Abstract: An extension ladder comprised of a pair of base rails interlocked in a tongue and groove relationship with a pair of slide rails is disclosed. The rails may be manufactured in a variety of shapes including “I” beams, rectangles, boxes, or even ovals or circular shapes. Some embodiments of the ladder include a pulley assembly which is fastened to a fly rail rung and a rope is passed through the pulley to form a continuous loop around the rungs of the base set of rail rungs and the fly fail rungs. In addition, some embodiments include means for attaching tools to the fly rail.

Abstract: A combination step and extension ladder manufactured of prestressed filament wound composite material such as fiberglass is disclosed. The inner and outer side rails are molded, filament wound composite material (fiberglass) wherein the fibers are continuous and angularly oriented with respect to the longitudinal axis of the respective side rails. Hinges are provided on each of the inner side rails of the ladder and hinge actuators are located in the front edges of the outer side rails so that the ladder may be folded, unfolded or locked in either a closed, step ladder or straight extension ladder configuration, by depressing the hinge actuators, irrespective of the longitudinal position of the inner rail sections with respect to the outer rail sections.