As I mentioned in my post on Little Giant’s convertible “Velocity” ladder, there are these telescoping ladders you can buy — of which there are a bunch of generically branded ones to choose from — that I advised against using at the time. My problem with them was that they tend to bow when fully extended, which didn’t seem all too safe.

However, after seeing them in use many, many times by several friends since that post, I’ve had my mind changed on the matter.

These things really are nifty to have around, especially if you often have to do odd jobs away from home. They pack down to a size you can easily fit into a car trunk, then extend up to 8½ feet ($88), 12½ feet ($130), or 15½ feet ($180) depending on the model you have. When you’re done again, you just press the two thumb buttons together to retract the whole thing back down. (Watch your other fingers though!)

Despite that bit of flexing you get at the longer lengths, these ladders are rated to support up to 330 pounds — which is actually a bit higher than the seemingly sturdier Velocity ladder — so you’re more than likely going to be fine using one.