"Heavy Duty" means something is made to be used a lot, that's not the case with these Made in China jumper cables. The clamps are low quality steel, and the wiggle in the hinged jaws doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in their potential longevity. Also, as another pointed out, this doesn't appear to be as big as either SAE or AWG 4 gauge multi-strand cable, and that's really important when you plan to carry low voltage, high amperage loads on a long wire (like starting a car 20 feet away).All that said, these are probably more than capable of jumping a fairly big motor the few times in a car or truck's life you usually have to do that. The electrical connections look pretty good, and over all these look to be better than the truly cheapo, copper-colored-steel-clamped cables that come in most "roadside emergency" kits.
They get 3 stars for being a reasonably good value, but not living up to their advertising. They're probably worth just about the $25 total I paid, but it's not the great deal they appear to be, and I'm not sure whether I'd buy them again.
Why should that matter? Copper conducts electricity better than aluminum. It's also more expensive. If I pay for "copper wire" I expect to get it. Aluminum has half the conductivity of copper. In a battery cable, that means you need a cable that's twice as big if it's aluminum.
If you are looking for good jumper cables look elsewhere. You can get the real thing for the price you are paying for these !!!!I won't go into the type of clamp used, as other reviewers have made mention of the clamp composition. One thing I noticed on the way the cable is connected to the clamp is there is a potential for a poor connection over time. The cable is not bolted or attached with a barrel type compression lug, but rather it is stripped on one side and a fold over type crimp is made to the copper portion of the jaw. I seriously doubt this type of connection will hold up over time, or even carry 500 amps. My other observation is the black and red cables are not secured together. Most booster cables are bonded together along the length of the insulation up to about the last 12" of each end. This set is basically 2 independent cables with clamps on the ends. The problem arises with the potential of "knotting up" the cables during storage and re-use. I used some heavy duty black cable ties to join them together along the length of the set. A quality electrical tape could also be used with the same result. In the warmer months, electrical tape has the tendency to "leak" the adhesive around the tape. This was the main reason I used cable ties; storage during the hot, southern summer months would certainly cause the tape to loose its adhesive qualities. Not a bad product, but keep in mind it is made comparable to the price point.
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