$10 Micro-spikes knockoffs?!?!?

[Tom Rankin]

Too good to be true?

Amazon Product Link

 

[Chip]

$9.99 + $15.55 shipping

look good but appears to be no free shipping. I'd order a pair or 2 to try and have around if I could get free shipping. Good catch though.

 

[JacobH]

Only fits sizes 5-10.



Nice find though! Maybe good for the wife and kids.

 

[Jay H]

Just don't walk around your concrete sidewalk or so, it says it easy digs into concrete, wet rocks, and scree. I'd hate to have to replace the sidewalk every time...

Sounds like the perfect Chinese knock off sold on Canal Street.

Jay

 

[peakbagger]

For what its worth, there have been chinese knock offs of microspikes out there. There were also a knock off of the Hillsounds, which dropped off the market after Hillsound went after them. Usually there are still some in the distribution channel as the manufacturers usually only go after the company that makes the knock offs, not the stores that bought them for inventory. I think the internet makes it worse as a counterfeit seller can set up a store in about a minute and be long gone quickly.

They pop up, sell a bunch and go way when the cease and desist order arrives by certified mail. Its easy to make a knockoff as there is no concern with durability or safety. Probably adequate for shoveling snow in the driveway, but I expect they wont last well when used as intended.

 

[Chip]

Sounds like the perfect Chinese knock off sold on Canal Street.

Jay

With appropriate knock-off translation .

Easy Attach Safe Walking Orange Rubber Foot Shoes Grips Cleats Chain Crampons

 

[Remix]

They might be cheap and inferior, but if they do not violate a Kahtoola patent or trademark, nobody can do anything but spread the word.

Sometimes the quality can be very good-- the Chinese manufacturer makes a run of microspikes "on the side" using the molds and tooling designed by Kahtoola and built in or shipped to China-- solely for illegal profits.

In many cases there is a dispute over the quality of the goods, and the manufacturer ships the disputed stuff over here and sells them through illegal/grey channels (like canal st).

As an aside-
We source alot of stuff in China and have witnessed all of this. If you do not have people over there watching everything, quality and thievery can become a significant cost.

 

[Niltiac]

I wouldn't trust the silicone rubber stuff the "binding" is made of not to break. Probably has a warning "do not use in temperature less than 32"

 

[Tom Rankin]

I wouldn't trust the silicone rubber stuff the "binding" is made of not to break. Probably has a warning "do not use in temperature less than 32"

My wife had a real micro spike rubber binding rip out, but EMS did replace them for her for free!

 

[Stash]

Is the $ savings from buying three pair worth the weight of having to carry them all as spares?

 

[MichaelJ]

Sounds like the perfect Chinese knock off sold on Canal Street.

Astra Depot themselves appear to be located in Hong Kong and sell quite the variety of "stuff". Hard to say if it's knockoff, "private" runs with Kahtoola's molds, overstock, or even bad production runs.