Ergodyne Arsenal 5300 Ladder Shoulder Lifting Strap & Carrying Handle

I service ceiling hoists and have to walk around sites with my step ladder. Because god forbid you should use one of their ladders. Its very well made and perfect for the job, ladder on one shoulder and tools on the other.

The Ergodyne Arsenal 5300 Strap kit for carrying ladders works very well for ladders that it fits, although I think the designer should really make the straps longer so they fit a wider range of ladders. I was eager to try this product because we have heavy ladders at both our main house and a vacation cottage that are difficult to lift and carry due to their bulk and weight. Although this kit does not fit all of our ladders, for the ones that it does fit, the handle and shoulder strap combination definitely make lifting and moving heavy ladders much easier. I will use this product frequently.I first tried the kit on an 8 foot tall step ladder that has fiberglass front and back rails which both measure just over 3 inches x 1 inch in cross section. Unfortunately, the straps are much too short to go around the rails of this ladder, so the product is NOT compatible with this ladder. Looking more closely at the listing photo that shows compatible ladders, I now see that all of the pictured step ladders have back rails that are much smaller around than the front rails, and the instructions packed with the Arsenal 5300 kit clearly say to install the straps around the smaller back rail of the ladder. Other buyers should carefully look at these photos and compare them with your ladder(s), because the straps are only long enough to go around a rail that is just a little larger around than a wood 2 x 2.I next tried the Arsenal 5300 Strap kit on an aluminum multi-position ladder with three sets of locking hinges, front and back rails that both measure 2.56 x 1.1 inches in cross section, and which is just under 8.5 feet long when folded in half in its normal carry configuration. This ladder is very heavy, and one of the hinges always dug into my hip whenever I tried to carry it. Happily for me, the Arsenal 5300 Strap handle and shoulder strap kit works quite well for this ladder. The straps are just long enough to go around the rails with about 1 inch of overlap for securing the velcro, the pad covers the hinge that formerly dug into my hip, and with the handle and shoulder strap installed, lifting and carrying this heavy ladder is much easier. I will probably leave the product semi-permanently installed on this ladder, because although we own other shorter ladders that the straps would also fit, those ladders are light enough that we really don't need to use a handle or shoulder strap to transport them unless we ever have a need to carry a ladder a really long distance.I am very happy to have found a product that makes it easier to lift and carry my heavy aluminum multi-position ladder. For the people who always ask, this product was designed in Minnesota (probably at Ergodyne's "Intergalactic Headquarters" in Saint Paul as listed on the labeling and instructions), and made in China. If you have a heavy ladder with rails that are small enough for this product to fit, I definitely recommend the Arsenal 5300 handle and shoulder strap kit.

This seems like a nice idea and works ok for fixed-type fiberglass ladders. It is too small and impedes multi-function/ adjustable ladders which was what I got it for originally. The center part has a two-way pouch for holding small things. The shoulder pad and handle felt ok to use. May take some adjustments to find the center of the ladder and a good length for the shoulder strap. The center part has an extra strap to hold the front step rail to the back rails.My big dislike is that the only fastening of the two rails is in the middle, and the bottom end of a fiberglass ladder gets pulled up while the step side sags down. This makes it slightly awkward and I think this would probably be hard on the ladder, so the bottom part really should have a strap like the middle does.

I honestly wasn't aware something like this even existed - but here we are and now I'm not sure how I went this long without it - and now am considering getting another just as a backup in case something happens to this one. At first, it took me a minute to figure out exactly how to arrange the straps, but once I did it made perfect sense. I use a ladder almost every day at my job, and this has made moving it around from location to location something much less dreadful. Now I don't got so exhausted carrying it around and it doesn't bang into me while moving around. Plus now I can actually carry something else with me with confidence. Love it.

I got this to put on the ladder at my parents' house, because they have an old A frame aluminum model which is still in great shape. With their getting older I want to do what I can to make physical tasks easier so they can continue to work independently and not regret it the next day.Attaching the strap using the included instructions was straightforward and the result seemed pretty secure, resulting in a ladder which is easy to sling over a shoulder and carry with one hand or none. If you have a tool bag or anything else you want to bring along this makes it much easier to do in one trip, and even if not this helps you distribute the weight of the ladder and make it less of an effort to carry.Please pay close attention to Ergodyne's included graphic which details the types of ladder that the strap will fit on before buying one. Out of curiosity I tried it on a telescoping combination ladder (listed as incompatible) and the strap does not have the right dimensions to hold it securely, so they aren't kidding.

Who doesn't struggle with lifting and carry ladders of different types, sizes and weights? This set provides a great alternate to simply "grabbing" the side of your ladders by strapping on a handle and carrier to the side to give you a solid and secure way to get a good grip on your ladders. I have tried it with different styles of ladders we have laying around and it's been successful with each style. It can be a little bit of a hassle to remove from one to move to another so buying a couple may be beneficial if you need change the ladder you are using often.