You'll Need This Quality RV Accessory
Owner of LadderGadget, Ron Roach, Discusses His Inspiration & Benefits Given From Creating This Handy Tool Used By RVers
"My son was 10 years old and we went to a trip to Home Depot. I reached out to hold his hand and he said, 'Dad, I'm too old for that.'" And then I realized I need to find something to keep spending time with my kids," recalls Ron Roach, owner of Ladder Gadget. After that experience, Roach went out and bought a Class C camper and that did the trick. This made way for a lifelong love of camping, one that continues today. "We went from a Class C to a four wheel popup trailer for off road camping, a truck camper, and now we are in the beast - a Class A camper," Roach says.
The inspiration behind the handy little Ladder Gadget comes from his wife. "She was looking for a place to hold her birdfeeder," he recalls. He goes into more detail on the website, "Regardless of the rig we were in and wherever we went, we found ourselves always looking for a good place to hang our wet swimsuits, towels, wetsuits, fishing waders, laundry, birdfeeder, and anything else you can think of to hang. Invariably, we did like everyone else. We hung stuff on our awning arms, the rig’s mirrors, camp chairs, or on nearby trees or bushes. We didn’t really like looking like hillbillies but hey, we didn’t have much choice."
After those experiences and realizing what's on the market either leaves the RV ladder not functional or are so cheaply made that they break after a season, he went to the drawing board. "I am not an engineer so I sat down with a pen and pad to come up with an idea," he says, "Then I brought it to a friend that transferred it to CAD drawings." Roach then brought the design to a machine shop, where they brought his idea into a reality. This all took place in the summer of 2017.
Quickly after seeing the benefits of his product, he made a bunch of Ladder Gadgets to get ready for the Quartzsite RV Show, where he was encouraged by the feedback. He also sent one to an RV blog, Love Your RV, where Ladder Gadget received a great review. Though it is pricey ($99), it is built to last and made in the USA. "I spend a lot of money per product because I figure if I'm going to make something, I want it to be good," Roach says. They use high grade anodized 6061 aluminum and stainless steel hardware on the gadget. 6061 Aluminum is the aluminum used for aircraft. It comes in silver or black.
So what are some uses for the Ladder Gadget? Basically anything an RVer wants to hang up, either as decorative fixtures or simple to dry out. On their website, they have a gallery of suggested uses including lanterns, flags, dart boards, and more. It has plenty of different holes and notches for hanging different types of objects.
The two most prominent features of the Ladder Gadget are correcting the two things Roach noticed when he was looking for something similar: built to last and something that doesn’t make the ladder useless. “Most of the RV products, even the RVs themselves, are built so cheaply nowadays,” Roach says, “The Ladder Gadget will probably outlive your RV.” He also puts a 20 pound weight limit on the Ladder Gadget, but that isn’t out of consideration of the product itself, it is actually more for the ladder. “I’m afraid if I put the limit at too much the ladder will bend,” Roach chuckles. It stays out of the way of utilizing the ladder, too, as well as folds down when travelling.
The biggest challenge Roach is having right now is finding ways to get his product out there. He thinks that the millennial market would particularly be interested in buying a Ladder Gadget. “A lot of times, younger families get a smaller pull behind camper and generally are lacking for storage, so I think the Ladder Gadget would be perfect for them,” Roach says. He has started finding ways to market to that particular demographic, but kind of feels like he is just taking stabs in different directions. He realizes he has a quality, useful product that a lot of people would find benefit from. Finding ways to bring that to the public, whether through social media or RV shows, is his current plan of action.
As he is searching for the answer, continuing to camp and enjoy life is always a priority. Roach, who lives with his wife and two dogs in southern California, loves to camp and has done so for many years. “I loved camping in the off-road popup because we could do a lot of boondocking like in the Alabama Hills,” he says, “But you can’t deny the comfort of a Class A.” Whatever he is camping in, you can bet there is a Ladder Gadget on the back.
Andrew Malo
A graduate of Northeastern Illinois University in Education, Andrew has taught for the past decade in Chicago, New Mexico, and Japan. He enjoys tinkering with trucks and motorcycles, woodworking, reading and computer programming.
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RV LadderGadget, created by long time RVers who decided to take matters into their own hands and designed the accessory. From day one they were determined that if they were going to make some-thing, it would be built exactly how they want it.