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How to tell the difference between real and "airsoft" tourniquets

  • Thread starter Thread starter MikeL
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MikeL

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http://privatebloggins.ca/?p=670

Fake It Till You Make It! The Counterfeits Are Here!
By now I hope everyone is well aware that counterfeit tourniquets, both C-A-T®s and SOF®-TTs are out there.  This is infuriating when you consider the possible consequences.  The U.S. DoD has issued warnings including memo’s and picture presentations with the hopes of widest dispersion.  Apparently the Afghan National Army was taken advantage of, and ended up procuring hundreds of thousands of these counterfeits.  Of course with numbers like that and the integration of forces, cross contamination is quite possible if not probable.  But that is Afghanistan.  A young, maybe naive procurement system, easily taken advantage of, especially looking for a cheap alternative to the high quality North American standards that the C-A-T® and SOF®-TTs are manufactured to.  That could never happen here, right?  Or could it?
It seems that it could!  Buyer beware!  Counterfeit tourniquets are in Canada.  And not just at the airsoft stores.  No.  They have been procured in the thousands by a provincial police department through their provincial procurement authority.  Now, we’re usually overly secure about information release.  We take information security very serious.  But this is far too important to keep close hold.  And this is why:
Forget the fact that the counterfeits are in blatant Trademark and Patent violations.  Forget the business ethics and morals of the sellers of these products.  The fact that thousands of these counterfeit tourniquets have entered the country, been ‘officially’ procured by a provincial procurement authority (of medical equipment!) and are waiting to be issued to uniformed public servant law enforcement officers as a tool to save their life, should be a concern for every single tax payer and every single Canadian.  This is equivalent to procuring officers toy guns, literally.  If they have to shoot someone to save their life or to protect the public, the toy gun isn’t going to do any good.  And guess what?  The toy tourniquet isn’t going to either.  I have personally tested some of these counterfeits, and they break easily.  Very easily.  Too easily.  There is no chance of them stopping a life threatening bleed because there are no manufacturing standards (or ethics or morals for that matter).  They are a ‘toy’ intended to be a replica for war game players to ‘look’ the part with all the detailed accessories of a soldier, but without the price tag.  And they have put Canadian public servants – law enforcement officer’s lives at risk.
The other reason this is important is because it means that not only have public agencies procured these, but now that they are here!  And the potential exists for the market to flood with them.  And the ill informed will be taken advantage of and more lives put at risk.
What can we do?  These are our recommendations:
Only use CoTCCC/CCCWG recommended tourniquets to ensure safety and effectiveness of your life saving equipment (remember manufacturer’s claims are only that; claims.  Tourniquets should be independently tested and verified as effective.  Just because it is called a “tourniquet” doesn’t mean that it physically has the potential to control massive hemorrhage, which is actually the case with the counterfeits.  Mountains of independent data exist for the C-A-T®s and SOF®-TTs and is available on the internet if you know where to look.);
Only purchase your tourniquet’s from reputable, proper and legal supply chains.  When in doubt, contact the actual manufacturer: C-A-T® is Composite Resources and the SOF®-TT is Tactical Medical Solutions.
Inspect all your tourniquets for counterfeit contamination.  Get all your officers/soldiers to do the same.  When in doubt, contact the authorized Distributor or Manufacturer;
If you find a counterfeit – destroy it.  DO NOT return it to the seller as they may potentially resell it.
Pay attention to ALL your medical equipment as there are counterfeit bandages and hemostatic dressings out there as well, and who knows what else is in the works.  It has already been proven that some brands of  bandages manufactured in China potentially contain dangerous bacteria.
The really dangerous part is that they copy the manufacturer’s label, including logo, address, serial numbers and NSN’s.  If you have ANY questions on counterfeit tourniquets or the safety of medical equipment, please contact CTOMS™.  After all, this is serious business.
You can compare your tourniquets using this resource: Fake C-A-T Comparison
But beware, there are new ones out there too:  Newer counterfeit C-A-T
And FAKE SOF-TT-Ws too!
- See more at: http://privatebloggins.ca/#sthash.ui2Q3ol5.dpuf

http://www.coalitiontacticalmedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Combat%20Application%20Tourniquet%20%28GEN%20III%20vs%20%20E-CAT%29%20smallerfile.pdf

Fakes
http://zzhuanuo.en.alibaba.com/product/491366658-211947668/One_hand_Tourniquet_military_tourniquet_combat_tourniquet.html

http://combatgearing.com/emerson-tactical-tourniquet-military-issue-black-p-6808.html?zenid=9vo5qf6ts4i15m1odsbpu9s944
 
Dear god, this is horrible.
As an airsoft store owner, I am proud to say that I have never and will never sell any counterfeit, fake medical-ish looking instrument... ever.  This is actually quite outrageous -- Copying legitimate company logos and serial numbers?  Holy cow!  This is definitely hazardous for people's lives. I'm surprised there hasn't been any huge legal kick in the face to these manufacturers already.
 
Sorry that was suppose to be rhetorical, and more just think out loud in wonderment more than anything else.
 
Tank Troll said:
Sorry that was suppose to be rhetorical, and more just think out loud in wonderment more than anything else.
Agreed re:  wonderment.
 
In my side life (civi) I run few businesses. Everytime I used Chinese plants to make a product or a part, I will find a counterfeit one on the market some months later. If you use Chinese to save money, you will be copied. I don't know if it's the case here, but it could be.

When we order something in international market, we order materials from 1-5 places in the world (India, Europe, etc), materials are shipped directly to the Chinese manufacture with the industrial blueprints, then they ship you the finished product. You always order 15-20% more materials cause they have rejected products. They keep the excess, copy your blueprint and sell the counterfeit. No material cost and no development cost...
 
Cyrius007 said:
In my side life (civi) I run few businesses. Everytime I used Chinese plants to make a product or a part, I will find a counterfeit one on the market some months later. If you use Chinese to save money, you will be copied. I don't know if it's the case here, but it could be.

I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure CATs and SOF-Ts are made in the US. Either way it isn't too hard for a overseas company to procure some of the real deal in order to make their own knock off version.

IMO the reason/one of the reasons why there are fake tourniquets is because there is a market for items that look like the real thing, but are cheaper as they are just required for looks.  There are a lot of companies that make gear marketed to the airsoft and paintball players because they want to look the part, but not pay the high cost for the legit gear - although some are more then willing to spend all kinds of money to wear the same kit as real Marines/Soldiers/Sailors/Airmen.

Unfortunately, some of the people who procure for various agencies may see a retailer selling tourniquets(and other items) for cheaper, and think they are real but just at a better price.  Same goes for some individuals who want to buy their own gear, as they may not be knowledgeable on who the quality gear makers are, compared to the companies that knock off the real items for a cheaper price(and lower quality).  I've also heard a retailer saying the overseas made knock offs are just as high quality or better then some of the well known US gear companies.
 
Please enlighten this old one, a tourniquet used to be anything that can constrict bloodflow, tie, belt, rubber strap, nylons, etc. As long as the fake one cuts the blood flow does it matter?
 
Colin P said:
As long as the fake one cuts the blood flow does it matter?

From my original post

  I have personally tested some of these counterfeits, and they break easily.  Very easily.  Too easily.  There is no chance of them stopping a life threatening bleed because there are no manufacturing standards

Just because it is called a “tourniquet” doesn’t mean that it physically has the potential to control massive hemorrhage, which is actually the case with the counterfeits. 

From the link I posted in the original post
The E-CAT windlass will fold back on itself without breaking; however, you
cannot tighten the tourniquet with it.
 
Colin P said:
Please enlighten this old one, a tourniquet used to be anything that can constrict bloodflow, tie, belt, rubber strap, nylons, etc. As long as the fake one cuts the blood flow does it matter?

One of the suppliers for the CAT tourniquet, explained it on the Blueline forums (since apparently someone in the Ontario Government, procured the knockoffs for the OPP), there is a big difference between purpose made tourniquets that have been subject to an endless battery of tests and real world application, and improvised/knock offs. 

Some the things mentioned

1) knockoffs/improvised TQ's may not (usually don't) properly distribute pressure evenly around the affected limb (too narrow, too broad, unable to really cinch it down)
2) knockoffs/improvised TQ's, can and do come undone/loosened, during hasty evac (knockoffs stiches burst, plastic breaks, belts loosen, knots come undone)
3) purpose made don't typically suffer these problems, as well they are designed so that a casualty (so long as they have one functioning arm, and are semi-coherent), can apply it properly on themselves, and it will still be effective. 
 
Just playing the Devils advocate here but could the CAT suppliers be condemning these other TQs the out of job security?
 
ObedientiaZelum said:
Just playing the Devils advocate here but could the CAT suppliers be condemning these other TQs the out of job security?

Is your life worth the chance?

Granted, this stuff is expensive, but it saves lives.
 
Colin P said:
Please enlighten this old one, a tourniquet used to be anything that can constrict bloodflow, tie, belt, rubber strap, nylons, etc. As long as the fake one cuts the blood flow does it matter?

There are several active patents for Military Emergency Tourniquets. The pictures in the first link above shows the TQS MET "CAT III" with its "CAT" logo with the words "Patent Pending" inside it. This means that TQS, the holder of a trademark on MET, has also filed a patent application which would undoubtedly describe its design and basic inventive elements. Once an application is filed, only the inventor or his licensee will be allowed to manufacture the product unless the patent is subsequently denied or it has expired with time.

Ripping off a patent draws funds away from the true inventor and all too often puts a substandard product on the market.

Element's E-CAT has gone to great lengths in order to make its product look exactly like the CAT III (to the point of including the NSN and logo).

I have searched for a Element's website but can't find it. Most websites advertise the E-CAT for sale market it as a "dummy - not for medical use" product. They clearly target the Airsoft industry.  But there are numerous posts as well which are pointing out that these things showing up in places where they are intended for real emergency work - primarily in police forces but I also note they have been found in Afghanistan.

I'm not about to give my legal opinion about the whole thing but I think you can probably figure out why it may matter which you have.
 
ObedientiaZelum said:
Just playing the Devils advocate here but could the CAT suppliers be condemning these other TQs the out of job security?

That point was raised on Blueline as well.  The counter-point was both the CAT and SOF-T (and the poster over there wasn't questioning the effectiveness of the SOF-T, just the knock off of the CAT), have been extensively tested, in actual real scenarios and in controlled in environments for scientific studies (where they do things to the the products to see where their failure points were), and both have extremely high tolerances, whereas the knockoffs do not, which can lead to it failing and a person bleeding out and dying.

There is also the little legal (and ethical) issue of government agencies (like the OPP) buying/using counterfeit products, because some tard in procurement didn't do their bloody homework and went with the "cheaper"  product.  Whatever money was saved, will be nullified in a subsequent lawsuit, if it is found out the cheaper knockoff was used and it failed, and that it was a factor in someones life not being saved.  One of the big stories of the Boston Bombing, was the use of TQ's on the victims by first responders, who had had experience/training using them  in Iraq/Afghanistan.
 
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