"Your call.
As you're are soliciting opinions - I have a bias towards companies that are "more American" vs. companies that are more worldwide / non-American. I prefer to keep my dollars circulating within the borders of the U.S.A. It's my opinion that Warn keeps dollars within our borders more than Smittybuilt - but I could be wrong.
Now, it's nice that I see Warn as producing a quality product. If they had an inferior product and Smittybuilt was higher quality - I'd have more dilemma when purchasing.
As for 10K vs. 12K - I agree with your thinking - stronger is often "better", though realize, you can always snatch block to multiply (double, triple) effective pulling force."
I'm on board with you there, I try to support the country I live in because I do not hate it. I really prefer to support local too but I am also value conscious when I spend my hard earned money. For example, there's a board game store up North here in Windsor. They had a board game for $60 but Amazon had it for $35 as regular price. The store wouldn't match so I bought from Amazon. I'm willing to pay an extra 10% to support a local business but not almost DOUBLE. I'd go broke.
Anyway, the value I'm getting from the Smittybilt just seems like a lot for the price I'm paying. If it was winch for winch and a $110 difference, I'd probably be buying the Warn as a US company and a 7 year electrical warranty. We're talking $250+ difference though including all the extra items I'm getting.
Thanks! I appreciate your input