New Design Tap-A-Draft vs Miller/Coors Home Draft?

Has anyone compared the new style TAD tap with the Miller or Coors Home Draft tap to see what the differences are? I am mainly concerned with the durability comparison. I acquired a Coors Light version and would like to pick up a few more bottles and another tap, but if there aren't any big differences between the home brew TAD version and the M/C Home draft version, I'll just shell out $20 for a bottle and tap instead of the $35 for just a TAD tap. Sure, I'll have to choke down more Coors Light, but I can use it for beer brats and beer bread to ease my pain.

Anyone???

I have two Coors home draft taps, and two of the new design Tap-a-Draft taps. On appearance alone, they are virtually identical. However, in practice, I have found that the Tap-a-draft tap handle is considerably more sturdy feeling. Also, the motion is a little smoother on the Tap-a-draft, which probably implies tighter tolerances in the manufacturing, and thus explaining the higher cost. So far they are both still working, but I probably wouldn't be surprised if the coors version doesn't last quite as long.

Another difference is that I have found the non-threaded CO2 cartridges I had been using with the tap-a-draft don't seal perfectly on the coors version. However, I have found the threaded type seem to work fine.

I recently contacted Sturmanbg to ask this very question. Here is the reply I received...

Hello Steven,


Thank you for your interest in our Tap-A-Draft System.


Yes, there is a difference between the two systems. We did license Miller/Coors to use our technology for their DISPOSABLE home draft system. They made a few changes to our design to lower manufacturing costs, since their unit is designed for a single use and they manufacture it. In order to reuse their unit, you have to "break" it to replace the cartridge. And then, the cartridge does not sit properly and is potentially very dangerous. More recently, I believe they have redesigned their unit further to make it even more difficult for people to reuse. Reusing their units is not recommended.


We manufacture/assembly our Tap-A-Draft units in Woodland Park, Colorado and stand behind our products. Our Tap-A-Draft unit is designed for many uses, with many customers using their units for over five years.


Although both units have the same technological principles, our Tap-A-Draft units are better for multiple home uses.


I hope I've answered your question. If you have further questions, please feel free to e-mail me.


Thank you.


Regards,


Carol Crandall
Tap-A-Draft


Hope this helps everyone. I gueass I'm just going to spend the 60 bucks on the new one...

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I have one Coors unit now and have enlisted the help of a BMC drinker I know to donate his empties. I'll make use of these until I can pick up the real deal. I would like to stumble across the old style tap so I could use NO2 on occasion.

Thanks!

Yeah, although the tap from the miller/coors home drafts do seem "flimsy," I have been collecting them and they seem to be working fine so far. I like having a tap for each mini keg personally, and as bad as it is drinking the beer they bottle in them, it just seems like a no brainer to me which is better for my pocket book.