After sending a counterfeit jacket, auctioned to me through eBay, to the manufacturer for them to comment, I have learnt a lot about how sophisticated the counterfeit mountaineering garment industry is...

It is probably no different to any other counterfeiting in the fashion industry but what is alarming is the lengths they go to trying to make the garments appear real - I thought that spotting a counterfeit would be easy... not so.

The  worst counterfeits, are those you can spot straight away, you know not to use them for mountaineering purposes because they clearly won't stand up to the weather, abrasion and general wear. The best counterfeits are unfortunately likely to find their way onto the hill as they are very difficult to identify. I have certainly met a couple of people who have been happily wearing what they thought were genuine Gore-Tex jackets only for them to be PU coated nylon underneath the lining.

How are the counterfeits produced? After I returned my jacket to the manufacturer I got a phone call, they were very interested to know where I had got it from. The UK Territory Director explained to me that the jacket I had sent him was identical in almost every respect to the real article. They had even examined it under a magnifying glass and compared the size and number of stitches in certain areas of the jacket to that of a genuine garment. All of the embellishments such as press studs, zips and draw cord tabs were absolutely right along with the stitched logos and labelling of the jacket. The packaging was even the real thing and I got a Gore-tex warranty registration card with it.

The reason that my counterfeit jacket was able to be so faithfully reproduced is simply down to the fact that it was made in the same factory as the genuine jacket. The factory was located in China and at the end of each shift, the production line workers would be made to rattle off a few hundred extra that would be packaged in the same way but this time sold out of the back door. Eventually being traded around the globe until it found its way to me.

The problem lies in the fabrics used - the Gore-Tex fabric that it was labeled to be made with, along with guarantee registration card etc was in fact PU coated nylon and the seams were taped with an inferior transparent PU taping. The stitched logos had no seam taping behind them. In essence this jacket wasn't even waterproof - one of the most basic requirements of a jacket and a real danger in some situations.

There are two stages where you can try to identify a fake or counterfeit item - either by taking a close look at the listing & the seller or by examining it closely when you recieve it. The later is probably the most accurate method but this may be too late if you have already paid for the item and the vendor is unwilling to take it back.

Examine the item

You are looking for:

• Use of inferior fabrics (look, feel and if visible the waterproof backing - rarely on a top quality jacket is it a see-through PU coating)
• Seam sealant used - most use a form of taping on Gore-Tex or similar jackets - this is normally of a very high quality finish with no rough edges and neatly finished at seam junctions. Watch out for transparent seam weld / taping that has rough edges and a poor quality finish.
• Differentiation between fabrics - most top jackets will use a high abrasion resistant fabric in some places - e.g. elbows - some counterfeit jackets will simply use a different colour of fabric in these places.

Do not rely on:

• Packaging appearance / presence - this is easily counterfeited or can sometimes be the genuine article when the product is not.
• Genuine look of swing tags - for the same reason as above
• Labels & logos all being right - if the jacket was made at the same factory then this is easily done
• Embellishments - eg zip pulls, press studs and pull cords - again - these are simply taken off the real production line.

If in any doubt, call the brand / manufacturer and ask if they will examine it for you. You will probably find they are only too happy to help.

Before you buy

It is really difficult to judge from a photograph or from a description. Asking the seller is probably not going to get you very far either.

As a general rule of thumb, buying from overseas can be cheaper, but not a lot - if someone is selling a large quantity of similar items all at a substantially lower than market price there is probably a good chance that these items are counterfeit.

A safer bet is someone selling a small quantity of different garments or a one off.

A used garment will probably again be a safer bet than a new garment - simply because a used one would be unlikely to be in a saleable condition if it were counterfeit - the fabric quality is often that poor.