Who's buying this crap?
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Julian H, do you really not understand the process of how China undercuts companies by making knock-offs of products and then marketing them to the same customers that buy the originals? The real Revolver runs around $35. There is no way that price could be brought down to $9 and a profit still be made, given that there are many more parts to a revolver than a standard carabiner. This particular design was no doubt chosen as it's more interesting, but also because the regular price is quite high. Say China wanted to produce a knock-off regular carabiner and sell it for $3 instead of $7. Yeah, not a lot of profit there. Get it now? |
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You'd have to test more than one for me to trust them... |
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Fuck all this noise. Are we blowing up a Chinese knock-off carabiner or what? |
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For $20 I'll offer up my nearly-unused GENUINE DMM locking Revolver for testing alongside the knock-off. |
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It is perfectly rational to be cautious about gear that you will be trusting to save your life. Unsafe gear is (obviously) a bad idea. Also, if it is going to mess with your mental game, just stick to the brands you trust. Saving a few bucks is not worth your peace of mind. |
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So someone “in the know” please confirm that BD makes the gear back in the USA now. |
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Guy Keesee wrote: So someone “in the know” please confirm that BD makes the gear back in the USA now. It sounds like you are significantly out of the loop. Black Diamond opened and operated a factory in China, and had most of their metal climbing gear manufactured there for roughly a decade. During that time there were no recalls on the gear that came out of that factory.A few years ago they shut down that factory and moved production back to North America, with virtually all the metal climbing gear being manufactured in their factory in Utah. In a very short period of time almost every product line that came out of that factory got recalled! One could argue that BD's Made In China gear was superior (pale-colours in the anodization aside) to their Made In 'Murca gear. You can confirm country of manufacture for yourself. If Black Diamond's website doesn't list which country each product is manufactured in, then there are plenty of other online retailers that do list that information. www.mec.ca is one place that has that information. |
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Khoi.... thanks for information, yes out of loop for years. I stopped buying BD mostly because of the callous treatment of long time workers by “the corporation” they axed many old friends who were climbers from Ventura, people who put their hearts and soul into making the best gear possible. |
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Guy Keesee wrote: So someone “in the know” please confirm that BD makes the gear back in the USA now. Nice story. Reminds me of this video. youtube.com/watch?v=RepARd6…; |
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Gerrit Verbeek wrote: Very circumstantial... Mechanical engineer, spent some time in china for work. The quality from of our chinese suppliers was far superior to any manufacturer we tried in canada or the states. You can buy junk anywhere. Re the story above, a more expensive bearing from china would likely perform equally. |
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David Ebel wrote: Second hand: Friend imports industrial fasteners from Asia (Taiwan, Shenzhen etc.), and it is extremely common for him to have to eat a shipment due to QC issues. The Asian manufacturer will lowball the bid to get the order, and then make substitutions in the metallurgy/process to make a bigger profit, all without telling the customer. When it gets stateside and my friends QC catches it, there is no recourse other than to not use that manufacturer again. In a worst case scenario the product will fail after installation, and then the lawsuits start. Again, for a small business person, there is no recourse. |
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Daniel Winder wrote: Great store, I just picked some "2 pieces 1 pair of silicone bra pad push high breasts detachable bra fill insert cup swimsuit bikini nipple cover sticker patch9" only 95 cents. Thanks! So many nouns... |
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CD Transporter wrote: ... I DID spend $10 to try the knock-off version. So, I guess that I am one of those scary people buying the crap, ha.I'd rather use a Camp Nano for a master point, or frankly ANY purpose, than any knock-off anything. Why the hell would you give any credence to a "knock-off" revolver?! Do you have some magical ability to know the metallurgy by smell? Are you the biner whisperer? Especially a revolver given that the ID on those bearings isn't going to be especially thick. Great, now I'll have to inspect the gear of all my potential climbing partners and grill them on where they bought the shit. |
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Guy Keesee wrote: Khoi.... thanks for information, yes out of loop for years. I stopped buying BD mostly because of the callous treatment of long time workers by “the corporation” they axed many old friends who were climbers from Ventura, people who put their hearts and soul into making the best gear possible. Looks like things are changing yet again. Black Diamond is doing a major overhaul of their carabiner lineup for 2020. The majority of those biners are being made in Taiwan. Metolius biners and a lot of Wild Country's current biner and cam lineup are also made in Taiwan. |
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Julian H wrote: Yes, I saw, and handled, all of Black Diamond's upcoming biners at Outdoor Retailer. |
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Bottom line is quality control is everything. You’ll find excellent products out of China and pathetic products from the US. And vice versa. There are likely many bomber biners and ascenders etc from China. The problem is that without regular testing and certification it’s impossible to know what is a quality product and what isn’t. All aluminum is not created equal. Given that the savings are not that great, I’ll stick to brands I trust. Especially in a game where failure can easily mean death. |
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Cereal Killer wrote: If you guys get the $10 together and buy one I'll cover pull testing. HD video and graphed results. You can have it shipped direct to the place I use if you don't trust me for forward it. So is this happening ? |
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Philip Nesbitt wrote: "Don't expect it to get here from the slow boat for 6-8 weeks." Plus wait time for pull testing. Breeeeeeath. |
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What's the over-under on this thing surviving 22kn? |
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Update, surprisingly it's arrived already! Just showed up yesterday and I'm posting from B.F.E. Kentucky from my families vacation rental now and didn't get it forwarded to climbing innovations before I left. I'll send it once I return to reality on the 8th. |