Not So Simple Ladder Success

So yesterday I had a half-brained idea about making a ladder with hose and scrap PVC for rungs. I made the mouths of the cuts too large for the PVC I intended to use so it didn't turn out to be the snug-fit, fastener-less end product I had envisioned.

Today I tried just cutting a slit. If only it was that easy.

The trick to inserting your rungs is to fold the hose against its natural crease. Now you can see how big those first cuts were; no wonder they had no grip on the PVC rungs.

Because it's such a tight fit the hose ended up all lumpy afterward. Not exactly what I'm looking for. None of this is going to pass "Director on his morning rounds" inspection but I don't want it looking gross. 

 I tried again and cut the mouth a little wider and maybe just a tad deeper.

That looks better.

Not so bad. So if I were to make a rule of thumb, make the opening about half the diameter of whatever you're using as your rungs. The friction of the hose should keep it in place to be safe for most of the smaller primates, birds, kinkajous, coatis, sloths, etc to climb around on without fear of pulling out the rungs. Drill a hole at one end of the hose or both and use quick links, carabineers, or ropes to string it up vertically, horizontally, or twist it into a double helix. Please let me know how it goes! If you don't like it, at the very least you have an easy browse hanger with lots of holes to insert stems!