In reply to Manda Tannahill:
Hmmm, the UKClimbing posting is probably more relevant with regard to the usual warnings about buying 2nd-hand gear - you have no idea, really, about what amount of use and abuse they've had, how many have had big falls taken on them, and whether they've been dropped onto a hard surface (eg rock) from a height....
Others will be able to advise you more on this, but you would certainly need to do a closeup visual inspection of the metal parts, look for scratches and sharp-edges where they've been clipped through the hangers on bolts, if they've been used for sport-climbing....
As for being fake, dunno - Would have thought it would cost far more to start making fake ones than would be worthwhile, so I'm not really sure what tb was trying to say (quite apart from the spelling errors in his post - I'm assuming you're interpreting "real of fack" as "real or fake"
Best ask tb what he means, and whether he has any information about people making fake karabiners - or passing off factory rejects that have been scavenged from the reject bin as real
