Little Giant recalled about 3.66 million ladders on November 5, 2026. The problem is the Rapid Locks, the black or orange locking pins on each leg that set the ladder’s height.
If a lock is not fully seated, the leg can retract under load. CPSC’s release lists 25 reports of ladders retracting and 19 injuries, including three head injuries described as traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, concussion, vision loss, hearing loss or cognitive impairment. Another 16 were fractures, lacerations and bruising.
This one matters to anyone who climbs for a living. A ladder that drops a rung without warning is about as bad as shop equipment gets.
What Is Actually Recalled
The recall covers 11 model families: Adjustable Fortress 2.0, Conquest 2.0, Dark Horse 2.0, Epic, King Kombo XT, Leveler, MegaLite, MegaLite+, Multi, Quantum and Vector. They sold from December 2015 through October 2026 at Lowe’s, Costco, Amazon, LittleGiantLadders.com and other retailers, for roughly $100 to $1,000.
Here is the shortcut that saves you a phone call. Look for an orange rectangular QC sticker on the rail above one of the Rapid Locks. Ladders that have it are not part of the recall.
Ladders without it are. Check before you climb, not after.
- No orange QC sticker on the rail: recalled, stop using it
- Lock feels loose or will not seat: lubricate it, then test again
- Still loose after lubrication: call Little Giant for evaluation
- QC sticker present: not covered by this recall
The Remedy Is a Repair Kit, Not a New Ladder
Little Giant is not handing out replacement ladders to everyone. First you get a repair kit with warning labels and instructions.
Those labels tell you to confirm the locks are seated before every climb and to keep them lubricated. If a lock still will not work after lubrication, Little Giant evaluates it.
A lock that fails that evaluation gets you a replacement ladder of the same or equivalent model, or a refund that ranges from depreciated value up to full price for ladders bought in the last 12 months.
So the practical sequence is: stop using the ladder, get the kit, follow the lubrication steps, test every lock, and escalate if any of them is still sloppy. Call (866) 201-9069, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT weekdays, or start at littlegiantladders.com/pages/recalls.
Worth noting what the company has not recalled: the 39 separate reports of Rapid Locks not working properly did not produce a blanket replacement. Inspection and maintenance are the fix, which puts the burden on you to check your own ladder.
If You Were About to Buy One
Little Giant sells factory refurbished and final-stock ladders on its own site, and Lowe’s and Costco move a lot of these units.
Before you buy, check for the QC sticker. A ladder sitting in a store today could be old stock from before the fix. If the sticker is missing, treat it as a recalled unit and do not buy it, even at a discount.
If you already own one and it is your only ladder, do not keep climbing it while you wait for the kit. A stepladder or a borrowed one is cheaper than a hospital visit.
For buyers comparing options, our deck building guide covers the ladder and access gear most deck jobs need. And if you are replacing a ladder on a job site where height access is the whole point, our spring home improvement guide walks through the rest of the exterior work.
Source: CPSC recall 27-067, released November 5, 2026. Full model list and photos at cpsc.gov.