Fake Combat Application Tourniquets (CAT's)

[cmailliard]

I did a Casualty Care class on Saturday and one participant brought an IFAK her husband had put together. She pulled the CAT out and I immediately noticed something was off about it. The Windless Clip was thinner on one side and was smashed down to the point the Windless would not fit in it.



I took the CAT and gave her a new one. I looked for the obvious signs of a fake and didn't see any. This one fooled me pretty well. I had a difficult time at first glance that it was fake. I thought it may be a manufacture defect. I emailed a guy I know North American Rescue on Sunday and he said they have not had any quality control issues with CAT's (made by CAT Resources) and that it was most likely a fake. After comparing the fake and a real one I only found one obvious difference. I then checked my couple dozen other CAT's and it checked out.



Can you see any difference, look close before you read on.

Answer
Look at the Velcro on the Windless Clip. The CAT on the left is fake the one on the right is legit. The fake has Velcro that does not go to the edges, it has a sewing strip on the edge. That is about the only difference that I have found. The fabric feels slightly different, a little for wrinkled, not smooth if that makes sense. But no other obvious difference.

So, if you are spending less than $20 on a CAT I can almost guarantee it is a fake or there is something else going on. If you are spending less than $24 I would be highly suspicious of it. Here is a bunch of fake CAT's

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...0.0.xhOivA&s=p
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...0.0.xhOivA&s=p
https://www.amazon.com/Tourniquet-Ap...ion+tourniquet
https://www.amazon.com/Tourniquet-Mi...ion+tourniquet
https://www.amazon.com/Tourniquet-Ap...ion+tourniquet
https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...0.0.xhOivA&s=p
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dead-End-Bes...YAAOSwuxFYxzR1
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tourniquet-B...MAAOSw3utY7gsl

Only buy your Tourniquets from reliable sources
North American Rescue Products
Rescue Essentials
Me after a class

So check your CAT's if you concerned, shoot me a PM and I can help.

[sellersm]

Excellent information and great pictures! I need to go check all of mine, but I think I bought them from reliable sources.


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[brutal]

Could be the pic angle, but the width of the windless clips on the left appear narrower as well.

[Mtneer]

More intel: https://youtu.be/zHbRW42-PB0

[Irving]

The nylon strip running through the windless looks a bit thicker on the right.
I was going to say that I'm amazed that the fake has the exact same mold marks on the plastic part and the glue dots on the wide nylon portion, but I have a feeling that they just sourced the same parts from the manufacturer.

[cmailliard]

The nylon strip running through the windless looks a bit thicker on the right.
I was going to say that I'm amazed that the fake has the exact same mold marks on the plastic part and the glue dots on the wide nylon portion, but I have a feeling that they just sourced the same parts from the manufacturer.

Mold marks, heat welds and a few other things were the original giveaways on fakes. These new ones are nearly identical.

[cmailliard]

Could be the pic angle, but the width of the windless clips on the left appear narrower as well.

The width of the composite plastic is the same at 1". The width of the Velcro is smaller.

[motoboy]

That sucks !

Thanks for the info. Gunna go check mine.

[vossman]

Hmm. Sometimes you just know when something isn't right. Nice catch.

[rfizzle]

I teach TCCC for my department, we've seen a lot of these fakes. I've gotten frustrated that people are trying to save a buck on something so important.

If you are LE/FD/EMS/MIL call North American Rescue Direct, they will sell you TQ's at a discount. Please don't cheap out on vital equipment!

We played around with one and broke it within seconds, not even close to the pressures of real use. The biggest things we've noticed are cheaper plastics, windless straps not actually running the entire length, velcro coming off, and generally shotty looking.