Side by Side Comparison of: Kidde vs First Alert

This was for my daughters third floor apartment at school. A bit confusing at first but she was able to figure it out once she practiced putting it in a couple times. She did not deploy it but saw how easy it was once its mounted. Hopefully never gets tested.

I bought this item for my daughter's college apartment. Though I hope she never has to use it, it just gives a person peace of mind to know that she at least has a way to get down from the second floor apartment. I opened the box to inspect the item and it looks well made. It is a one use only product though. It is much lighter and smaller than the chain and steel tubing fire ladder we currently have in our home. The ladder comes out of the box easily and has "ears" that fit over the window sill. It looks like it can be quickly and easily deployed.

A family in our community recently died because they could not get out of their two story home. My husband is a firefighter and was one of the ones to find the family huddled beside the upstairs window. It was one of the saddest things ever. It was a mom and a dad and two kids. The stairwell in their home had burned up and they couldn't get out. If they had had a fire ladder they might have lived. After my husband got home from that call he ordered one of these on Amazon immediately. We recently moved to a two-story home and had not bought one yet. It is not worth risking it. We actually plan on buying another one to have on both sides of the house upstairs just in case we can't get to one. The only other thing I thought about that this latter would not solve is the issue of having small children. Obviously adults could easily climb down this ladder out of a window but toddlers or babies could not. I actually thought about tying ropes to a laundry basket and sticking it in a closet because if I was home alone and my husband was not there and I had two kids at home, I would have no way of getting them down a ladder by myself. But I could stick my baby in a laundry basket and lower him down with rope. That may sound crazy but it's probably what I would have to do in case of an emergency if I was by myself with my kids. Just an idea for other mamas with small children. So grateful they make a product like this to keep families safe!

If you would like some additional info or photo's please comment and I'll update the review with any new info I canThis is a good piece of Equipment to have as part of your fire plan. Just make sure you buy the proper length for the home.I like to have this prepped and ready to go next to the fire masks at all times.Ideally having them in each bedroom where someone sleeps with a firemask would be preferred. This way if there is an emergency their escape doesn't require opening doors and/or navigating dangerous hallways.A possible solution is to have a tote, with a mask, a blanket, a gallon of water and a ladder in it. This way your loved ones have a "fire kit". They can use the water to wet a blanket and either place under the door or wear over their shoulders. They have the mask for smoke and the ladder to escape.Having the ladder is great but what if it's not accessible to you or your loved one because they're separated by the fire or smoke? It's just part of your family fire plan.

As a firefighter this was one of the first things we purchased after we moved into our 2 story house. There is simply no reason not to invest in something so cheap that can save your life. Lord willing you will not need this device but you do not want to be in the position of needing it and not having it. I recommend at least 1 in the upstairs of your housing unit in a place that is easy to get to. This ladder is well made and easy to deploy if necessary so that even kids can do it if left at home and the worst happens. I would certainly recommend this product to others.

Yes it's good. Worth the money. Buy it.

Exactly as described, seems to refold without problem.

Very sturdy quality, and best price compared to other competitors.

Stores compact, very strong and easy to deploy. Great safety item every two story home should have.

Our home is 3 stories with the bottom floor set half underground, we have 10 feet high ceilings, and the bedrooms are on the third floor. We have 10 feet ceilings plus the 5 feet underground which makes it 25 feet from the bedroom windows to the ground. This ladder was an easy purchase for my husband and I. We have one in each of our bedrooms. As a family we have had MANY fire drills where we have had each of the children practice putting the ladder on the window and climbing down. Our neighbors are used to it..in fact after watching us do the fire drill several times our neighbors bought ladders too. In regards to ages. Our youngest was 4 years old the first time we practiced the fire drill (I should note the first few times my husband assisted each of the children and for the younger ones I was in the bedroom and he was on the ground on a ladder to help guide them). This ladder has taught our children to not fear because we are prepared, worth every dime!The ladder is strong.. the heaviest person we have had on it was 250 pounds. Just few notes about the product.. we store it next to the bed/under the bed near the window.. if you look at the blue strap in the picture it velcro's and create a handle to carry the ladder - it's very light.

This escape ladder has a nice emergency release strap which also doubles as a "tie" to hold all the rungs in place while storing so it can be quickly and easily moved and put into the window in an emergency. Haven't had to use mine yet, but it feels very solid and is of a high quality construction, but isn't too heavy. I checked it out thoroughly and simulated using it so I would know how if the time came. Just having this in my second story rooms makes me feel safer. This is the third one I have purchased so each room has one, compact box fits under the bed in one room and behind a chair by the window in the other room. If you have a 2-story place, make sure to have at least one of these upstairs in case you ever need it. TIP: If Fire, close bedroom door before opening your window so the influx of oxygen doesn't pull fire into the room.

I am 185 pounds and I have tested this ladder numerous times now... you can feel confident that this ladder is quality made and will handle at least a 185 man without fail. [...]

Hope to never have to use this but it's good to know we have it.

Looks like a good product I pray I never need to use it!!

It will work. Hope never to use it...Actually well made...

Well like almost everyone else I wondered if it is possible to re-pack this ladder after it has been deployed (like so you can practice).Well I guess I will find out because mine deployed accidentally while I was hanging it up in my closet.I will post an update laterUPDATE: Amazon is amazing. They are replacing my ladder. It does appear that the ladder can be re-packed, but not with a lot of confidence. I did not practice with it because at my age, I don't like the risk/benefit ratio over a concrete driveway. I don't mind not being able to practice with it; in an emergency I'm sure we will manage. If you really want to practice, I would recommend buying 2. At $48 each it would be worth giving you peace of mind. If you don't like it on the practice run just return the second one for a refund.

Not much to say. Appears to be good quality. Hopefully will never have to use it.

The ladder appears to be sturdy, and made of quality products, though I hopefully will never have to test it out. I have not tested it out, because these really are supposed to be a one-time use only (manufacturer's guarantee), but do trust that it'd work if need be. The metal is a bit sharp, so be aware of that, and store it in an easily accessible place.

I purchase these for my niece's home, and my sister's home. Haven't been able to give them to either of them as of yet. However, I did open the box and they do look like they are well put together and well made.

Reassuring to have something available to use in emergency. Hopefully will never have to use it.

Fortunately, it is just an insurance as I live on the second floor. It looks sturdy and capable of doing the job.

I'm hoping I never have to use it, but I sleep better knowing it's there.

Shorter than I expected it to be, still an 5 foot drop

I purchased three of these ladders - one for each bedroom. The construction is sturdy and should last for a longtime. The unit is heavy and would be difficult to deploy for a young child. I would recommend these to adults / parents who plan on deploying the ladder themselves.

What emergency ladder doesn't allow for you to practice? I have kids that I wanted to do fire drills with and so I have to say now this is what you would do to a 5 year old... hm?

wish it came with a carry case a bit bulky compared to another one I bought that was actually a 3 story

I thought this would have been lighter, oh well it's a need for my grandchildren.

A little hard to get in window but better that having nothing.

I bought this for the safety of my daughter (we keep it in her bedroom right next to the window). My only complaint is this is a one time use only ladder. Although she feels safer with it in her room, I wish we could have practiced using it before an emergency situation.

I thought it would be easy enough for my 9 year old to manage but guess I had too high of expectations. I feel I would have to get to them to get this out the window and set up and it states 1 time use which takes away the fire drill. I would have better luck with a ladder outside of their window and helping them out than this.

Did not really fit our needs but built well.

It's good for dropping out of a window if there are no other windows directly underneath as we didn't see this warning until the box was opened not to have it go over windows directly below the drop. We kept it anyway and would take chances should a fire break out and flames were directly below in the other apartments with windows which are directly under our windows.

We live in a brick house and the windowsill plus brick exterior was too wide for this ladder to work. It would be nice if it were adjustable for all windowsill widths.

I bought this item but ended up returning it. I felt that it would be to heavy for my 9 (girl) and 10 (boy) year olds to get onto the window sill. I think it is a great idea just not a fit for our household.

This ladder was purchased for a six year old girl who has a second story bedroom.The good: it seems to be built well. However there are plastic end pieces on each of the rungs that fall out once you unfurl it, and seem to serve no actual purpose to begin with.It also folds up into a pretty compact little package.The price was one of the lowest I'd seen.The bad: the biggest problem we had was that this ladder is way too heavy for her to lift up and get out the window. We're talking about a strong little girl here and there was no hope. It's also unwieldy. Even if she could hoist it up, the hooks and the swinging rungs are just a little too much for a child to handle. I put it out the window for her do she could practice going down it. While she was leaning way out the window to release the ladder, there was a real and justified fear that she was going to fall out the window. Putting it back together is a bit of a nightmare, and once you do get it together, if you don't pick it up a certain way, it's going to come undone and you get to start over.

This looks like a well-made, sturdy ladder. However, it's very heavy and awkward. I got it for my daughter's bedroom (14) and it is too heavy for her to manage well in even a non-emergency situation, even too heavy for me to manage well. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Didn't fit our porch layout

can only use item once

The small strap is insufficient to hold the three story version together. Simply trying to move it from my bedroom to my closet caused it to twist into a tangled mess. I'd like to return it but I don't know that I can fit it back into the box.

this ladder is for ONE use only..guess I can't tell you how it works since I can't try it out without throwing it out! I didn't see that until I read it on the outside of the box. I think there are others that are good for more than one run!

The product manual suggests to try two times to hand the ladder over your window without deploying it-- just to learn how to do in an emergency. Well, after I attached the assembly outside my window and tried to bring it back, it's unfurled. The release strap seems to be too narrow so that the entire folded ladder can slip through it. I did manage to pull the whole thing back into the room through the window and re-folded it, but they say it is for a single use only, so I am not sure how useful it is now.

Please be sure you understand that this product can not be tested before use. It is a ONE TIME use only safety device. Kind of ironic since all professionals recommend testing your escape plan ahead of time. Think about what you are going to do as young children are afraid to go down it in their panic. Can you carry them and descend?I suspect the manufacturer is concerned about liability if the ladder is damaged and reused so they put their bottom line ahead of your families safety. Too bad.

Way too floppy; could kill your self just trying it out even without a fire!Would not purchase or use any higher than about 8 feet.

Too heavy for kids, which to me defeats the purpose.

Must be a better design.

Ordered this after reading many reviews for fire escape ladders. We needed something for our two sons since their rooms are on the second floor of our home. After unpacking this, my husband even struggled to figure our how this would work- this is heavy- probably 20-25 lbs. The rails that fit over the sill don't stay in place, they want to keep folding up as you are trying to manipulate it in place over the sill. No way that our 8 year old son could operate this in an emergency setting- he could barely lift it high enough to place over the sill let only unroll the rung sections.I sent this back and now need to find something that a child could actually operate independently.

The instructions shipped with Ladder say it "cannot" be used if there is a window located below the window you plan to use for this Escape Ladder.I'm really glad I read the instruction instead of simply placing near the window. The information is not in Amazon's listing. I could have had a very bad situation if I needed to use it.Amazon, you need to include this in the listing!I gave this 3 stars instead of 1 since the ladder looked sturdy, but I could have been in a LOT of danger if I did not read the full instructions ... AND ... return it.

We did a practice run from a 1st story window, which was a good idea.Incident 1: On the first attempt, we released the ladder and all the rungs were facing the wrong direction. Had it been a real fire, we probably would have used it like that, which certainly would make it harder but not impossible to get down.Incident 2: We carefully repacked the ladder and tried again with the ladder in the correct orientation. Our child climbed down without incident. My wife started down but as she got partway down, the hooks slipped off the window sill! Fortunately, the hooks caught on the window frame and she did not fall. Being vinyl, the window frame is not all that strong. Had it been myself (50 lbs more) there is a good chance the frame would have broken. I wasn't about to try it though.We have fairly standard window trim and there was nothing to suggest we had not properly hung the ladder. I did find a slightly different way to place the hooks that may be more secure; at that point I did not want to risk another attempt. I guess I'm going to keep the ladder and hope we never have to use it.About half a dozen of the plastic end caps from the rungs fell off during our testing. This doesn't really affect the usability of the ladder but it adds to the impression that this is not a carefully designed product.

Just discovered this item is to be used only once. It was in the fine print in a sub page

This is a one use ladder. Hopefully it's a never use ladder, but it should have been clear it is one time only.

Not very practical. Had a few trials and not easy to use.

This ladder is terrible, I would not recommend anyone to get this. It moves entirely too much and doesn't seem safe at all!

I have been doing some research on this and would like to have an escape ladder that really functions well since this is something that I want to have that will do its job superbly to save my family if it is used. I called Kidde since it is unclear why this is one time use only. The answer from the Kidde representative is that if it is deployed, you can try to fold/pack it back but it is likely for the ropes to not deploy again completely and get entangled, in which case the ladder becomes unsafe to use. I wish this could be repacked because I would like to practice using a ladder and have my kids practice so that I know exactly what to do and what to expect. (You can never be too prepared.) During my research, I found out that this is a copy of the X-it ladder X-IT 2 Story (13') Portable Emergency Fire Escape Ladder and Kidde paid $17.4 million to settle the case. (Sad to find out things like this...) X-it ladder tells you to practice and shows you how to repack the ladder. It is more expensive. But if you practice 3-4 times, you get your money's worth, I guess. (I wish there is a product that works well with a good price.)

the instructions say that you can not use it more than once, which makes it even rolling it out the window useless. Just to practice and show how to use it will render the product useless according to the instructions. Either the instructions are wrong or the product is useless.

Dangerous! Put together backwards. It took me a little time to unpack this ladder and test it out. It is probably manageable for my 14 year old daughter's to attach to her window, however, the ladder is attached backwards to the window hooks making it impossible to use. The legs that should go against the house would sticking out in the air in a real emergency. I agree with other reviews that if put together properly, this ladder would be difficult for young children.

I can assemble Ikea furniture. I can change the toner and remove jammed paper in a big photocopier.And this thing is an oversimplified bit of junk.First off, my ladders strap faced the wrong direction. Second, they want you to double stack these stirrups on top of each other, and there's nothing included to hold them together until they're all in place. The side straps connecting the stirrups, daisy-chain like, get in the way and take up too much space when squeezing the stirrups together. These stirrups DO NOT stack; there is nothing on the stirrups to make them stack, one row on top of another. I don't care anymore how good of a ladder it might be, when I wasted an entire day in trying to reassemble the damn thing back together. JUNK, JUNK, JUNK!

way too heavy to be useful

We tried this ladder several times today as we practiced 2nd story fire safety escape with my 8 year old. He would attach it just fine, throw it out window just fine and unlatch it just fine but it would tangle every time after he unlatched it. No one has time to untangle the ladder in an emergency! What's worse is that after you unlatch it the first time to practice it is a nightmare trying to untangle it to put it all back together to reattach. I never could reattach it as well as it was originally assembled. Not only would I not recommend this, I have already ordered something else to replace it.

The product description on Amazon incorrectly claims that it will fit window sills up to 13" deep, but actually fits only 10" (and is listed at up to 10" in the instruction manual). The instructions also say "Do not use from a second floor window directly above a first floor window." Either one of these concerns rules out every second floor window in my house.

Ordered 2 of these ladders and am sending them back. The ladders are heavy and combersome. Ladders seem too complicated especially if needed in an emergency situation. The hooks have to be pulled apart so it adds an extra step. The hooks are heavy and hard to get even to latch onto a window seal. The actual ladder rungs fall out of their packaging and are heavy. So getting the ladder rungs out the window could be troublesome. We have an X-it ladder and I was hoping to be able to get away with using these cheaper ladders in some other needed areas. The X-it ladder I have is a much better product. It is light weight. My kids can lift it. The ladder rungs stay neatly packaged until deployed. The hooks that secure to the window seal are simple. Guess I will have to spend the money and get more X-it ladders.