Winstanley says Universal Blowpipe being counterfeited

Colin Winstanley has joined the list of manufacturers who contend that their branded products are being counterfeited. Winstanley, who lives and works in England, is the inventor and manufacturer of the popular “Universal Blowpipe,” a synthetic ball-and-socket blow-stick with an elliptical mouthpiece that he introduced in the mid-1990s.

“I know that my product is being copied by other pipe-makers and marketed under the name of Universal Blowpipe,” Winstanley says. “Some of these copies are also being sold as the genuine article by some of the well known dealers, too.”

Winstanley says that the counterfeit products do not include the large valve that is a significant feature of the genuine Universal Blowpipe. The wide aperture of the valve is designed to prevent restriction in air-flow to the bag.

“They have incorporated a copy of the Lil Mac [valve] into it,” he continues, “so they are ripping off two manufacturers with one copy. It’s time these [dealers] used there own brains instead of exploiting the inventiveness of us small-time men, most of whom do it for the love of piping in an effort to make piping less complicated for those who may encounter problems.”

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