At Moose Knuckle Offroad, we take pride in our innovation and commitment to quality. That’s why we’re proud holders of U.S. Patent D1050,874—a product of our dedication to delivering safe, functional and rugged gear to the off-road and towing community.
Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that unauthorized companies are producing and selling counterfeit or imitation versions of our patented SPLIT SHACKLE™ design. While these imitations may look similar at first glance, they are not the same—and in fact, they pose real risks to your safety and equipment.
Why You Should Avoid Imitation Products:
⚠️ Poor Manufacturing Quality
Copycat products often cut corners on materials, manufacturing and inspection. This leads to unreliable tolerances, weak structural integrity, and poor performance under load—all of which can fail when you need them most. These companies also lack the knowledge in regard to important aspects of product design which can put your other recovery gear and the people around it at risk.
Every element of our original Split Shackle™ design—from the interior rope-angle stops on our signature Jowl™ "J" hooks to the large, radiused edges and precision-engineered pin—was intentionally crafted with **safety as the top priority** and **functionality at the forefront**. These features are designed to make off-road, overlanding, and towing recoveries safer, smoother, and more efficient—without damaging your gear or putting your team at risk. 🚨 REMEMBER, SHARP HARD EDGES CUT RECOVERY & WINCH ROPES, SOFT SHACKLES AND TOW STRAPS. In a KINETIC STRETCH RECOVERY ROPE situation this is extremely dangerous and upon failure turns your rope into a slingshot that can cause extreme injury or even death.
🧱 Inferior Materials
While we use high-grade materials engineered for strength, these knock-offs frequently use low-quality metals that can't handle the stresses of real-world recovery situations. An imitation product may look heavy-duty but may break like cheap plastic under strain.
⚠️ Lower Strength and Safety
Since these companies are using lower-grade materials mentioned previously this sacrifices strength and more importantly safety. They are advertising lower Working Load Limits and Minimum Break Strengths that often do not match up with corresponding vehicle sizes which can lead to dangerous vehicle recovery situations.
Here at Moose Knuckle Offroad we design all of our Split Shackles to have the same specs as the same size screw pin anchor shackle so there is no sacrifice in safety or strength compared to its tradition screw pin predecessor.
🔪 Dangerous Design Flaws
We’ve observed imitation products with poorly finished edges, improperly radiused surfaces, and even sharp metal corners. 🚨 Again, these can easily cut ropes, straps, or soft shackles—or worse, cause injury. Our design includes specific geometry to protect your gear and your hands, while imitations overlook this critical detail.
Your Safety Is Our Priority
As a small American business, we’ve invested years into R&D, product testing, and real-world abuse to bring you gear that performs. Buying counterfeit, imitation or knock-off products not only hurts small manufacturers like us—it puts your safety, vehicle, and recovery team at risk.
We encourage our customers to purchase only from authorized Moose Knuckle Offroad Official Dealers and Partners or directly from our official website. If you’re unsure whether a product is genuine, don’t hesitate to contact us—we’re happy to help verify authenticity.
Help Us Fight the Fakes
If you see a suspicious product that copies our patented design, please report it to us using our Contact Us page. We are actively pursuing legal action to protect our intellectual property and, more importantly, to protect our customers.
Thank you for supporting innovation, integrity, our product innovation and manufacturing.
– Forward Notion, LLC
Moose Knuckle Offroad Team
Moose Knuckle Offroad Intellectual Property
- Patent D1050,874 - SPLIT SHACKLE
- Patent Pending No. 29/961,363 - SPLIT SHACKLE
- Patent D953,845 - XL SHACKLE
- Patent D986,043 - XL SHACKLE
- Trademark 90229836 - Moose Knuckle Offroad Moose Shackle Icon Logo
- Trademark 99066401 - SPLIT SHACKLE™
- Trademark 99029827 - JOWL™