2012 Molon Labe Build-up

I did use the gasket and my gasket did not require any cutting. I believe it provides a better fit allowing the gasket to conform to the gap between the snorkel and the body of the fender. I think it looks good and does what it was designed to do. I believe if I omitted it there would be a gap that small twigs and other things could get caught in.

 

With having the high end snorkel and knowing what I paid for the same one you have.. I can't find the value in the ARB anymore.. I mean maybe the hardware? I know Arb used brass nutserts but doesn't seem to be an issue in this

 

I can understand why there is a large pricing difference between say the ARB and the ebay snorkel I got. ARB spent a lot of money over the years to research and develop their product. They had to test and improve the product over time and continue to satisfy customers who have already purchased the snorkel as it was improved. Chinese or Asian companies then clone these designs and have none of those costs so they can sell the product for so much cheaper. We purchasing these clones are benefiting from ARBs development without paying for it. This comes at a cost to us sometimes with the quality of the materials, finishing, and even the newest version. As long as we know this and understand the risk we assume, we a free to spend our money as we see fit. Its similar to buying a $4,000.00 PANERAI Luminor Marina or buying a $200.00 Chinese Marina Militare. It may keep good time and have similar specs as the Panerai but it lacks a ton of things that you get with Panerai such as quality control. The real question would be is the quality and the brand name worth $3,800? Obviously a snorkel is not as complicated or as refined as a watch but you get the idea and in the end, I am fine with buying a clone snorkel. I would even buy some of the Chinese watch brands such Seagull or Pagani Design but I would rather save my money and get the Panerai when I can afford it. I know this is comparing apples to stake but its a similar quandary that I considered when buying this snorkel.

 

Also another consideration would be how you feel about the product and the price. For example I use a software product to make and edit videos for my YouTube channel called Davinci Resolve. There is a free version that does everything I need it to do. I started by using the free version and eventually decided to buy the studio version at $300.00ish. I was not forced into this decision and there is no downside to the free version like updates and ads or anything to really drive you to buy the studio version; however, after about 6 months I was so impressed with the product and the companies support of it that I decided that I wanted to pay for the studio version. Honestly there is almost no difference in the versions and Black Hat makes all their money selling this and other products to movie and Tv production companies so my meager $300 is a drop in tehir rather large ocean but I feel better knowing I supported them all the same. As for the snorkel, I dropped almost $1,400.00 on my ARB bumper and was the first to have one in the US. I love the bumper but was it worth $1,400.00 I thought then and still do believe that is was a fair purchase. However, $600.00 for a snorkel is too much in my opinion, and this is why I got the clone.