# Fake Slingshots And How To Spot Them



## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

Hi guys
recently i bought a dankung "Wolf" from ebay (at normal price) but i am pretty sure it is a fake!
already we know that these signs show a fake/zinc slingshot:
very shiny surface
slight damage and variation in design
weight...being lighter than specified

I have diccovered part of the slingshot that has not been polished...and rather than being "steel" coloured it is a dark grey
(the picture will show this more clearly)

Also i was wondering: what about magnetism? a magnet will not stick to my wolf... so can i be sure that it is not steel?

Thanks

Christopher


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

some stainless is not very magnetic so that's not really a good test and unpolished steel could have a grey color, but again it's probably the price and dealer that will tell the tale.


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## akmslingshots (Mar 2, 2012)

stainless steel (depending on grade) is not magnetic anyway due to the missing iron molecules.

if it is plated and you can get to a an obscure bit it will 'chip'


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## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

ah didnt know about those sorts of steel, cheers








a chip? well if i scrape a blade across the "unpolished" part...i get tiny fragments (that look like iron filings)


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## Winnie (Nov 10, 2010)

Stainless steel is generally non magnetic. The picture seems to show an area where the original sand casting was not finished down. The grey would be the oxidized metal and it looks perfectly normal to me.
winnie


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

magnetic, non magnetic? i have many dankungs i used to have the wolf, since beginning my buying and selling of dankungs i have yet to see any imperfections, they are a really reliable manufacturer of the metal frame slings, looking at that imperfection and your saying it weighs less than spec, i would say you did get ripped, the "imperfection" looks like pot metal or zink more than it does oxidation.

i just put an 6 lb. magnet on a bithor, a snail, and a black dragon, all had maybe an 1/2 oz of pull, not much but they did attract the magnet.


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

I have 3 slingshots ordered directly from dankung and one fake from ebay. There are no imperfections on the ones from dankung they are very will finished and very polished. The cord they are wrapped with is real kernmantle style paracord, all are heavy and slightly magnetic. They fake is larger, lighter and has a different look to the metal, more chrome than silver. The rope that the fake is wrapped with is not paracord but a solid loosly woven style that reminds me of curtain tie backs.

As someone else said if you didn't pay much for it and didn't buy from a reputable dealer then it is probably fake.


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## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

thankyou for all your answers








well the picture i have taken is of the very bottom of the slingshot, the curve looks more like its on purpose than an imperfection...
well since there is a lot of debate about the colour of this area, i have done the manly thing and taken a knife to it :L
after scratching back a section of the dark grey, it came off to reveal silver...which looks much more like steel, but i guess il never know








i paid £35 for it... which i think is pretty close to full price.
August west, what do you think of the cord from my picture? is it like the one from your fake?
(at the ends of the cord are two silver tubes)


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

I can't really tell from the pic, does it have smaller strands in the middle or is it a solid braid? Like you, that unpolished part would bother me a bit, none of my dankungs have anything like that, but I only have basic models not the really intricate ones like the wolf. Mine are the American Fox, Fox, Agile fox and Axe hunter, all are well polished all over even under the cord wrapping. Chris


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## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

yes it is annoying me







its my first step into the catty world and maybe im a little paranoid about it being fake...
the cord is quite thin, and hmm well its just your average cord...made of lots of smaller fibres woven into the braid (i cannot really describe it better than the picture im afraid :/ )


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## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

I guarantee you it is not a fake slingshot. Now it might very well be a fake Dankung, or it might be a cheap dangerous slingshot, but if it shoots, how then is it a fake slingshot. To me it would be easy to spot a fake slingshot, as it would not shoot like a slingshot should. -- Tex


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

Tex-Shooter said:


> I guarantee you it is not a fake slingshot. Now it might very well be a fake Dankung, or it might be a cheap dangerous slingshot, but if it shoots, how then is it a fake slingshot. To me it would be easy to spot a fake slingshot, as it would not shoot like a slingshot should. -- Tex


Couldn't have said it any better









As far as fake,, I don't know, but it's not like you bought a Rolex at retail price. I say, setting who makes it aside, if does it's job I would be happy with getting a catty at a good price.

I would at least be concerned with the strength of it, here are a couple of threads Jeff made about cheap catties he got

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/16557-cheap-ebay-catapult/

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/16566-a-couple-more-for-the-cheap-catty/

If you want to do a similar test, but don't want to damage the finish, maybe wrap it in a towel and hit it with a wooden mallet or something..

LGD


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## crazyslingshot (Dec 25, 2009)

difficult to spot from your pic.

could you post the picture of your full slingshot?


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## bullseyeben! (Apr 24, 2011)

Just looked at my fox and it has a no. marked on one side, don't know a lot about dankung, not sure if that's a thing to look out for?


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## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

sure! here's a couple of photos of the whole thing


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## Winnie (Nov 10, 2010)

It would seem to me that this should to be real. If someone was going to counterfeit a slingshot this would be the last one I think would be chosen. The equipment required to cut this out, the complicated pattern and the finishing would, it seems, argue against counterfeiting. Seeing the slingshot explains why portions of it are not finished to a high shine. With all those inside curves it would cost a fortune to finish it all to a fine polish.
If it were mine I would whack it a couple of times with a hammer and, if it held up, forget about it and go shooting.


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## DracoUltima (Jun 14, 2011)

I am sorry to inform you that this is *most likely* not a genuine Dankung slingshot. Of all their ''Wolf'' models, none are identical to this. Also, I have never received a Dankung with any imperfections. To be on the safe side, it's always safer to buy directly from Dankung or one of their dealers (listed on the site).


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## pop shot (Sep 29, 2011)

Mine from dankung looks the same


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## eelpout (Jun 25, 2012)

So ids there a way to tell if they are unsafe. other than taking an eye out? I got a cheap one from ebay. Dont care if its a "fake" or not, just dont wanna catch it in the teeth


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## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Tex-Shooter said:


> I guarantee you it is not a fake slingshot. Now it might very well be a fake Dankung, or it might be a cheap dangerous slingshot, but if it shoots, how then is it a fake slingshot. To me it would be easy to spot a fake slingshot, as it would not shoot like a slingshot should. -- Tex


Thanks Tex-Shooter...Now I know that all of my cattys are official products. They all shoot too well!!!


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## oldbill (Aug 11, 2011)

i am in the uk and buy all my dankungs from the uk dealer listed on dankungs site, he also sells on ebay, never had a problem and to be frank your wolf looks identical to mine - but i know there are variations.


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## Chrisos (Jun 17, 2012)

Guys thanks very much for your replies







but i found out that this slingshot is a genuine dankung wolf. I managed to buy the slingshot from an official dealer in the first place!








But there are variations of the design which are all real wolfs, its confusing...but at the end of the day its a great shooter


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## Jakerock (Mar 8, 2012)

Correct me if I am wrong, but these are NOT Rufus Hussey originals as advertised:


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

Jakerock said:


> Correct me if I am wrong, but these are NOT Rufus Hussey originals as advertised:


you are correct sir!


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Maybe there was a side to Rufuss we didn't know about!


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