, cargo storage, wall standoffs, planks and trestle brackets extend the ladder into a broader work system.
Optional leveling
Velocity configurations with Ratchet Leg Levelers add independent adjustment where ground elevation changes across the setup.
The Model 17 dimensions are a small marvel of packaging. Its stepladder range runs from 4 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 6 inches. Its extension sections total 17 feet 2 inches, and overlapping rails produce a maximum working length of 14 feet 11 inches. Its highest documented standing level in extension form is 11 feet 7 inches, which Little Giant translates to a maximum reach of 18 feet 1 inch.
That distinction between total section length, working length, standing level and reach is important. Telescoping rails must overlap to remain a joined structure. The total length of all pieces is therefore not the same as the assembled working length. Little Giant's own product FAQ encourages buyers to focus on maximum reach rather than treating model size as a literal height.
Velocity's popularity makes intuitive sense because its transformation can be understood at a glance. One folded package opens into several familiar tools. The benefit is visual, mechanical and spatial at the same time. It is also fun to watch, which never hurts when a product category once had to explain itself through trade shows and later found a much larger audience through television.
The five-word vocabulary
Each configuration is a different relationship with space
“Five in one” is easy to remember, but the deeper idea is that each mode changes the load path, footprint or support relationship. The ladder is not doing costume changes. It is becoming the geometry appropriate to a different class of work.
A-frame
The two sides open around the central hinge and create a freestanding footprint. Telescoping sections allow the working height to change while the ladder retains the familiar self-supporting form.
Extension
The major sections align into a long climbing structure that works against an appropriate supporting surface. Overlapping rails preserve continuity while the system reaches its greatest height.
Staircase
The two sides take unequal lengths so their feet can meet different elevations while the upper hinge remains positioned over the stepped environment. A once-awkward volume becomes a design input.
90 degree
One side can stand close to a wall, giving the user access where a symmetrical A-frame footprint would place the working position farther from the vertical surface.
Trestle and plank
With the specified brackets and plank, separated ladder sections can contribute support to an elevated horizontal workspace. The product's vocabulary expands from climbing to staging.
The configurations also reveal why the locks matter as much as the rails. A transformable object needs freedom while it is changing and certainty after the choice is complete. The hinge and rail adjusters create that sequence: release a degree of freedom, move the structure, then constrain it again.
That is elegant mechanical interface design. The user does not need to think in terms of kinematic chains or constrained joints. The product translates those ideas into palm buttons, rotating locks and visibly different shapes.
More than 50 years of changing shape
A painter's prototype became an American ladder system
Little Giant's official history begins in the early 1970s, when Hal and Brigitte Wing met a German painter with an intriguing ladder concept and a primitive prototype. With the painter's blessing, Hal refined the idea and began building the business that became Little Giant Ladder Systems.
It is a nearly perfect origin story for this series. A working painter understood that the geometry of the job changed constantly. The prototype expressed an idea before it expressed a polished product. Hal Wing saw the larger system hiding inside it, then began the long process of refinement, manufacturing, education and trust required to turn unfamiliar movement into familiar equipment.
A practical need produces a transformable prototype
The original encounter joins a tradesperson's lived experience with an entrepreneur's eye for refinement. The central proposition is already visible: one ladder can take more than one useful form.
Hal Wing builds a company in his garage
Little Giant says Hal founded the business from his garage, developing the product and introducing its unusual capability to customers. The setting feels appropriate for an invention devoted to making more work possible in limited space.
Demonstration turns complexity into understanding
A multi-position ladder is especially suited to live explanation. Each transformation makes another benefit visible, allowing trade shows, direct demonstrations and later television to show the idea rather than merely describe it.
The hinge, locks, feet and accessories keep evolving
Little Giant's patent index spans multi-use ladders, hinges, adjustment mechanisms, feet, rungs, braces, platforms and accessories. The intellectual property record shows that the original shape-changing insight became a continuing engineering program.
The multi-position idea becomes a recognizable platform
Velocity packages the company's signature articulation into an aluminum ladder with five modes, rail adjusters, palm buttons and integrated transport on the Model 17.
Configuration expands into terrain and contact
Conquest All-Terrain extends the adjustable philosophy to high-visibility fiberglass, independent outrigger leveling, a V-bar, a carrying handle, wheels and accessory ports.
The striking part of this history is not simply longevity. It is continuity of purpose. Little Giant says it has spent more than 50 years listening to electricians, HVAC technicians, framers, finishers and other tradespeople. The product family keeps translating those working realities into mechanical features.
That is how a company can remain associated with one foundational idea without becoming trapped inside its first expression. The broad concept stays recognizable, while hinges, locks, materials, levelers, feet, platforms and transport continue to evolve around it.
The mechanics of controlled transformation
Freedom while adjusting, constraint while working
Engineers describe a mechanism partly by its degrees of freedom, the independent ways its components can move. A Little Giant multi-position ladder contains several movements that are useful during setup: major sections rotate around a central hinge, and rail sections slide relative to one another. The design becomes valuable because those movements can be deliberately released, positioned and locked.
Articulation
The hinge changes the angle between the two principal ladder sections. Its allowed positions correspond to recognizable structural states, including folded, A-frame and aligned extension forms.
Telescoping
Inner and outer rail assemblies slide to change the working length. Overlap keeps the sections connected and transfers force through the assembled rails.
Locking
Hinge locks and rail locks remove motion after adjustment. The selected geometry becomes the working structure rather than a temporary pose.
Ground adaptation
Outriggers or levelers add controlled length at the base. The ladder can meet different surface elevations while establishing the intended orientation above.
During setup, joints and sliding sections create useful motion. Once locked, those same assemblies participate in the load path from rung to rails, through the configured supports and into the ground or receiving surface.
Why telescoping rails overlap
Imagine two long structural members sliding past one another. If they met only at their tips, there would be little shared length through which forces could transfer. Overlap creates a region where the assemblies remain engaged. This is why the total length of all rail sections exceeds the maximum working length of the assembled extension ladder.
Little Giant documents 17 feet 2 inches of total extension sections for both Model 17 ladders, yet a maximum working length of 14 feet 11 inches. The difference is not lost capability. It is the shared structural engagement that lets separate telescoping pieces behave as one ladder.
Why an extension ladder uses an angle
In extension configuration, the ladder and supporting surface form a working geometry. The NIOSH Ladder Safety App uses visual, sound and vibration signals to help users establish an angle of approximately 75 degrees. The familiar four-to-one placement rule expresses the same geometry in practical terms.
That angle balances horizontal and vertical relationships at the base and top. It is also a reminder that a transformable ladder's intelligence does not end when the locks engage. Each mode has its own setup language, and official instructions translate the mechanical possibilities into a repeatable process.
Why outriggers change the confidence of the base
Widening the support stance increases the lateral distance between ground-contact points. Independent adjustment then lets those contact points meet uneven elevations. The Conquest All-Terrain outrigger system combines both ideas: extend the stance and tune the leg position to the surface.
This is systems engineering in a form anyone can see. The rail, hinge, lock, outrigger, foot and surface are not independent facts. They are participants in one geometry.
Two materials, one transformable philosophy
Fiberglass and aluminum give the idea different physical voices
Little Giant's design platform is powerful enough to live in more than one material system. The Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 uses fiberglass. The Velocity Model 17 uses aluminum. Both materials support telescoping, articulation and rated load, while each brings its own valuable engineering properties to the product family.
High-visibility fiberglass
Fiberglass is a composite in which glass fibers reinforce a polymer resin matrix. The fibers contribute strength and stiffness, while the matrix binds, protects and transfers force among them. Glass reinforcement is nonconductive, giving fiberglass ladder rails an important electrical property. Little Giant adds a high-visibility green identity that makes the material choice visually unmistakable.
NASA's composite-material overview explains the broader principle: combine unlike ingredients so their partnership produces enhanced mechanical and physical behavior.
Structural aluminum
Aluminum alloys combine low density with useful structural strength and corrosion resistance. Alloying elements and processing can tune properties for specific applications, which is one reason extruded aluminum is so effective for long, shaped structural sections. The Velocity Model 17 packages its multi-position system at a documented 30.5 pounds.
The Aluminum Association notes that composition and treatment influence strength, density, workability, conductivity and corrosion resistance.
Material selection changes more than the line on a specification table. It affects mass, section design, connections, manufacturing, electrical behavior, surface treatment and the experience of carrying the ladder. The product's form and material must be engineered together.
That is why I like seeing Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity inside the same Little Giant story. They demonstrate that a platform is not a single recipe. The persistent idea is transformable access. Material becomes another design decision used to give that idea the right character for a particular product.
The practical opportunities unlocked
Storage, transport, terrain and reach become one design conversation
Products become memorable when their features cooperate. The central appeal of these ladders is not any single lock, wheel or rail. It is the way those elements address the complete life of access, from the garage to the work area, from the ground to the chosen height and from one configuration to the next.
This cooperative design is also why the products are popular. The benefit can be discovered repeatedly. A buyer may first want extension reach, then appreciate compact storage, later use the staircase position and eventually add an accessory that improves a recurring task. The platform keeps revealing value as new project geometry appears.
There is also a psychological pleasure in owning a product that feels prepared for circumstances not yet encountered. Multi-position capability is a form of optionality. It stores possible answers until the environment supplies the question.
Why the Little Giant idea traveled
The transformation is both useful and wonderfully demonstrable
Some industrial products need a diagram before the benefit becomes clear. A Little Giant ladder explains itself through motion. Folded becomes A-frame. A-frame becomes extension. Equal sides become unequal sides for a staircase. A compact object becomes a taller one. Every change is a tiny piece of proof.
A transformation can be understood without specialized vocabulary. Watching the ladder change shape makes the versatility immediately legible.
Homes and worksites contain changing heights, stairs, corners and storage limits. The product begins with environments people already recognize.
Palm buttons, Rock Locks, Rapid Locks and Ratchet Levelers give important adjustments distinct names and repeatable motions.
Accessories let an owner organize tools, create a standing platform, span a plank or establish distance from a receiving surface.
A tradesperson's early prototype and Hal Wing's garage-built company connect directly to a present-day range still organized around adaptable access.
Little Giant frames its history around listening to tradespeople, preventing injuries and helping people work more intelligently.
The television era was especially well suited to the concept because the product could perform its entire argument in front of the viewer. Yet the deeper reason the brand endured is the usefulness behind the demonstration. The transformations correspond to real working situations, and the mechanisms keep evolving around those situations.
Little Giant's story is therefore as much about product education as product engineering. A new configuration only creates value when someone understands how and when to use it. Manuals, labeled controls, videos, safety guidance and named modes are all part of translating a sophisticated structure into an approachable tool.
Why I cannot stop thinking about it
This is optimism with hinges
I have a weakness for tools that make future projects feel less hypothetical. That does not mean I suddenly know how to rewire a house, rebuild a transmission or construct a staircase because a ladder has five configurations. It means the physical environment offers fewer excuses before the experienced friends arrive.
The Little Giant idea appeals to the planner in me. I do not need to predict whether the next task will happen over a flat floor, on a staircase, against a wall or outside on changing ground. The product has preserved several answers inside one folded form.
This is also a very good garage object. Not because it exists to decorate the wall, but because it compresses so much intention into a manageable footprint. The folded ladder looks like stored potential. The open ladder looks like a decision.
If my garage is partly a monument to the things I hope to learn, the Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity are exactly the kind of artifacts that belong in the imagination behind it. They do not promise instant expertise. They make access adaptable enough that curiosity can get closer to the work.
The record worth preserving
What these ladders reveal about invention in 2026
A snapshot of present-day innovation should preserve more than electronic novelty. It should record how deeply engineers continue to think about hinges, rails, feet, handles, locks, materials and the ordinary human desire to get somewhere just out of reach.
A product can be defined by its states
Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity show that configuration can be the central feature. The object is valuable because it moves among several useful identities.
Buttons and locks can teach complex geometry
Little Giant translates articulation and telescoping into named, tactile controls that make structural adjustment understandable.
One platform can speak fiberglass and aluminum
The product family demonstrates how a durable core idea can be expressed through different material systems and physical priorities.
A 1970s insight can remain unfinished in the best way
More than 50 years after the founding idea, patents, levelers, wheels, accessories and contact systems continue to expand what adaptable access can mean.
That last point is the reason these ladders deserve serious attention. A successful invention does not always end a design conversation. Sometimes it creates a platform large enough to sustain the conversation for generations.
Little Giant's ladder began with the recognition that one shape was not enough. Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity carry that recognition forward with distinct materials, controls and environmental intelligence. They are not simply devices for climbing higher. They are machines for choosing how height should work.
Fast answers
Little Giant Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity questions
What is the Little Giant Conquest All-Terrain?
It is a fiberglass multi-position ladder with adjustable outriggers, a V-bar, Rapid Lock rail adjusters, Tip & Glide wheels, a carrying handle and accessory ports. Model 17 is rated Type IA for 300 pounds.
What is the maximum reach of the Conquest All-Terrain Model 17?
Little Giant lists a maximum extension reach of 18 feet 1 inch. The retailer title commonly presents that measurement as 18.1 feet.
What is the Little Giant Velocity?
Velocity is an aluminum five-in-one multi-position articulating ladder. It can be configured as an A-frame, extension, staircase or 90-degree ladder and can participate in a trestle-and-plank system with the specified accessories.
What is the maximum reach of the Velocity Model 17?
Little Giant documents an extension maximum reach of 18 feet 1 inch for Velocity Model 17, SKU 15417-001.
What does Type IA mean on these Little Giant ladders?
Type IA is the American Ladder Institute's 300-pound duty-rating class. The rated load includes the user plus clothing, tools and materials.
What configurations can Little Giant multi-position ladders use?
The five principal configurations are A-frame, extension, staircase, 90 degree and trestle-and-plank. The exact setup process and accessory requirements are described in Little Giant's manuals.
How do adjustable outriggers work on the Conquest All-Terrain?
The outriggers extend the support stance and provide independent leg-leveling capability. They let the base accommodate changing ground elevations while establishing the ladder's intended working geometry.
What does the Conquest V-bar do?
The integrated V-bar and angled feet are designed to engage poles, outside corners, inside corners and flat walls. The narrow extension side can also access spaces such as ceiling trusses and attic openings.
What do Rapid Locks do?
Rapid Locks control telescoping rail adjustment on the Conquest. The user twists the lock, slides the rail to the selected length and twists again to secure the position.
What do Rock Locks do on the Velocity?
Rock Lock adjusters release and secure the telescoping inner rail sections, allowing the ladder's working height to change within its documented range.
What do the palm buttons control?
The palm buttons control the central hinge relationship. Releasing the hinge lets the major sections move among stored, A-frame and aligned extension configurations.
How small do the Model 17 ladders become for storage?
Both documented Model 17 versions store at roughly 4 feet 7 inches high. Little Giant lists a 10-inch storage depth for Conquest All-Terrain and an 8-inch storage depth for Velocity.
How much do the featured Model 17 ladders weigh?
Little Giant lists the fiberglass Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 at 42 pounds and the aluminum Velocity Model 17 at 30.5 pounds.
Why is fiberglass used for the Conquest All-Terrain?
Fiberglass combines glass reinforcement with a polymer resin matrix. The composite provides useful structural properties, and its nonconductive glass reinforcement gives fiberglass rails an important electrical-material role.
Why is aluminum used for the Velocity?
Aluminum alloys combine low density, structural strength, workability and corrosion resistance. Those properties support long telescoping sections and help the Velocity Model 17 package its five-position system at 30.5 pounds.
Who founded Little Giant Ladder Systems?
Hal Wing founded Little Giant Ladder Systems in his garage in the 1970s after he and Brigitte Wing encountered a German painter with an adjustable ladder prototype. With the painter's blessing, Hal refined the idea and built the company around it.
Is this a hands-on Little Giant ladder review?
No. I do not own or use either featured ladder and have not performed hands-on testing. This page is independent research into specifications, mechanics, materials, company history and innovation significance.
Why are Conquest All-Terrain and Velocity included in this innovation series?
They show how one physical platform can store several working geometries. Articulation, telescoping, locking, material science and environmental adaptation turn the ladder into a system of useful states.
Sources worth opening
Official product data, company history and engineering context
This page uses Little Giant's current product pages, product-information database, manuals, history and patent index; the exact retailer listing supplied for the Conquest All-Terrain; American Ladder Institute duty-rating guidance; NIOSH ladder-angle research; NASA composite-material context; and Aluminum Association material guidance.
- Little Giant Conquest product page
- Little Giant Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 specifications
- Lowe's Conquest All-Terrain Model 17 listing
- Little Giant Velocity product page
- Little Giant Velocity Model 17 specifications
- Little Giant Ladder Systems history
- Little Giant patent index
- Little Giant product manuals
- American Ladder Institute: Ladders 101
- NIOSH Ladder Safety App and angle guidance
- NASA Spinoff: composite materials
- Aluminum Association: alloy properties and standards
- US4697305A: locking hinge release for multi-position ladders