Smittybuilt Element Ramps

[AxeAngel]

Just bought the mattrax copy. Report back when the rover gets back from the shop(been 4 months now)

-Sam

[theicecreampeople]

just ordered a set of the smitty built ...i was totally in the market for brand x ,but price was bugging me ,was looking at other options ?so worth a shot ..at $129 ..will make my trip in june to padre island national seashore better ..lol..less shovel work ..

[Paladin]

Report back when you do! This design looks much more compact than PullPal's.

Does it say what weight rating it is good for? It does not list it on website.

Not sure on the weight rating. I got it for a stupid price. $120 or something. It's already low priced, but I think the store mixed up.

It is very compact. Easy to store.

I think Lance reviewed it and found it didn't work well. The design it is copied from does, and the only difference I can see is the lip at the back of the shovel is missing on the Smitty. I could easily add it.

[overlander]

Not sure on the weight rating. I got it for a stupid price. $120 or something. It's already low priced, but I think the store mixed up.

It is very compact. Easy to store.

I think Lance reviewed it and found it didn't work well. The design it is copied from does, and the only difference I can see is the lip at the back of the shovel is missing on the Smitty. I could easily add it.

You're right: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/sh...ght=smittybilt Wil pretty much closed the book on the issue. Pullpal it is.

[Paladin]

I will still give it a shot. The original design is well proven, and the only difference I can see is the lack of the lip at the back. I'm not sure why Smittybilt didn't put it on, but it'll only be a couple bucks for me to add it.

http://www.anchorright.com.au/produc...und-anchor-prt

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QunqcDxP3Mw&feature=channel"]YouTube - Disco Climbing Challenge part 3 - Top Gear - BBC[/ame]

[Scott Brady]

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.

[AxeAngel]

Smittybuilt products, their winches in particular.

Agreed, I fried my first one in months. Should have replaced my superwinch with another superwinch not a smittybilt.

-Sam

[Master-Pull]

They're a top-selling product which has been proven reliable by an overwhelming majority.

Proven reliable until you need them most, then they just click

For the most part Smittybuilt (and all the value winches) work alright, they are just slow and definitely not as durable as the big name brands.

At the Ultra 4 races it is surprising to see how many competitors use slow cheap winches when winching can mean the difference between first and second place in a race. What I am trying to say is buyer beware, you might buy a Smittybuilt winch and it will work fine for a while, or you may never use it. Personally I don't winch altogether that often, even in the snow we break out the kinetic ropes before winching.

-Alex

[Scott Brady]

Is a Honda a knock-off of a Mercedes?

A Honda is an engineered product with its own design, style and attributes. It takes very little cognitive evaluation to know the difference between something that is similar and something that is a knock-off. It is quite remedial.

[Scott Brady]

They're a top-selling product which has been proven reliable by an overwhelming majority.

I would love to see a single test result or statistic that supports that statement - even one.