I bought this ladder for my pregnant wife to use in the kitchen to reach for items located very high in the ceiling cabinets as it was the only model I could find that had a high arch hand rail, which would aid in stability while standing on the top step. However, I was greatly disappointed that the black base grip molding was made of a hard (cheap) plastic, rather than a soft rubber base for gripping surfaces. As our kitchen (like most kitchens) is tiled, the ladder slides around like skates on ice when touched--which makes the high arch hand rail rather meaningless since you would more likely fall from the unstable floor grip of the ladder...I wish they would replace this base grip or at least include alternative base grips for users to change out depending on where the uses are. Other than that, I find the ladder very well made, light and pretty compact for its size.