READ THIS! Counterfeit Petzl Gear

This was just brought to my attention on an outdoor forum I moderate. The announcement came out this week.

Petzl media announcement: Fake carabiners, ascenders, pulleys and more...

http://www.petzl.com/us/pro/news/2011/02/12/warning-regarding-presence-counterfeit-versions-petzl-products

Thanks for the tip brother. It really gets my gall when people pull this kind of stunt. Anyone operating @ height is already @ risk due to the nature of what we do. That's our choice. But to screw around ON PURPOSE with equipment that is obviously a life support item...I would love to give them a good Jap slap. This is way more serious than lead painted toys. Sorry for the rant. But there ya go.

Ron

Yet another reason to beware of life support gear purchased on eBay for example. If the price is too good to believe (as is usual with knock-offs) then it shouldn't be believed.
-AJ

Not good news...

I was disappointed that Petzl didn't list better tips on how to identify these knock-offs. Even if they have the logo, batch # and other identifying marks you still can't tell for sure. The notice pretty much said they are exact copies except for the strength ratings.

I've got a few items off ebay over the years.....All have performed well but it doesn't sound like you know for sure until you do a break/strength test which would destroy the product anyway.

This isn't good for Petzl. CMI and DMM may gain market share. Last thing Petzl needs are clouds of suspension around their life support products. Even if Petzl isn't making these items it casts doubt on all things Petzl (regardless where you purchase them). I doubt Petzl will be able to battle these counterfeits successfully.

Now I'll wonder every time I use one of the 20 Petzl items I own.

greenluck wrote:

..
Now I'll wonder every time I use one of the 20 Petzl items I own.

According to the Petzl news release it's limited to the items shown in the original post and only a few have turned up, all in Europe. If you bought your gear from an authorized Petzl dealer there's nothing to worry about, if it's from another source and is not one of the reported counterfeit items then I don't think there's much to worry about either.

I agree that they should be publishing exact details of the gear that allowed Petzl to determine they are counterfeit. The only reason they might not be is they don't want to help the manufacturer further disguise their knock-offs.

I have gear on the knock-off list: the B-17 R ascender and the Croll, both were bought in the U.S. from authorized dealers, I'm not worried at all. Not to mention the gear has been well proven in use for several years.
-AJ

I've bought a few used Petzl ascenders off ebay and I doubt there is much risk when buying lightly used gear from low volume sellers located in the US, but I do wonder about sellers who sell "new" equipment at low prices from odd places. I saw one "dealer" selling from the Ukraine. I would avoid them entirely.