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#144099 - 12/28/10 09:19 PM How to distinguish the faked hiking product?
stonemark Offline
member

Registered: 12/07/10
Posts: 82
Loc: China
hi, there, I have bought some hiking clothes and boots, and this really cost nearly several month's salary, but all these just used for 2 trip, and must be repaired now! then how can I distinguish the real good quality and usable hiking equipment? Thanks ahead for any comments and suggestions~~ thanks
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#144102 - 12/28/10 10:03 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: stonemark]
aimless Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3292
Loc: Portland, OR
I'm sorry to hear about your problem. It is my understanding that counterfeit goods are common in China. My only advice is to buy from reputable sources whenever possible. Also learn to look very carefully at the fabric, the stitching, the welds in metal, and all other signs of good workmanship or quality materials.

I wish you luck.

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#144105 - 12/29/10 12:26 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: aimless]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Were these a well-known brand? If so, they may be fakes-copies made to look like an expensive brand, but made very cheaply.

Unfortunately, this is a big problem, especially in Asia where many of the imitations are made. The North Face is a brand that is often copied because it is so well known.

One way to check is to look at a brand's website and see if what you are looking at is actually one of their products and not just something with the name on it. Look at all the tags to see if they are all there. This is hard to do unless you know for certain what tags a genuine product will have.

One sure thing-if the price is far lower than the manufacturer's retail price, it is likely a copy. If you suspect you have a copy, if you contact the manufacturer, you may be able to help them track down who is making them. That will help everyone, including people who buy the fakes thinking they are the real thing.

If they aren't fakes, then they may just be overpriced and poorly made. In either case, a close inspection may show bad sewing, thin materials or other problems. If you can, try comparing what you have with high quality American or European clothes and gear and try to see the differences.


Edited by TomD (12/29/10 12:33 AM)
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#144115 - 12/29/10 11:07 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
GDeadphans Offline
member

Registered: 12/26/08
Posts: 382
Loc: Maine/New Jersey
I actually recently watched a video on public access television about this problem. It is a shame how people will cheat others.
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#144127 - 12/29/10 05:51 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: GDeadphans]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
There are a lot of counterfeit goods on eBay. It tries to stop the fakes, but it is really hard to do because there are so many. TNF knockoffs are common among outdoor wear. Jeans, watches, purses, athletic shoes, UGG boots, drugs, batteries, golf clubs, you name it, there are fakes out there. I've read about fake electronics, prescription drugs and helicopter parts. I get spam email all the time for drugs of one kind or another. I assume they are all fake.
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#144133 - 12/29/10 09:12 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
stonemark Offline
member

Registered: 12/07/10
Posts: 82
Loc: China
Thanks for all who give suggestions,especially TomD, you are so kind to give 3 ways to distinguish counterfeit products; Yes, it's true, the equipment I bought is cheaper than the tag price of the Manufacture, maybe I should try the expensive one~
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#144142 - 12/30/10 02:14 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: stonemark]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
You're welcome, but price isn't the only consideration. Sometimes you can find gear and clothes on sale for less than retail, especially on the Internet, so it is not always easy to know what is a good bargain. If the price is really low compared to what others may be charging for the same thing, then I would be suspicious. It helps to look at many different websites, such as the sponsors here to compare prices. The links to the sponsors (which are in the US) are on the left side of the page.

I've also seen some sites that are in Japan, but I don't read Japanese, so it is hard to compare prices.
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#144164 - 12/30/10 08:46 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
stonemark Offline
member

Registered: 12/07/10
Posts: 82
Loc: China
Originally Posted By TomD


I've also seen some sites that are in Japan, but I don't read Japanese, so it is hard to compare prices.
-- I know Japanese, and if you like, tell me the address, and I can help you know the content of it~ , and thanks again~
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#144247 - 01/02/11 07:58 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
Damian Offline
member

Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 326
Originally Posted By TomD

I've also seen some sites that are in Japan, but I don't read Japanese, so it is hard to compare prices.



That's easy: the numbers after the Yen symbol (which looks like a Y with two bars through it) will be the price: for a very rough estimate divide the price by 100.

Some time ago I saw a post suggesting that the TNF products in Japan were fakes because they were different to the US range: in point of fact TNF in Japan is licensed (and is a huge business) and if anything the quality of the Japanese stuff is higher.

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#144261 - 01/02/11 07:01 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: Damian]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
Thanks Damian, You are in Japan if I remember right. it isn't so much converting the currency as it is figuring out what the products are since so many of them are not available in the US.

Do you know this company?
http://www.ici-sports.com/shop/

Their online catalog has a lot of North Face stuff, plus a lot of tents sold under the brandname, Paine, which I've never heard of here. Many of the tents look really interesting, but I can't read the specs except the price.
http://www.ici-webshop.com/search/list.asp?shopcd=17318&itemgrp1cd=1202&itemkb8=0
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#144335 - 01/03/11 11:01 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
stonemark Offline
member

Registered: 12/07/10
Posts: 82
Loc: China
sorry for post late for the 3 holidays of New Year in China, and I have seen the link you gave, but which one you interested in ? pick one and I can translate it into English for free~ goodjob
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adventure in China~my site

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#144579 - 01/07/11 05:36 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: stonemark]
Franco Offline
member

Registered: 04/05/04
Posts: 1010
Loc: Australia
In Kathmandu I found a shop that just sold labels. Most of them were North Face labels of different sizes.
A few of the guys in our group felt compelled to purchase sleeping bags and jackets that I pointed out were fakes and well...they were crap.
For down items (if you cannot tell the quality of the shell just by looking /touching, the same for zips) you should be able to feel the large number of feathers inside something you will not find in the real thing.
Franco

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#144605 - 01/08/11 04:29 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: Franco]
ringtail Offline
member

Registered: 08/22/02
Posts: 2296
Loc: Colorado Rockies
Knock-offs are products that look like the original, but are low quality.

Counterfeits may be as good as the real thing. If NorthFace orders 5,000 jackets the factory in China might make 10,000 jackets and the 5,000 extra go into the counterfeit market. In that case there is NO quality difference.

My wife used to give me three shirts every Christmas that were made in Hong Kong. They were my "special day" shirts. Better than the L.L. Beans that I wore on ordinary days.

China can adjust the process to manufacture to any quality standards. "Made in China" may be a very good thing or a very bad thing.

Raw materials may be impacted by the weather. The best wool might be from New Zealand, the best cotton might come from Eqypt, the best silk may come from.....China.

Quality is determined by the customer, NOT the manufacturer.


_________________________
"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."
Yogi Berra

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#147988 - 03/19/11 06:57 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
Damian Offline
member

Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 326
Apologies for the VERY late reply.

"Do you know this company?
http://www.ici-sports.com/shop/"

Yes, ICI Ishi Sports is one of the bigger outdoor gear chains.

"plus a lot of tents sold under the brandname, Paine, which I've never heard of here."

Paine is their house brand.

Re, the spec - I guess since I'm metric it makes sense but what I suggest is that you copy the specs into Google Translate (which seems to be much better than Babelfish etc) - the translation is actually pretty good.

ICI's web catalogue is pretty cool too. A year or two ago they were selling magnesium tent pegs ...



Edited by Damian (03/19/11 07:10 AM)

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#147989 - 03/19/11 07:08 AM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
Damian Offline
member

Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 326
"Thanks Damian, You are in Japan if I remember right."

Well, I used to be in Japan but a couple of years ago we moved back to Australia - one of the main factors was my concern about what would happen if Tokyo was hit by a large quake. Sendai is awful, but an M8 or M9 quake under Tokyo would be orders of magnitude worse, particularly because the place is so big that there's nowhere to escape to: it's about 200 ks wide east to west, so there's no farmland or open country to get to and heavy industry (like refineries) are often located next to housing. There would be tsunamis, most likely firestorms, dioxin floating about and possibly radioactive particles. It might never happen - but if it did ....

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#148118 - 03/21/11 03:37 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: TomD]
Claus Offline
member

Registered: 04/19/10
Posts: 56
Loc: Central Iowa
The discussion turned mainly to products that are sold illegally under a brand name. But how about fake (aka bad quality) products from name brands?

I'm getting frustrated with my local outdoor sports store (Jax Outdoor Gear). Since I'm paying top prices for something that should be a bit better. For example I purchased the North Face Snow Sneaker II Winter Shoes there just to have the soles come apart with a month. How can I trust the North Face brand in the backcountry if it fails from gentile urban use?

Same thing with the mittens they sell at the store. I'm not sure how good Gordini mittens are supposed to be but that's the main line that they are selling. The first pair I had trapped moisture extremely and never dried from it. The second pair, a more expensive model, is already falling apart. It hasn't been stressed much either. Just some downhill skiing and keeping my hands warm on cold days.

So when you go into your local outdoor store, how do you recognize good products from crap?
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Please feel free to disregard my opinion.
http://adventurelaus.blogspot.com

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#148120 - 03/21/11 04:44 PM Re: How to distinguish the faked hiking product? [Re: Claus]
TomD Offline
Moderator

Registered: 10/30/03
Posts: 4963
Loc: Marina del Rey,CA
It can be hard to tell sometimes. I had a low mileage New Balance boot come apart after some river crossings-the sole came unglued from the upper. Didn't expect that from a brand name shoe. Now I have a pair of NB running shoes I wear all the time and they are fine.

I used to buy Hi-Tec boots for work. They would wear out after a few months of being beat up, but never came apart and they were cheap at the time. Cheap gear will often start to come apart right away, but some people swear by cheap brands and don't see why they should pay $400 for a tent when they can buy one for less than $100. Same for bags.

REI will take back almost anything for any reason, especially defective products, which is one reason to buy from them.

The best way I know is to ask on forums like this one and see if anyone has used the same product. There are fakes online-especially TNF. There is even fake climbing gear like biners, which manufacturers like Petzl warn people not to buy or use so you should buy from reputable dealers and websites. You may pay more, but you are far less likely to get burned.
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Don't get me started, you know how I get.

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