What brand(s) of recovery gear?

[3rdGen4R]

I think our wires got crossed here 'cause I think we're saying the same thing. The confusion may be that you circled "ARB" (meaning trust the manufacturer) and I mistook that to me you should buy *from* ARB (meaning trust the seller). You were responding to Daniel's point about unknown brands (or known junk). It's true the country of origin isn't an automatic determination of that.

I was trying to say you have to trust the source (meaning who's selling and shipping it to you on Amazon) because just being called "ARB" there doesn't mean it actually is. It could easily be counterfeit unless the seller is a legitimate company and is authorized to resell ARB. Any Joe Blow can list a product on Amazon and say it's whatever. Amazon doesn't preemptively police for that, you have to bring it to their attention. That's why I put the arrows pointing to check the seller.

Yes! Correct! Sorry. Part of the issue is that I meant to circle the seller and not the product like you did. I also haven’t seen any counterfeit ARB products, have you?

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yes! Correct! Sorry. Part of the issue is that I meant to circle the seller and not the product like you did. I also haven’t seen any counterfeit ARB products, have you?

Not personally that I know of, but like I say other than getting those D29XL from Amazon everything I've bought ARB or OME came from Slee, Toytec or Bullhide up in Ft. Collins when were lived there. I suspect it's fairly difficult to fake Air Lockers, suspension and bumpers, not impossible, but have to think unlikely from real brick-and-mortars.

Straps, compressors, etc bought online, maybe more chance there. I know on Amazon there's a lot of brands of straps that look an awful lot like ARB, colors, tags, the whole deal, that aren't. So it would not surprise me if there's counterfeits out there.

 

[jps8460]

Not personally that I know of, but like I say other than getting those D29XL from Amazon everything I've bought ARB or OME came from Slee, Toytec or Bullhide up in Ft. Collins when were lived there. I suspect it's fairly difficult to fake Air Lockers, suspension and bumpers, not impossible, but have to think unlikely from real brick-and-mortars.

Straps, compressors, etc bought online, maybe more chance there. I know on Amazon there's a lot of brands of straps that look an awful lot like ARB, colors, tags, the whole deal, that aren't. So it would not surprise me if there's counterfeits out there.

Funny you say air lockers lol. There was a company counterfeiting them and selling them on eBay 5-6 years ago. Since then, they got busted, then started using their own brand. You can still find them here and there under different names.

I’m guessing that this is that same company

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TRE-4x4-lo...570018&hash=item261713e201:g:mHQAAOSwZqlcNrpr

 

[RedRunner]

A couple of things I wanted to mention, since it was something Bill Burke talked about.

He said (as has been here) about using known brands. He mentioned is when you look at rigging that is certified to a specification and traceable (for example used for use overhead, mining or shipboard, amongst other places) you'll see serial numbers. I wanted to show you want that looks like on Crosby bow shackles, it's located on the pin.

We also talked at some length about receiver hitches and draw bar pins. This is how I attach my shackle adapter in my hitch. It's a grade 8 bolt that's about 4" or 4-1/2" long. It's shouldered so the threads only extend to about where the lock washer is on the double nutted side. The point is to have the adapter and both sides of the receiver only touching unthreaded rod stock.

Thanks for all the info! Very helpful for a noob like myself!

 

[DaveInDenver]

Thanks for all the info! Very helpful for a noob like myself!

Since you quoted that post I should mention there was a correction Jackson (@jps8460) posted a couple of replies later that the numbers imprinted on the pin in my photo aren't the serial number but rather a manufacturer and grade code. The take-away being that even if the shackles don't carry S/N traceability they should have some similar sort of code when they are made to standards.

 

[RedRunner]

Since you quoted that post I should mention there was a correction Jackson (@jps8460) posted a couple of replies later that the numbers imprinted on the pin in my photo aren't the serial number but rather a manufacturer and grade code. The take-away being that even if the shackles don't carry S/N traceability they should have some similar sort of code when they are made to standards.

Got it. I made the mistake of buying the cheap ones on Amazon already. Luckily, I have not had to use them yet to find out how bad they are. I am working on making a recovery kit that I do not have to worry about not being reliable. I am looking forward to next months meeting to learn about the recovery aspect of off-road. Quickly finding out how much there is to learn with all of this but very excited!

Thanks again for all the advise!

 

[Inukshuk]

Got it. I made the mistake of buying the cheap ones on Amazon already. Luckily, I have not had to use them yet to find out how bad they are. I am working on making a recovery kit that I do not have to worry about not being reliable. I am looking forward to next months meeting to learn about the recovery aspect of off-road. Quickly finding out how much there is to learn with all of this but very excited!

For what its worth, not a single person any of us know has ever reported any screw-pin shackles failing. Likely your straps or vehicle will break first. Sure, get the good ones (I did), for the cost differential its a no-brainer. If you only have what you have and need to use them, use em. I do.

 

[DaveInDenver]

For what its worth, not a single person any of us know has ever reported any screw-pin shackles failing. Likely your straps or vehicle will break first. Sure, get the good ones (I did), for the cost differential its a no-brainer. If you only have what you have and need to use them, use em. I do.

The only thing that I think should be mentioned to this truthful post is that regardless if you buy name top of line industrial rigging shackles or stick with well known 4WD brands (ARB, Warn, etc.) you should never buy cast shackles. You always want to use forged shackles.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Hard to imagine a more telling photo.

 

[Stuckinthe80s]

Hard to imagine a more telling photo.

Now that's scary!

 

[Corbet]

saw - i like bow saws like Bahco or fiskers etc. Like corbet i'll probably replace with stihl.

I really like my Stihl and couldn’t be much happier. But I’ll willing to bet many here already own Makita or other cordless tools. If you’re already vested into a battery platform check to see if there is a chainsaw available to you. As the Stihl’s battery and charger are over half the cost of the system.