Chinese Counterfeit Department: leather drum dampener.

Snareweight makes a really cool little drum dampener that’s easy to use and cuts ring effectively. 

It comes in two different lengths and provides different levels of dampening.

The attachment is spring loaded and very simple to attach and remove.

And it works. Well. I have a couple of these on different drums and I’m quite happy with them.

The long version (M80) retails for around $29, and the short version (M1) for around $20.

(About the only thing that would make me more excited about this product is if Snareweight were to make it with recycled leather, to have a lower environmental impact.)

Recently, I’ve been seeing a cheaper, Chinese-made verse in of this design for sale online. It can be found on multiple online web sites. 

It looks cheap, and I’m betting that it is cheap.

It can’t be a complete copy of Snareweight’s patented design, so modifications have been made and cheaper materials substituted. The results are visibly obvious.

To be honest, I’m always a little dismayed when I see cheap Chinese (they are nearly always from China) copies of thoughtful designs of drums and drum gear made in countries that pay their workers closer to a living wage. 

It plays into the same mindset that informs fast fashion, an epidemic that is clogging the planet with cheap, throwaway clothing.

It also encourages consumers to buy for price rather than for durability and quality.

I get that capitalism relies on marketing and convincing consumers to buy early and often, and the easiest way to do that is to steal someone’s better design and making it cheaper. If it’s cheaper, it won’t last as long and it will have to be replaced sooner. Ring it up! Shop for the economy! Buy more shit!

When I can’t afford the original design, I either save my money until can, or I find a way to make a workaround from scraps at home. I’m the kind of consumer the drum industry isn’t wild about, and I don’t care. Unfortunately, I’m also in a tiny minority and my consumer choices won’t make a real difference on a global or even national scale. But I prefer to do the right thing. I hope you will, too.

Happy drumming.