yeah, well...I've had nothing but good experiences with Harken hardware and pretty often is some pretty rough circumstances. I've had great experience with their travelers - change the bearings annually and don't put lubricants in them. Lubricants make it more likely for the bearings to slide instead of roll and once they slide, they create a flat spot on them which leads to more sliding and more flat spotting.

I've used some Ronstan cleats and hardware here and there and it also seems to perform quite well. I think the thing you need to walkaway from this thread is that the hardware is usually designed to carry and operate with a certain load and in a certain position. No matter who manufactures it, you need to take care that you are using the gear in the appropriate manner - i.e., don't use a plastic fairlead when you will be drawing lengthy bits of line at off angles - it will burn. Use metal fairleads here. Don't use a plastic cleat on your high load applications - read the specifications.