Scott Brady
Founder
so because they're selling at 1/2 the price point, they can't be as good as the "original"? Smittybilt knows how to sell a product. they join the party a few years late, giving them plenty of time to take a proven product, refine it, and figure out how to manufacture it with less overhead and ultimately less cost to the end consumer. the rest of their recovery equipment is well-proven in the field.
I disagree on all accounts. Smittybuilt did a blatant copy/ reverse engineering and is only cheaper because they have no overhead associated with innovation, design or testing.
I will never buy a blatant knock-off. It is bad for the industry, bad for innovation and usually ends up failing miserably in the field. I have no intention of rewarding the copy-cats.
In particular, I have found your statement of "well-proven in the field" to be entirely false when it comes to Smittybuilt products, their winches in particular.