Geoduck. I wouldn't call myself a fanboy, but I had a nice experience when I bought my grapple. I have nothing bad to say about it. The best way for this to be solved would have been for fried1765 to talk to them directly. Going on a public forum, complain about something, and then having other folks not agree with you, is a fact of the modern age. I don't see how going into their sponsor thread and bashing them is going to help anything. The best way for an unhappy customer to express their opinion is to tell them directly, and if not happy with the result, do not buy from them again.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I spent my 6 years in the Army. Some of the biggest whiners I knew were in the military. It's too hot. It's too cold. The chow isn't good. We need to do 2 mile run? We need to do a 5 mile march? One thing it does teach you is to suck it up and get the mission accomplished. Whining about it doesn't help anyone. It also gave me the ability to go to college, get an IT degree and now oversee over a dozen IT professionals. The military is a great thing, but it doesn't mean you can do no wrong.
This entire derail of their sponsor thread should be deleted by a moderator. If you want to bash them, make you own thread and do it in there.