"CecilWilliams" wrote in message
m...
I just bought a Werner MT-17 Multiladder at Costco - it appears to be
exactly the same as the Little Giant Model 17 ladder, which I've seen
on TV. The price for this Werner MT-17 is $219 all over the internet,
but Costco for some reason is selling them today (first time I've seen
them there) for $99...

Wow, I certainly stirred up a hornets nest with this one. To those of
you who think this made in China Werner ladder is somehow poorly made
with inferior metals, think again. You haven't kept up with the times.
China as we all know has made plenty of really crappy stuff in the
past. The key phrase there is, "in the past". Are any of you old
enough to remember when "Made in Japan" meant really crappy stuff made
with terrible materials? That was back in the '60's and early '70's.
Anything from Japan was junk back then, and no one in their right mind
bought Japanese tools or cars or electonics. My, how times have
changed... Japan slowly improved their manufacturing and kept
improving till they got really good at it. Taiwan? Korea? Same deal,
but a decade or two later. China is/was maybe 40 years behind everyone
else, but they are starting to catch up. (IMHO, turning your back on
the China of the future will be like turning your back on a freight
train. Possibly with similar results...)

At any rate, I bought the Werner "made in China" ladder and I've
looked it over and given it a good workout, and I'm very satisfied
with the quality of it. Those of you casting aspersions on it have
most likely never seen it, and you're speculating about something that
you don't really know anything about. The Werner has the look and feel
of quality. And I've noticed that many other "made in China" goods
I've bought this year seem to have improved greatly in quality. My
engineering background is only in computers and printers, (including
some aluminum casting and fab) so I'm not qualified to say whether
this ladder is made from a 6061 or 7075 aluminum alloy, but since it
is Type III and rated at 300 lbs and it has Werner's name on it, I
figure it can't be any worse than my 16 or 24 foot Werner Type II
aluminum extension ladders. It's certainly more convenient to use,
especially indoors...

- Cecil