Decades of experience play a small (maybe large) part in my stance. I hope I’m wrong and everyone receives a product of equal construction, specs and longevity for less money. Yet after years and years of Amazon and eBay disappointments I am wary.
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yeah. All this wouldhave, shouldhave, couldhave seems ridiculous. How about some evidence one way or the other. Post links to the knockoffs and let us see what you are talking about specifically. Talking about whether knockoffs are good or bad in generalities is pretty meaningless. The only way to discuss this intelligently would be to look at specific examples and judge them one by one. Otherwise, a discussion of knockoffs is just silly.
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Before the patent changes, I followed this irrational approach:
I have wine buddies who I like more than 145 dollars.
I would gift them a Durand.
I did not regard myself as 145 dollars worthy, so I never bought one for myself; but a wine friend did, and I acquired one as a gift.
I think I fell into the trap of thinking I had to put the prongs through the slots at first. I think Chuck Miller set me proper.
To Chuck!
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Fantastic article, thanks!
I have an older one purchased from RWC, probably wasn’t more than a hundred bucks, if not less. The tines in the ah so move maybe a half a mm when pulled or pushed. The weight and feel and presentation are great but the moving tines have always annoyed me a little. It isn’t perfect but it works great.
I’ve been going out of my way to buy real Pulltaps waiter’s corkscrews instead of knockoffs, shipped from Spain. Some of the knockoffs really suck - worm is too wide, moving parts too stiff or loose, etc. Nothing I’ve used works as well as the original. However, the real thing is only marginally more expensive than a knockoff ordered from Amazon. And if you buy 3 or 4 to save on shipping, it’s within a few bucks.
Can you educate on what these are? A search shows me everything from $5.99 to $150.
I starting to think we have a larger corkscrew problem than I imagined
I think I’ve always gone with the basic 500 model at €12. And it looks like they have an Amazon store now. (Edited above, made in Barcelona not Portugal.)
Edit: the Pulltaps knockoffs are so universally sucky that Wirecutter (NYTimes review site) wrote an article about it a few years ago that gave their recommendation for a knockoff that works, since it was too difficult to tell on Amazon which ones were actually real. Still isn’t as good as the original. Guess we need to sign them up for a Durand showdown!
eBay: Picked for you
Probably 15 or so years ago (definitely a swag), Trader Joe’s sold this type of corkscrew for $2. I bought several. Not a single one has broken, even when dealing with a DIAM stopper. I have no clue as to who manufactured them and country of origin.
These and my Durand/knockoffs are the only cork pullers I use.
I LOVE pulltaps.
Two thumbs up!
It wasn’t that long ago when the basic Total Wine waiter’s corkscrew for something like 6 or 7 bucks was an original Pulltaps (in Oenophilia packaging) complete with logo and engraved / stamped ‘genuine’ seal. But sometime since then the knockoffs arrived and you couldn’t tell what you’d receive from Amazon. From this experience I can certainly anticipate potential issues with Durand knockoffs purchased blindly.
I haven’t physically seen one from eBay so that’s entirely possible. Who knows, even though it looks identical, the Temu one may be different now quality-wise than from when I purchased it last year.
Thanks, it looks pretty good. If I didn’t have a Durand already, I would think about that one.
Instructions may as well be written in hieroglyphics.
You are right, of course. And some times the quality of the imitation is actually better than that of the original.
Brian, it may be the case that the products that you sell are inferior. I have an original Durand and three knockoffs. Of those three one is worse than the Durand, a second one is similar and a third one…much better. You cannot generalize.
The inventor has had 30 years to reap his reward…
You’re not going to leave everyone hanging like that, are you? 
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Brian remarked on customers that bought crap tools and came to him to get replacements. The inferior products he bought were to repair vehicles he owned.